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news
Near Miss of the Day 494: Cyclist forced to swerve as skip lorry driver pulls out on him
Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows the moment a cyclist in Buckinghamshire had to swerve as the driver of a skip lorry started pulling out of a side road just as he was passing.
It was filmed in Jigh Wycombe by road.cc reader Lyndon, who told us: "Had a close encounter with a rather large vehicle today 400 metres into my commute home. The road has plenty of potholes on the left, so riding slightly towards the centre is needed.
"I've also developed a habit where I move towards the centre of my lane when approaching junctions on my left, sort of like taking primary position with road furniture.
"Lucky that I did, or I may have wound up in the skip. I had a flashing front light on, and as I swerved to the right I could see the driver was looking to his left - not towards oncoming traffic.
> 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.
> 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.
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24 comments
Clearly, given that he's looking left means he's 'looked' to his right some way before the Give Way lines, and assumes that as 'there wasn't anything coming' when he 'looked' the first time, there won't be now, so why 'look' a second time?
Bellend.
Maybe it's time to abolish "give way" markings at junctions and replace with mandatory "stop" lines so people are forced to look properly and not be tempted to see if they can make the gap.
That brings a new problem; a compulsory stop is overkill for 90% of journeys, which will mean that most folk tolerate violations. (A bit like doing 35 in a 30 zone, or going through late on a yellow light). Once it's become normalised for people to break a safety system that protects a junction, we may have more (and more severe) accidents.
Some other countries have mandatory 4-way stops at crossroads, and they're *terrifying* - drivers are often tempted to go through the junction faster rather than stopping, in order to get into the junction before some other mug who's supposed to obey the stop sign.
Where are four way stop junctions terrifying? I've only come across these in the US but my experience is that at most some drivers will do an Idaho stop. Ie slowly roll into the junction. And they're diligently policed with zero latitude given.
It's the same old story - deja vu all over again. Two moving objects that remain on a constant coverging bearing in relation to each other will inevitably collide. The driver kept on rolling and didn't move his head and so the cyclist remains hidden behind the driver's mirror - it's only when the driver changes direction and the cyclist swerves does the driver see him and have a mild heart attack.
Always assume that a vehicle that rolls up to a give way line on a constant bearing to you is going to pull out on you - if you can't see the driver's head, it's a near certainty.
Cue "He came out of nowhere" - no he didn't - he was there the whole time - you just didn't look properly
Indeed.
I think the front right pillar/side mirror causes a blind spot.
The driver fails to see the cyclist as they are both moving and the position of the cyclist remains in the blindspot untill in front of the vehicle.
Very similar to my own incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i96CaQEwuVk
I think the key phrase is "I could see the driver was looking to his left - not towards oncoming traffic. " I always try to make eye contact in situations like this and if no eye contact is made I assume he'll come out. Diificult to say from the video but I'm happy to accept the cyclists version of events.
Having said that, a few years ago in a similar situation with a car, I thought I had made eye contact but he pulled out anyway. I went over the bonnet. I was a lot younger then and did a neat roll on the other side and thought I'd got away with it. The driver apologised profusely and the adrellain was flowing so I left it at that. About half an hour later the pain started and I ended up feeling very sore the next day but no damage done other than a broken pedal. I wasn't wearing a helmet so I guess it would have been seen as my fault.
That's a new one; not wearing a helmet caused the driver to pull out on you
At least you weren't seriously hurt or with that logic were you?
No helmet and no hi-viz is the full combination that means "I want you to hit me" - every magistrate knows that.
"Why, oh why don't schools make children wear hi viz on their bikes" - perfect cue here for a recent local newspaper letters column dust-up.
"If this was a building site..." was the comments angle.
Allow me explain cyclists' belligerence about this: "so let me get it straight, I have to wear "safety equipment" because you can't drive properly?" Is that it?
You've seriously misinterpreted what they've said in the rush to be self-righteously funny at someone else's expense. They were making exactly the point you are.
The rear view camera gives the best sense of the problem.
