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news
Near Miss of the Day 134: Lorry driver makes close overtake followed by punishment pass
Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a cyclist who was subjected to a close pass by the driver of a delivery lorry and then, when he moved ahead of the vehicle afterwards, was then given what he believes was a ‘punishment pass’.
The footage was shot by road.cc reader Phil, who told us: “While cycling to work at around 4am on Tuesday 24 April (the joys of shift work!) I was subject to some pretty terrifying driving by a South East Bakery delivery driver.
“I was riding along Wickham Way towards Beckenham, and despite the road being completely deserted, the driver overtook me on a blind bend, passing much too close for comfort. He then had to give way to a bus at the roundabout less than 50 metres ahead, where I passed him.
“As I cycled along immediately after the roundabout he overtook me again, passing extremely closely. When he was alongside me he deliberately swerved his vehicle towards me, missing me by a matter of inches.
“I have no idea what his motivation was - perhaps he was annoyed that I was in front of him again - but his actions were clearly intended to intimidate and scare me. A slight misjudgement on his part, or a minor change of direction on mine, and I would now be either seriously injured or dead.”
Phil continued: “I submitted the video to the Metropolitan Police, who "regret to inform me" that after considering the evidence they are unable to take any further action.
“I have also emailed South East Bakery (www.southeastbakery.com) to ask:
(a) do they think their employee's standards of driving were acceptable, and
(b) do they think it's appropriate for one of their employees to use a company vehicle to harass and intimidate vulnerable road users.
Phil believes that the roads nowadays are more intimidating for people on bikes than when he began riding, and that often that is the result of deliberate actions on the part of motorists.
He said: “I've been riding for the best part of 40 years, I'm a British Cycling Level 2 coach and an NSI qualified cycling instructor, and if I'm honest, I've never felt so vulnerable and at risk as I do now.
“Drivers have become increasingly impatient and aggressive, and it feels like cyclists have become a target for constant abuse and harassment. I honestly wouldn't let my own teenage kids cycle on the road unaccompanied, and I think that's an incredibly sad state of affairs.
“If nothing else, by sharing this sort of incident we gain some strength from knowing that we're not alone,” he added.
> 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 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 (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
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.
Latest Comments
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Get them back? They've never gone away for me, cheap tdf winning bikes on eBay with rim brakes and cheap rim brake aero wheels, just don't tell...
- slc 22 min 17 sec ago
My favourite is pulling up a bit right of primary to turn right from the minor road at a t-junction, then receiving a filthy look from a driver...
- Simon E 54 min 54 sec ago
It used to be called Buy Nothing Day as a protest against the the Black Friday discounting madness. The constant BF adverts, promos and stuff...
- Rendel Harris 1 hour 40 min ago
I believe that if you apply strict mathematical rules you have a subtraction, e.g. if you say three times less than five mathematically that's 5 - ...
- chrisonabike 3 hours 10 min ago
Apologies - you're quite right! Something about presentation and comprehension...
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You can find out whether they're lying about 'taking action' by asking them what they actually did. When they refuse to tell you, citing various...
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Also don't forget - Sustrans are a charity *....
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Yes ... but (just due to the large numbers of people affected) this likely would only proceed in the UK at a very ... cautious ... pace....
- EK Spinner 8 hours 44 min ago
Arsehole in the van not with standing, how did they manage to get a risk assessment allowing a race (a group not a TT) group to be competing on ...
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30 comments
If the email address is freely available on the company website and the company name is visible in the video, I can't see any issue with printing it here as it's freely available information. Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer...
Good enough for me Mr not-a lawyer...
info [at] southeastbakery.com
One minute to email them might actually make a change for the better.
I emailed them, tho' they are yet to get back to me. I understand that they did get back to the original poster. I wouldn't have done so, however the Met weren't bothered and something had to be done about this appalling driving. You never know, your future email might tip the balance.
[/quote]
I emailed them, tho' they are yet to get back to me. I understand that they did get back to the original poster. I wouldn't have done so, however the Met weren't bothered and something had to be done about this appalling driving. You never know, your future email might tip the balance.
[/quote]
Just sent this:
Please forward to your Managing Director
(If I do not get a response I will look up his/her details at Companies House and send this email directly)
You may be aware of a post on a very popular cycling website, road.cc, that clearly shows one of your employees deliberately swerving at a cyclist. If they claim this was not the case they are lying, and if you believe them you are deluding yourself. Please watch the video. This could have resulted in death or serious injury. To a husband, father and son.
As a human being you should deplore this stupidity. As a Managing Director you know that this could cause serious damage to your firm's brand. Please take action.
This happens every day. Cyclists die or are seriously injured regularly due to stupid or unthinking drivers. Today it was one of your drivers, and it was caught on camera.
Please take action against this idiot and then publicise it. This behaviour must be made unacceptable before more people lose their lives. Please turn this potential disaster into something positive for your firm.
And FYI; cyclists eat a lot of cake!
Thank you
Worth a try? Better than just condeming on this thread anyway. Let's see if we get any response.
