Near Miss of the Day 844: Driver insists cyclists who film motorists are asking to be hit

A driver who made a punishment pass on a cyclist in Norfolk insisted to the rider afterwards that people on bikes who use action cameras to film motorists are asking to be hit.

After beeping his horn twice as he made a close pass on the cyclist, the driver said to him: “You’re enticing people to hit you, aren’t you, you’ve got that little camera on there.”

Pointing inside his vehicle, the 71-year-old driver – who would receive a £100 fine for driving without reasonable consideration for others, and had his driving licence endorsed with three penalty points – added: “I’ve got a camera as well.”

Video of the incident, which happened in May last year on Mile Cross Road in Norwich, was posted to Twitter earlier last week by user That Guy on the Bike, who tweets as @TGontbike.

"Your enticing people to hit you, aren't you?"
Dear reader, I'm really not. I just want to get home alive.
Police issued the driver 71 year old driver 3pts and £100 fine.
Offence: Driving without reasonable consideration to others#BD64NWX pic.twitter.com/QHR2frBSGk

— ThatGuyOnTheBike (@TGonthebike) January 8, 2023

I think quite a lot of bad drivers have dashcam because they are convinced they are excellent drivers. There have been quite a few convictions using drivers' own footage.

— ThatGuyOnTheBike (@TGonthebike) January 8, 2023

“This was a particularly unusual punishment pass in that, when I caught up with the driver not long after he was quite happy to explain why he did it, knowing full well that I was filming him,” That Guy on the Bike told us.

“Essentially, his argument was that I was too far out from the kerb and that I was enticing drivers to hit me so I could film them.

“He continued to ague his case but once his female passenger chipped in about insurance and road tax I took that as my cue to leave.

“I have to say that the Norfolk and Suffolk DashCam team have become excellent,” he added, “so I want to thank them for all their hard work and I’d recommend them to anyone.”

> 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’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.

> Here's what to do if you capture a near miss, close pass or collision on camera while cycling