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NmotD 60

Near Miss of the Day 60: Van cuts across from the left, police say it wasn’t dangerous

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s South Tyneside
by Alex Bowden
Fri, Nov 17, 2017 15:08
12

Today’s near miss features some unusual angles. The driver of a white van moves from the left to turn right, cutting across the path of a cyclist who is himself moving across to join a cycleway near the same junction.

The incident occurred on Wednesday morning on Abingdon Way in Boldon Colliery.

Gary Dawes, who sent us the video, said: “It was reported to Northumbria Police, who sent an officer who has watched the footage. She didn't want a copy, and didn't consider it close or dangerous at all.

“She spoke to the driver who also thinks it was safe. She told him I was shaken, so I'm sure he'll drive much more carefully in future.”

You can probably infer the tone of that last sentence.

Gary has since traced the firm that owns the van, FLG Services.

“Their initial responses were swift and positive. They stated that they took the incident seriously and the driver will be interviewed by a regional manager.”

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.

Near Miss of the Day
NMotD
Tyneside
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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12 comments

Avatar
alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like

If they were further right and the van behind is turning right then I'm not sure what difference it makes, the van shouldn't be undertaking anyway.

That is the primary point of this (damn it)!

Avatar
SteveAustin | 6 years ago
0 likes

Genuine question: Why not sit at the lights, on the right side of the lane? Please answer without using the word primary

Well never know why a lot of these things really happen, but sitting in the middle of the road and pulling away slowly, preventing a car behind you a millisecond isnt ever smart. 

Avatar
SculturaD | 7 years ago
0 likes

Just the usual impatient driver who's in too much of a hurry to wait another 10 or 15 seconds and everything would have been acceptable.

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markysd | 7 years ago
1 like

To be fair, the pass was made at a point where the rider could have still been turning right so the route taken straight on and over the hatchings after the pass is irrelevant. The driver shouldn’t have been passing at this point on that side at all. 

As for the route onto the cycle path, I think many would do the same. The alternative, and I assume expected, route onto the path appears to be to stay to the left, dismount at the crossing, walk over the crossing and onto the cycle path. 

Avatar
alansmurphy | 7 years ago
1 like

The rider uses the road and the right turn lane correctly, is endangered by two tonnes of metal and then looks to cross onto a cycle path where the infrastructure to do so is poor...

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EK Spinner | 7 years ago
1 like

Rule 268

Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

 

admittedly it doesn't say you must not, but that driving definetly contravenes the highway code

Avatar
700c | 7 years ago
1 like

It was close and dangerous but one could point out it would have been avoided had he taken the correct route to the bike lane

Avatar
gazza_d replied to 700c | 7 years ago
2 likes
700c wrote:

It was close and dangerous but one could point out it would have been avoided had he taken the correct route to the bike lane

All the crossings are pedestrian, and the paths until past the junction are technically footpaths, so the route chosen is the most legal as well as avoiding 3 or 4 seperate crossing points

Also IF you bother to watch video properly you'll see that the overtake is before I reach the turn right anyway.

Avatar
700c replied to gazza_d | 7 years ago
2 likes
gazza_d wrote:
700c wrote:

It was close and dangerous but one could point out it would have been avoided had he taken the correct route to the bike lane

All the crossings are pedestrian, and the paths until past the junction are technically footpaths, so the route chosen is the most legal as well as avoiding 3 or 4 seperate crossing points

Also IF you bother to watch video properly you'll see that the overtake is before I reach the turn right anyway.

'Most legal' LOL.

I've watched the video fully. The van driver was a dick. But how are other (sensible) road users going to predict your movements, to safely drive around you, when you go over the cross hatching and pass to the right of a left only sign?

I'm just saying it's a unfortunate example to show you as the victim of bad driving when you've ridden as you did.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to 700c | 7 years ago
5 likes

700c wrote:

It was close and dangerous but one could point out it would have been avoided had he taken the correct route to the bike lane

Probably better for one to point out that the driver should have been more considerate, irrespective of what the cyclist could've done.

Avatar
700c replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
1 like
don simon wrote:

700c wrote:

It was close and dangerous but one could point out it would have been avoided had he taken the correct route to the bike lane

Probably better for one to point out that the driver should have been more considerate, irrespective of what the cyclist could've done.

Yes he should have been. But what's the problem with pointing out the obvious flaws in the cyclist's own riding? Little consideration shown to other road users by the cyclist in this example.

If you upload your camera footage to publicise poor driving and/or to pursue a conviction against another, you'd be best to make sure your own riding is beyond reproach first!

Avatar
700c replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes

Duplicate post

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