Vimes
Thanks for all the support guys. It's good to know there's a lot of like-minded people around. Who knows, one day we might not even need video cameras on our bikes...
I've had a reply from South East Bakery, who express their "disappointment that one of our drivers was driving in an unacceptable manner". They have assured me that the MD will be dealing with it personally.
To their credit they replied quickly, and seem genuinely concerned. To be honest I just want the driver to understand how vulnerable cyclists are in that sort of situation, and how devastating the consequences can be.
Good to hear that the employers seem to be taking it seriously, and don't worry about the support, we've all been there and we know exactly how it feels. When our turn comes around again, we'll need the support too.
I'm emailing the bakery too, also pointing out that cyclists eat a lot of cake, but not theirs now!
Can we get the bakery's email into the thread? Not sure if there are any legal issues there, but if they get a dozen emails to their MD abut this stupid driving, the driver hopefuly gets the sack, and will find it hard to get another driving job again because of this. He might casue a death next time.
can i put in my usual request to change the headline to read
.....Cowards Pass AKA Punishment Pass" ?
need to get Cowards Pass into common useage please
as to the driving think the truck driver is hoping to take easiest and direct line through roundabout and then finds actually has to give way to something as big moving fast
personally I'd have slowed but only with consideration for the earlier bad pass with the driver of the truck totally misjudging the speed of the cyclist..... as to the cyclists overtake on the roundabout - if a car or motorbike had passed a truck positioned at entry well to the left and was planning on exiting right nobody would put the car driver or the motorcyclist in the wrong - would they?
if a truck driver forced a car or motorcyclist to take evasive action because of an anger issue following an overtaking manoevre would it just be acceptable "punishment"? ....think the cyclists deserve what they get attitude is way too prevalent [/and breathe]
"“I've been riding for the best part of 40 years, I'm a British Cycling Level 2 coach and an NSI qualified cycling instructor, and if I'm honest, I've never felt so vulnerable and at risk as I do now.
“Drivers have become increasingly impatient and aggressive, and it feels like cyclists have become a target for constant abuse and harassment. I honestly wouldn't let my own teenage kids cycle on the road unaccompanied, and I think that's an incredibly sad state of affairs.
“If nothing else, by sharing this sort of incident we gain some strength from knowing that we're not alone,” he added."
And there he has nailed the real problem; entitled motorists. They've been told by our idiotic politicians and media that they are hard done by, they pay for all the roads and that the police and courts are waging in a "war on motorists". None of which is true, but the gullible drivers lap it up, along with the freedom of the road and that cyclists don't belong on "their" roads.
I can't see this changing much, especially when our politicians make endless statements about the benefits of cycling and how much of our money they're going to spend on it, only for nothing substantial to happen. I don't want to get political, but our current government is, I think, the worst in my experience of sixty years of bike riding.
which camera was it filmed on?
That's a great question CXR94Di2. Often thought that it would be useful for comparisons, if camera setups were listed on NMotD. Esp those guys with the front and rear combos.
Good question!
It's a Shimano CM-1000 - their first attempt at an action cam. Picked it up cheap in the sales a couple of years ago, but only just started using it regularly.
Picture quality's reasonable in good light, not great at night. Battery lasts for about 3 hours.
No doubt there are better alternatives as it's getting on a bit now.
Sorry, my observations of the drive/ride distracted me from the main point.
That the Met did nothing about it! Did they even watch the video? Was there any explanation why 'after considering the evidence they are unable to take any further action'? Phil, please complain about this. Absolute shoddy decision
Not sure about this one. The 'punishment' pass was horrendous and the driver should rightfully be punished as road rage like that is what kills people. Obviously they cannot be trusted behind the wheel.
That said, going up the inside of a lorry (albeit one that is not indicating) on a roundabout is not a move I would personally advocate for. Especially as the lorry begins to move onto the roundabout as the cyclist overtakes. In my opinion that looks to be dangerous.
I'd do that in a car, I'd do it on the bike too.
Close passing can be put down to lack of due care and attention by muppets.
Punishment passing should automatically be charged as dangerous driving by twats!
Just a bit of context: where this road exits onto the roundabout it's wide enough for two vehicles, and there would usually be two lines of vehicles waiting to enter the roundabout (not at 4am obviously!).
Since the van was far over to the left, and as I was taking the third exit, taking the right lane felt like the correct place to be. With the bus blocking the van, and with me still rolling I didn't think there was any danger of getting squeezed while on the roundabout, and I exited the roundabout a long way ahead.
But like I said above, if I'd had any indication that he was also taking the third exit then, having seen the standard of his driving, I'd probably not have taken the risk of putting myself in front of him.
Either way, I don't think it deserved a close pass and punishment swerve.
Smashed it again!!
It's easy to judge video from behind a keyboard (maybe not for the met). I agree, the lorry appears to be taking first or second exit from it's positioning. It still looks a bit sketchy to me from the video, especially as it looks like you move into his path at 0.31 as he enters the roundabout. The assumption that he'll be blocked by the bus is fair, but perhaps he isn't able to think that far ahead.
