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news
Near Miss of the Day 77: Driver makes very close pass through roadworks then confronts cyclist
Our Near Miss of the Day feature is back after taking a bit of a break over the Christmas and New Year period, and be warned, our first one of 2018 has some very colourful language.
It shows a pick-up truck driver who decided, rather than wait a couple of seconds for a cyclist to get through a short section of roadworks, to overtake him at exactly that point.
The cyclist, not unreasonably, responded by hitting the side of the vehicle, which shows how close it was, and raised his middle finger. The motorist then hit the brakes and then, at the next junction, got out of his pick-up truck and a rather heated discussion ensued.
It was uploaded to YouTube by CBL, who said: "If I can hit your vehicle with a closed fist, without even stretching, then you're too close, there is no argument.
"After the video ended, I chatted to other man who stopped and thanked him for the 'back up'. "
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.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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65 comments
I suppose the 'taken the lane' is quite a contentious point though. You don't have the right to just take the lane if a car is in it and travelling at a particular speed; they seemed to arrive at the single lane pretty much at the same point.
The camera is clearly on the cyclists head and for me he glances rather than does a proper shoulder check. If you feel you're going to be narrow on the left and not take the whole lane, therefore I can half check and move out, then you've no right to complain when there is something on your right. If he'd checked properly and earlier, then you'd signal early, be out in the lane and anticipate the vehicle behind responding to that, if they didn't you'd have a better argument.
Having said all that, the 4x4 driver should have anticipated a little better; for me they drove at 7/10 the rider around 3/10. The fact that he's in 3 tonnes worth perhaps puts more responsibility on him, on the other hand, if I was looking at 3 toones worth I'd certainly spot it and be more careful!
The pickup driver chose to overtake as lanes merge. Would he have done that if it was a bus in the buslane?
No he didn't, the cyclist chose to change lanes without checking it was clear endangering himself and other road users...
I would have noticed the narrowing ahead, looked behind, indicated, and then taken the lane. However the driver should have waited for the cyclist!
This.
I would have noticed the narrowing ahead, looked behind, indicated, and then taken the lane. However
the driver should have waited for the cyclist!I try and adopt an assertive but defensive approach, because a proportion of motorists will always drive without the required respect for more vulnerable road users. It leaves less to chance.
Wanker!
I'd agree with bigshape and think the rider was as much at fault as the motorist.
The rider was the one changing lanes for the roadworks and did so unsafely "did you not see the roadworks" should have been retorted with "did you not see me".
Also, where's Tony Farrelly? There was Fs and Cs all over the road and no warning for the children!
That situation was made much worse by the cyclist's aggressive behaviour. If a motorist used that sort of language, we'd all throw the book at him. Bad driving infuriates us all, but the whole "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough" attitude won't help the relationship between cyclists and motorists.
Yet another driver whose eyes are transplanted to the back of their head.Unable to see/judge how to deal with traffic in front of them but spotted the middle finger within milliseconds.
Or a deliberate close pass where they wanted a reaction.
1. Take the lane.
2. Avoid the confrontation.
3. The camera is giving you a false sense of security.
agreed.
a quick shoulder check and a signal from the rider and the whole pointless situation would have been avoided.
I've not got the volume on at work but thats what I was thinking from the pictures ☺
in an ideal world, yes, but when Ive taken the lane through roadworks the vehicle following me tried to well basically drive through me
revving engine, on the horn inches off my back wheel, just as I clear the last cone and start to move back across,they then floor it, close pass me and swerve towards me again for good measure, and then slam on the brakes to brake test me, bearing in mind this set of single lane roadworks was no more than 10metres in length
I didnt even respond with a wave,or extend a digit, so they got bored and drove off all of another 10 metres to then sit in the queue of cars at the junction.
in the end I got so much grief off motorists for taking the lane in those roadworks, I just ended up having to take a different commute to avoid them
had I a camera maybe I could have reported them to the police,local press and raised the issue and had it explained it was perfectly legitimate for a cyclist to take the lane there and I wasnt holding anyone up.
a lot of the long-term roadworks, such as those that were by London Bridge station, have road signs telling drivers not to overtake cyclists. This should become a standard for all roadworks that remove a lane.
You can still get closed passed on those.
Best to ride with a blonde wig under your helmet, wearing a pink t-shirt or floral skirt.
[/quote]
a lot of the long-term roadworks, such as those that were by London Bridge station, have road signs telling drivers not to overtake cyclists. This should become a standard for all roadworks that remove a lane.
[/quote]
You got there before me.
They had those signs on some roadworks near me last year, where they'd closed the cycle lane. How many drivers do you think actually paid any attention to them? Yep, ZERO.
i’ve found them to be quite effective. Most of my Cycling is in London, where I suspect drivers are more used to this sort of thing than elsewhere in the UK.
in this type of situation I always take the lane anyway, so the only way past me is over me. The signs help to justify (to the drivers) why I’m there if they think the cyclist’s first duty is to get the fuck out of their way.
Both driver and vehicle are indentifiable from this vid; straight to the police.
Totally unnecessary overtake that got him precisely nowhere, and he can't have been in a rush, he had time to get out and argue, so it seems likely that the overtake was deliberate, otherwise any sensible driver would have waited.
I do so hope that nobody even thinks of finding this vehicle, BV67 EMX, and doing something entirely inappropriate to it, like pouring paint stripper over it for instance.
Good on the other cyclist for stopping and taking an interest, probably stopped the incident escalating.
I find the best thing is to fold in their passenger side mirror as you go past - they can hardly complain as they clearly never use the things. Over Christmas I got a similarly close pass from a 4x4 on a country lane with added bonus of a brake test and a dooring - and I had the nipper on the back on a tagalong. Left a decent scratch down the side of his Range Rover.
Isn't there a scene like that in Premium Rush? (sorry, its one of my go-to popcorn movies...) Cycle courier smashes off a wing mirror with her lock, saying "Well, if you aren't going to use it then you clearly don't need it..." or something like that
AKA D-Lock Justice.
I am actually surprised that the Pickup Driver doesn't mention road tax at some point. Thats normally the first thing you hear when you confront someone.
So dangerous and so sad.
A couple of Tarquins going at each other. Entertaining.
Who are you then? Mike Tyson?
That was nastie. I hope he has repoted it to the old bill
Unfortunately, Mr Pickup Driver still doesn't think he did anything wrong, still doesn't even understand what he did wrong, and will carry on and do it again...
Except next time, he'll be thinking "Grrr, last time a f-ing cyclist hit my car, so I'll show this [completely unconnected] one what I think about that".
Which is exactly why this driver needs further education or removing from the roads.
Cyclists did nothing wrong, but I would advise taking the lane in future.
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