It looks to me like the truck brakes heavily and shudders, because they've overshot the junction.
I'll leave the "victim blaming" to others 😉😀
If you're referring to my post, I was in no way "victim blaming", I didn't say anything about the cyclist being at fault, just that I wasn't sure it really qualified as a near miss as far as I could see. Maybe have a think before trotting out the old cliches, eh?
Sorry, what am I missing here? The lorry is driving towards the junction at low speed, the cyclist passes, the lorry pulls out. The cyclist's rear view camera clearly shows that the lorry doesn't cross the give way line until the cyclist is past the junction. How is this a "near miss"? Appreciate what the cyclist says about taking the middle of the road, but he appears to be assuming that if he wasn't in that position the driver would have done the same regardless. Watched this four times to try to figure out the problem, can't see it.
I found it hard to follow with the layout. I think the issue is the driver seems to hit the brakes very late and the cyclist road position helped avoid a collision.
But if you have to rewatch something a few times then maybe be not the best pick for nmotd.
Seems a valid near miss, but maybe not as blatant as some of the aggressive close passes we often see. I think if the rider was just a second later going past it could have been a whole lot different, as the driver clearly over shot the give way lines way by the time they saw and acknowledged the danger.
According to a couple of my colleagues, their children when learning are taught to approach junctions at higher speeds than I was, so you get these situations where the driver appears not to be stopping but intends to.
If they are taught this way, seems a bit stupid as it increases risk just so that they can pull out of the junction quicker.
My daughter's just passed her driving test and she certainly wasn't taught to approach junctions quickly. In fact approaching at speed is disconcerning to other motorists, risks a rear end and in the event of brake failure the handbrake wont be sufficient.
i'd put it to your colleagues that they had a shit driving instructor.
I also have had a number of friends comment on their children being taught not to slow down on the approach to junctions/ lights and to brake at the last minute. I don't know if it is because of the new technology behind braking systems or what. But it feels counter intuitive to someone who was taught to slow down on approach and use gears to slow down as this allowed you to see approaching traffic and aided fuel consumption!
The other day I had a motorist who for all appearances was not decelerating on his approach to a junction. Fortunately I was in primary but even with that I still was in process of swerving! He then seemed to notice me and braked heavily causing his nose to dip and still crossing the line.
it's hard to tell from the clip what the intentions of the driver were but when you hear the clattering of the chains it has been a harsh brake so can only assume he was prepared to roll out until he saw the cyclist at the last minute.
I think you're missing that the lorry appeared not to be stopping at the give way line as the cyclist was passing, requiring evasive action - there was no guarantee that the lorry would have stopped at all since the driver appeared not to see the cyclist. The fact the lorry has had to brake hard once it's over the line is evidence enough that it's a near miss, along with the evident swerve of the cyclist toward the centre of the carriageway.
Rule 170: "Do not cross or join a road until there is a gap large enough for you to do so safely."
Hint: the fact that the lorry disappears from a 135 degree field of view at the front does not mean that the cyclist is clear of the lorry.
I half expected the low bright sun to be the issue,I dont think it's clear if the lorry overshot the junction or did stop went to pull away & stopped again,all you can say is I dont think they saw the cyclist till the last second, who did the right thing riding defensively to cover it, & was fortunately out of harms way & past the lorry, so it's one of those yeah that was close & worse on review than it probably felt as it happened riding it, which maybe why it doesnt feel like a nmotd as I'd hate to think of all the near misses I've had like that which not having a rear camera I can be blissfully unaware of.
Looks to me like the lorry driver did not see the cyclist until the cyclist was literally right in front of the lorry driver, at which point the lorry driver slammed on the brakes (having already crossed the give way lines without slowing).
Maybe the cyclist would have cleared the lorry even without evasive action and/or the driver eventually spotting the cyclist, but it seems pretty evident to me that this was very close to a SMIDSY t-bone that could easily have caused serious injury or death to the cyclist.
Spidey sense a'tingling there old boy!....