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Near Miss of the Day 509: The (equal) most pointless close pass ever

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's South Wales...

“The most pointless close pass ever?” asked Paul, who sent us today’s near miss. Quite possibly – but only equal worst alongside all the millions of other occasions when drivers have done the exact same thing.

The incident occurred on Thomas Street in Abertridwr, Caerphilly, on Monday December 7.

As you can see, the driver pulled alongside Paul and forced him over, at pretty much the exact moment they were being forced to stop because of a queue of traffic.

“The driver of this vehicle had no regard that I was there,” said Paul, adding that the car had brushed against him during the manoeuvre.

“When I tapped on the window and said, ‘You need to be more aware of cyclists madam,’ she rolled her eyes and drove off. The message is simple: please be aware of other road users.

“I have not reported this to the police as I believe it to be a waste of time.”

> 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

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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32 comments

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andystow replied to Supers79 | 3 years ago
2 likes

I've folded a mirror in before as I was pushed off the road. Not sure that was any inconvenience as the type of person to drive like that probably never looks in them.

I've also found that my wedding ring makes a very satisfying sound banged on a car window, but doesn't break it.

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quiff replied to Gary's bike channel | 3 years ago
1 like

In younger, stupider years I did once 'allow' myself to be left-hooked to make a point to the oblivious driver. I saw it coming and probably could have avoided impact entirely, but instead braked only enough to make a controlled but loud impact on the side of a Transit van. Quite a satisfying noise, but no way I'd do it deliberately now. I seem to remember I also opened the passenger door to ask what he thought he was doing. Must have had a death wish.         

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