Alex Dowsett tweet of scary near miss sees dozens share similar stories

An impact speed of 1005mph? Blimey, that really doesn't bear thinking about.

Strangely, my experience is almost the inverse of this. I've seen a few ill-advised overtakes coming towards me, but none that really left me feeling in danger. What I have had several times is drivers overtaking me in the face of oncoming traffic, giving me reasonable clearance, but coming perilously close to ploughing in to the other car. Which is almost worse, as it endangers all three parties.

A lot of drivers are high on drugs.

A couple of years ago I nearly went through the windscreen of a Land Rover Freelander coming the other way that was overtaking a parked car. There is no way he didn't see me before pulling out, but didn't give a shit about forcing me off the road.

Plenty of other times, but that was the closest and most deliberate one. Most of the others I think just didn't realise how fast a bike can go and thought they'd got enough time.

I can’t see taxing ‘luxury’ cars as an option - there is no worst category of driver or vehicle. It’s not as easy as the old/young/ tractor/bus/sports car/luxury car/4x4/taxi/truck are the worst. They all have their fair share of patient drivers that give room, as well as the idiots that think the road is made for them and them only.

Until driver education is improved we sadly have these people on the road, so as it’s the season of good will, do something nice, and when you get a close pass or SMIDSY, point out they should read rule 163 of the Highway Code and item 3 of British Cycling riding on the road safety guidelines. ‘Cos let’s face it - some people that drive really shouldn’t be allowed to - and they do need help to understand the basics...

As we can see here from the mentioned examples, a big part of dangerous road driving is performed by owners of luxury cars. It may be fine to show off for somebody that he owns luxury items, but when this leads to dangerous situations it must be tackled. My proposal? Sky high taxes for luxury cars with all the extra money collected going on road safety infrastructure and police enforcement. Not collected enough money due to people stopped buying luxury cars? Even better, problem solved beforehand!

The main issue is that drivers like this clearly couldn't give a toss about the lives of cyclists, and somehow that's socially acceptable, in a way that drink driving isn't anymore, despite being a gigantic arsehole arguably causing more risk to others than being slightly over the alcohol limit.

But a secondary point is that a new Porsche Cayenne is 198cm wide, not including big and heavy wing mirrors. Chances are someone with the money to afford a £56K luxury SUV is middle-aged. That means they probably would've learnt to drive in something like an Austin Metro, which was 43cm narrower, and with puny and lightweight wing mirrors. Alex Dowsett's bike is 44cm wide, the same width that racing bike handlebars have always been, for people of his build. So we've ceded very nearly a bicycle's width in order to pamper the similarly-ballooning buttocks and egos of car drivers, and to boost car manufacturer sales. Yet cyclists are routinely described (even on the BBC) as "road hogs". Alex himself felt the need to preface his report of this incident with disclaimers that he is a "respectful cyclist" who "rides over to the left", as if choosing anything other than a multi-tonne death machine isn't respectul in itself.

I had two ridiculously poor overtakes nearly end me on the same stretch of the A30 near Blackbushe Airport a couple of years ago. Both of them were massive 4x4s overtaking traffic going the speed limit in the opposite direction. Both of them saw me well ahead of the overtake and carries on regardless. The continuing media frenzy and hyped up 'war' between cyclists and people in massive metal boxes legitimises these acts and allows them to feel righteous in nearly killing us

I know there's a fair few of us on here who tire of a perceived near miss obsession (I read 'near hit' elsewhere - I like that), but this is a real issue that shouldn't be brushed under the carpet. A problem is much of the footage looks tame behind the keyboard, when it's far from that at the time.

Anyway, without wanting to sound trite in relation to the issues she was addressing, I'm reminded of the famous Margaret Atwood quote, but with a cycling twist:

Motorists are worried that cyclists will piss them off. Cyclists are afraid motorists will kill them.

My two closest calls were both, depressingly, on quiet country roads and in great conditions with no excuses.

Intentional: Two morons in a 4 x4 who ignored a passing place and drove at me and a mate at 40 mph in a raised flood plain single track road . We had to split either side both into the grass almost ending up in deep ditches. Any hesitation on our part would have meant impact. They drove on laughing. 

Stupidity: I was approaching a completely sighted gentle left hand bend - no hedges you could see for 200 feet either side of the bend. I was  head down making some effort, heard an engine and looked up for a split second vision of a mini taking what what Clarkson calls ‘the racing line’ through the bend with a girl holding her phone behind the wheel. She jinxed the steering wheel left and missed a head on by less than three feet. Her driver’s side mirror  must have missed by 6 inches. I was going 25 mph she was doing at least 45mph. One extra word on the text she was reading and I would’ve been jam. 

You just carry on don’t you? 

How do you make sure that your camera has a clear view of the driver?  One issue is that it needs to prove unequivocably who was at the wheel at the time.

This driver got off on the basis they couldn't remember who was driving and the car was rented.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ua92cASvgw

Modern windscreens seem oddly opaque from outside from some angles so you can't see in... some sort of heat reflection presumably.

Police WILL pursue drivers where there is evidence from video footage of seriously bad driving like this. Reports on here of the police 'not doing anything' about bad drivers is the opposite of my own experience. Have reported three 'bad driving' incidents to them this year alone and, using my video footage as evidence, the police have taken action against three different drivers. I could post videos on here but legal proceedings are still under way so i can't at the moment. You have to make your case to them in writing and do it through the proper channels. A phone call to a police station or police control room will seldom be effective as often you are put in contact with someone who is misinformed and invariably NOT a police officer. Getting fobbed off is more than likely.

So my advice would be get a camera and stick with it.

Don't let w*nkers  intimdate us and drive us off the roads.

Somehow I fear this #metoo campaign will have less impact that the other one.

I had a truck on the wrong side of the road, overtaking another truck in rural Shropshire. He must have seen me as I could see the start of the manouvre and was in the middle of the road waving at him before stuffing the bike into what little verge there was.

Neither hi viz nor a helmet would have been of benefit to me in this collision were it to have happened.

The company who he drove for said that he'd been fired as a result of this, whether he had or not, I don't care. Hopefully there's one less dangerous driver out there and one more traffic manager who knows that company logoed vehicle bring bad news to the company when drivers drive like arseholes.

Glad you're safe Mr Dowsett, a truly frightening experience.

Sounds like a particularly bad overtake.  I daylight run a powerful front and rear light on flash, and often have a camera set to fast time-lapse on longer rides - to enable better battery life.  I have no evidence that the lights actually help, and I do understand the 'lighting arms race' counter arguments.  Images and video may be of some use if commercial vehicles are involved, or for the police if dangerous driving is clear; maybe not - as we frequently see reports of.