We make our own decisions in the moment though. I won't even guess whether I would/wouldn't do it if I was in your situation. My take away is that it's yet another reminder never to trust a driver.
Obviously the punishment pass/swerve is deplorable. I cannot understand why drivers who show that they cannot be trusted to drive safely are allowed to continue, especially in cases like this where the driving appears vindictive.
Now there's something I think we can all agree on!
Even at 4am on an otherwise deserted road, don't let your guard down!
Stay safe all.
I don't know if I'm missing something, but it looked to me like the cyclist overtook the stationary lorry at the roundabout on the outside of it. Surely that's a perfectly legal maneouvre.
My only criticism of the cyclist would be that they put too much faith in the lorry. The lorry had already performed a dodgy overtake on a corner and then stopped way over the line at the roundabout. If I'd noticed that, I would have thought twice about overtaking the lorry, though I probably would have gone for the overtake anyway just to keep momentum.
There's no excuse for the lorry to drive that way.
Going up the inside? No. The cyclist overtook the stationary vehicle perfectly properly on the offside.
6 of 1, half dozen of another there imo. Cyclist was passed no problems first time and it was pretty obvious that a van is faster than a cyclist so why did he bother doing the perpetual motion thing and getting past the van again when it had to stop for a moment? Van was only going to be past again so why not just ease off for 2 seconds, stay behind and that would never have happened.
Completely disagree. That first overtake was only o.k. if nothing was coming in the opposite direction. There's a (retro-reflective) chevron board <<< visible right from the start of the video, clearly warning of the sharp left hand bend. No way did the driver have any idea what was coming towards them. If that car parked on the nearside after the bend was a little closer, then things could have gotten really awkward. Also, not entirely clear, but it looks like there's a road junction to the right of the chevron board, albeit an easy spot for the van driver that it was clear.
Can't see the issue with overtaking the van. Cyclist was well up on the van and if the van had turned off the first exit (unlikely from it's positioning) or followed the bus there would not have been the second incident either. If the van was taking the third exit (the one it did take), then it should have been indicating to the offside and have been in the offside of the lane. Spookily where the cyclist (correctly) was. I presume that there is a fourth exit at '3 o'clock', again if the van had taken it, no second close pass. Can't wait around trying to second guess a numpty driver, not in them circs.
It's good to hear other cyclists' views of these sort of situations, and I appreciate hearing these different opinions. Sometimes a bit of context can be helpful too, as video footage doesn't always provide the full story.
I was doing probably 17-18mph around a tight left hand bend, and would normally have taken a wider exit from the apex. Having a van on my right shoulder meant I had to take an unaturally tight line when exiting the bend. It wasn't the closest pass I've experienced by a long way, but close enough to force me to take a different line. I didn't get hit, and luckily nothing was coming the other way around the blind bend, but still I'm not sure if I'd describe that as being passed "no problems". There are often parked cars on the exit of that bend too.
As for the "perpetual motion thing" - I reckon the van driver was probably more guilty of that. After all, he was the one who overtook me on a blind bend, 50 metres in front of a roundabout, rather than slow down slightly and overtake me somewhere safe!
At that point I had no idea the van was going the same way as me. As I came up to the roundabout, intending to take the third exit, the van was on the very left of the road, with no indication of where it was going (and at this junction vehicles normally form two lanes to enter the roundabout). It wasn't positioned in a way to suggest it was going all the way around to the third exit, or indicating right. If it had been then I'd certainly have kept behind.
Smashed it!
could just as easily say "why did the driver overtake the cyclist when they knew the junction is approaching and they would have to stop shortly afterwards?"
you often see drivers getting frustrated by having to pass the same cycliost multipole times, but it never occurs to them that theu don't need to overtake the cyclist at all, as due to the traffic conditions they can't make better prgress, all they do is risk collision and waste fuel/brake pads.
Please don't ever drive or post up video of you whining of a close pass, your post is full of ignorance and shows how little you understand what actually happened and why. I guess you think doing that to another cyclist whilst on a bike would be okay as well!
Totally cretinous comment!
Ok, fair point but as we know, lots of drivers do not indicate, he filtered round on the right as you should got a jump on him, so what! especially if the Van may have been turning left with out indicating. No matter though, the PROFESSIONAL driver shouldn't have swerved in to the cyclist like that and risk his JOB!
p.s I HAVE POSTED THIS ARTICLE ON THE MET TWITTER ACCOUNT AND POINTED OUT THAT THEIR ATTITUDE TO IT IS DISGUSTING, I SUGGEST EVRYONE ELSE DOES THE SAME. UNTIL POLICE TAKE TWAT DRIVING EVIDENCE SERIOUSLY, THINGS WILL ONLY GET WORSE!
Nice KINGHORN, don't do Twitter (maybe I should) but I did email the bakery pointing out that one of their drivers needs speaking to and posted a link to the YouTube clip (in the public domain). So far, no reply.