Near Miss of the Day 815: “Again and again, drivers don't seem to get the message”

“Again and again, drivers don't seem to get the message” says a cyclist who received a very close pass in Surrey earlier this month, on a road marked with double solid white lines.

Tim, the road.cc reader who filmed the clip, told us: “This one was on 2 August 2022, cycling from Shalford into Guildford in Surrey, where the cyclist was coming up to the crest of a hill, on a blind bend, with a SLOW warning painted on the road and double white lines...

“Surely these warnings and road paint would alert any upcoming driver that it probably won't be safe to overtake, but here we see a driver of a van flooring it to get past just as an oncoming vehicle in the other lane comes into view.

“Again and again, drivers don't seem to get the message, and seem to have the ‘I own the road, get out of my way as mine is bigger than yours’ mentality. This is why vulnerable road users get injured or killed.

“Duly reported to Surrey Police, whom hopefully will be able to educate the driver before they actually do injure or kill someone.”

Tim subsequently updated us with the reply he got from police, who said:

"I can confirm that the matter reported yesterday, regarding the lorry overtaking you, is being progressed further. To that end I am sending out a Notice of Intended Prosecution to the registered keeper.

"Taking into account the size of the vehicle, the speed at which they passed, the amount of room given, and the fact that the vehicle contrived the solid double white centre road markings, was sufficient evidence for me to progress.

"However for future submissions please remember that the suggested passing distance of 1.5 metres, as per the Highway Code, is only a recommendation, and is not mandatory. All submissions will be reviewed and considered on a case by case basis."  

The 1.5 metre passing distance is, as Tim was told, a recommendation and not backed by the letter of the law.

However, it is also worth noting that the new Rule 163 of the Highway Code published in January this year says, in part: “Leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds.”

> Near Miss of the Day turns 100 - Why do we do the feature and what have we learnt from it?

Over the years road.cc has reported on literally hundreds of close passes and near misses involving badly driven vehicles from every corner of the country – so many, in fact, that we’ve decided to turn the phenomenon into a regular feature on the site. One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on.

If you’ve caught on camera a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with another road user that you’d like to share with the wider cycling community please send it to us at info [at] road.cc or send us a message via the road.cc Facebook page.

If the video is on YouTube, please send us a link, if not we can add any footage you supply to our YouTube channel as an unlisted video (so it won't show up on searches).

Please also let us know whether you contacted the police and if so what their reaction was, as well as the reaction of the vehicle operator if it was a bus, lorry or van with company markings etc.

> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling