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news
Lady Bathurst close passed by overtaking motorist during charity ride (National Foundation for Retired Service Animals)“This shouldn’t be normal, but it is”: Chris Boardman blasts “common criminal behaviour” after overtaking driver “almost kills” cyclists – “protected by hi-vis” – on charity ride
The “common criminal behaviour” of dangerous drivers around cyclists needs to be eradicated before we “lose a vital transport choice”, says National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman. The former Olympic champion made the comments in response to a video posted on social media today by the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA), which showed the charity’s founder Lady Bathurst, cycling the length of Britain to raise awareness for the foundation, on the receiving end of an extremely close pass by an oncoming driver overtaking a lorry at speed.
The shocking incident – which, as Boardman pointed out, saw three cyclists, supposedly protected by hi-vis clothing, “almost killed” – took place yesterday as Lady Bathurst, the former High Sheriff of Gloucesthershire, crossed the border into Scotland, two weeks into her attempt to ride her e-bike from Land’s End to John O’Groats to celebrate the NFRSA’s first year and to raise awareness of the charity’s work.
It was such a happy day going over the border yesterday - but it nearly ended in disaster. Lady B was in the cycle lane, waving to fellow cyclists, just as a woman in a red car dangerously overtook a lorry, nearly hitting her, & causing the support car to swerve. Not a nice… pic.twitter.com/ZMEV7hW6EI
— NFRSA (@The_NFRSA) September 27, 2023
However, as the 58-year-old cycled alone on the hard shoulder, waving to two cyclists riding in the opposite direction, a motorist attempted to overtake a lorry driver approaching a bend in the road, missing Lady Bathurst by centimetres at speed and causing her to wobble.
The overtaking driver also manages to pull in front of the lorry just as another motorist, driving a support vehicle as part of the charity ride, appears around the corner.
Drone footage captured by the charity also shows the lorry driver narrowly passing the two cyclists on the other side of the road.
“F***ing hell,” the Countess can be heard saying in the video, posted this morning on X, formerly Twitter, by the NFRSA, as she came to a stop on the hard shoulder shortly after the near miss.
“My knees are actually shaking. It was literally inches away. I was waving… and I laughed, and just wobbled out, and she… I very nearly was a dead Countess, not a cycling Countess!”
Posting the clip of the incident this morning, the NFRSA wrote: “It was such a happy day going over the border yesterday – but it nearly ended in disaster.
“Lady B was in the cycle lane, waving to fellow cyclists, just as a woman in a red car dangerously overtook a lorry, nearly hitting her, and causing the support car to swerve. Not a nice experience at all.
“Please motorists – be careful when overtaking on country roads.”
Reposting the video, Lady Bathurst added: “I was riding alone yesterday afternoon, in beautiful Scotland on the NFRSA Charity Bike Ride, when this happened. It was unbelievably frightening and shook me up.
“Please, when overtaking on country roads, be aware of what might be on the other side of the road. Thank you.”
> Chris Boardman speaks about losing his mum at the hands of killer driver for the first time
Meanwhile, Active Travel England’s Boardman, who today called on the government to back and provide funding for cycling schemes at a meeting at 10 Downing Street, described the shocking incident as something that “shouldn’t be normal, but it is”.
“Three people – ‘protected by high viz’ – almost killed whilst doing something wholly beneficial for society. This shouldn’t be normal, but it is,” Boardman wrote.
“This is common criminal behaviour and we need to stop it or we will lose a vital transport choice.”
Despite Boardman’s comments, some social media users responded to the video by arguing that Lady Bathurst should have been wearing hi-vis and that the charity cyclist was lacking “concentration” at the time of the close pass, prompting the Countess herself to intervene in the discussion.
“The top had reflector strips. I wasn’t wearing my coat. Hot!” she said, in response to one social media user who claimed that “cyclists MUST wear hi-vis clothing. It’s a no-brainer.”
“To be honest,” Lady Bathurst continued, “She was going that fast, I’m not sure she’d have seen me if I’d had fireworks coming out of my head!”
Replying to someone who accused her of “showboating”, she said: “Showboating? Really?? I was BEING FRIENDLY and returning a wave from a cyclist on the other side of the road. I was NOT expecting a red missile to narrowly miss me. What is wrong with you?”
Another social media user also attempted to pin at least some of the blame on the charity cyclist, arguing that “you took your eyes off the situation unfolding in front of you to smile and converse with the cyclist across the road instead of moving over to the left of the cycle lane as a precaution. That wave almost cost you your life.”
“I could have been doing a handstand and cartwheels,” Lady Bathurst pithily replied. “The fact is at whatever stage, I was safely within the lines of the bike lane. The motorist overtaking did so in a reckless manner and was doing well over 70.
“I’d argue the stupidity of the driver nearly cost me my life.”
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 3 sec ago
Something Something Brexit... ? (sorry) Anyway I think they should try calling them "loveable neighbourhoods".
- Flintshire Boy 1 hour 8 min ago
[Sorry - wrote mine before saw yours! You make the point much better than I.] .
- grOg 3 hours 49 min ago
Where does it state in the article that Ashley purchased the stock? it does state that Ashley bought the brand and intellectual property, not the...
- rogerwb 6 hours 29 min ago
Jump off the bike and run across. I cycle in trainers though.
- momove 7 hours 32 min ago
Cheers for the lesson! Wasn't expecting one so was pleasantly surprised, especially getting to find the origin of "laconic"!
- ktache 8 hours 19 min ago
Isn't it a rights issue?
- Daddy Feebs 9 hours 22 min ago
If anything, it looks a bit like an SL6
- wtjs 9 hours 58 min ago
Other commenters have different views True!
- Daclu Trelub 10 hours 13 min ago
Incredibly bone-headed.
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107 comments
See reply to Grumpy17. No one seems to get that it makes no difference that the car was overtaking. It's not the '"wrong side of the road'". Overtaking is legal. It's being called 'dangerous' here but it could have been a car travelling in the other direction and not many drivers would have stopped/ slowed down because there's a cyclist in the cycle lane, not in the car lane. If it hasn't been designed with enough passing space then it shouldn't be there. She could have had 1.5m space if she had been paying attention!
It is at the very minimum careless driving: when the driver pulled out to commence the overtake she should have noted the cyclist in the oncoming cycle lane and aborted the manoeuvre and waited until all oncoming lanes were clear. What would she have done if the lorry had moved even fractionally to the right? She would've had no choice but to flatten the cyclist no matter what part of the lane she was using.
Doubling down on stupid.
Yep, smells like a troll to me.
probably the driver of the red car in the video
It's not an A-road, trolltwat. It's the B7076 just north of Moffat, and there's a 6-lane motorway (the M74) right alongside if little Miss Murderously Self-Important in the red car wants to go fast and not have to overtake other traffic dangerously.
Thanks for the info Flaneurtwat but A or B, doesn't matter does it?
A or B doesnt matter. Driver made a bad decision to overtake into oncoming traffic on the highway. This is ill advised whether an oncoming car or cycle. And when travelling at greater than 30mph 2m is required. The HC ststes drivers should pass cyclists slowly and allowing as much room as if passing another motor vehicle. The Driver Was At Fault. Hopefully this incident will lead to a successful prosecution.
I don't like being without Viz myself - the letters section is incredible
That reminds me - I was out cycling the other day and passed a sign saying Caution - Mud on road. Cycled a bit further on and four blokes jumped out of the bushes singing '' The cat crept in''. Nearly scared me to death it did.
The swines.
Actually that explains something that happened to me the other day. I was riding along (at an easy 27mph) when four blokes jumped out of a hedge just by Epsom Downs. I though they were going to mug me or attempt to steal my bike.
Instead they started singing about my shoes. Most disconcerting for a sensitive soul such as myself. I thought it was some sort of modern art installation or some fairly mature students from the Art College on rag week or something. Now it all makes sense.....
Well I for one really love those tiger feet.
You really need to pay more attention to the signs. I was riding along peacefully with Mrs H in the Kent countryside the other day when we came across this sign reading "Caution Ahead, Slippery When Wet". Fortunately as experienced riders we knew to immediately pull a U-turn and ride hard back towards civilisation, but even now it gives me chills to think how close we came to being exposed to mid-80s AOR soft metal.
Think of people Down Under in Australia, with a sign "Men At Work", they must think "Who Can It Be Now?" every time.
Very lucky indeed. You were living on a prayer.
It was Wild in the Streets that day, I can tell you.
Cyclists! Keep yourselves warm in winter by reading comments on the internet from people who say "as a cyclist myself..." or "if them fat blokes in lycra stopped swearing at children and almost hitting horses on the pavement riding three abreast way too fast holding everyone up at 11 miles per BLOODY HOUR through a red light people might want to run them over less LOLZ!"
You've been cycling Scottish A roads for 40 years and you haven't noticed that it doesn't matter what you wear because the drivers aren't looking?
She was the one not looking. Totally oblivious. 🙄. And yes, I have noticed, that's why I've said I wouldn't choose to do this ride, but if I were, I'd pay attention.
Label management, eh? We booked youareallcyberbullies last week* but come the night Totally
ObviousOblivious showed up.Mind you, the crowd didn't want to see them either...
* A typo, we'd actually meant to *ban* them
I suspect she saw the car in the distance but incorrectly thought nobody would be stupid enough to try to overtake a HGV that is already overtaking a cyclist while there is another cyclist coming the other way. It's not an unreasonable opinion but unfortunately it was incorrect.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned invisible gorillas yet.
No, it was piss poor driving that nearly cost the cyclist her life not her attire.
Exactly. She could have had an overlit christmas tree sticking out of her helmet, it wouldn't have made any difference to the driver.
I didn't say it was her attire.
Then you deserve an apology, I thought that when you expressed surprise that she wasn't wearing hi-viz that you were commenting on her attire or lack thereof. My mistake clearly...
You really are some kind wayne kerr driver does a dangerous overtake that nearly results in a headon with not only a cyclist but another driver, yet you still try and blame the cyclist you really are a silly bunt!!!!
"The overtaking manoeuvre was probably dangerous", probably?! There were cyclists on both sides of the road, a long truck was overtaking two cyclists, and there was a car coming from the other direction. What part of the manoeuvre wasn't dangerous?
"Probably", because I wasn't driving, so I can't be sure. However, that's just normal in parts of Scotland, and right or wrong, it's to be expected. I'm not condoning it but I've regularly seen far worse. Personally, I wouldn't have overtaken, but I very rarely do anyway.
Couple of things I see from this.
1. The truck was within 1.5m of the other cyclists. No one seems to have complained about that?
2. The overtake, obviously should have given the oncoming cyclist 1.5m because they might swerve.
3. The cyclist. It was obvious from the drone footage they had no control over that bike, from the moment the hand wave started they were veering across the lane and only corrected when they spotted the car coming. If the car hadnt been there 100% they would have swerved out the lane. This is why 1.5m is required.
4. If there had been bollards on that lane do people expect the 1.5m to not apply? seems so from many comments. But in this case the cyclist probably would have hit them and thrown themselves into the road.
I have issues with pushing some people like this to do charity rides. You are taking people who never cycle and putting them onto obviously dangerous roads (they shouldnt be dangerous, but as we see, they are). At what point does someone become responsible for pushing people into dangerous situations. I no longer encourage people to cycle who have no situational awareness or inbuilt self preservation, i couldnt live with myself if I encouraged someone to do something that got them killed from an obvious existing danger (even if it 'shouldnt be' dangerous).
You've started this in 4. but:
5. The road. More sensible places (eg. NL) I think it would be a legal requirement to have a separate cycle path on a road like this (I'm assuming it's not signed 30mph here! ) Otherwise AFAIK the road becomes legally "no cycling" and presumably it's "and why haven't you made provision?" for the LA.
That sorts out the bollard issue also. Even in the UK we're starting to recognise that bollards are powerful friends but dangerous enemies. So pedestrians and cyclists should not be directed near them if possible.
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