Near Miss of the Day 525: Cyclist has to thump on taxi window as driver squeezes him into verge

Nearly very nasty. Well done on avoiding the accident. Does the car behind the Taxi flash him to say I'm here or let him back in? If they did that probably made matters even worse. 

This clip has got me thinking how road cycling has changed!

I have been a keen cyclist for 40 years now, mainly in London and SE England.  Back in the 80's and 90's, close passing was a lot more common than now.  Generally, that was the worst I experienced apart from a rare case of negligent driving.  I rarely encountered any acts of aggressive driving, such as deliberate high speed close passes or being 'nudged into the kerb'.

More recently I have found many more drivers are more considerate and actually pass with greater distance.  However, I now experience acts of driving aggression such as: 1) deliberate high speed close passes ("punishment passes"). 2) As per this video, overtake then followed immediately with a side swipe 'nudging' me into the kerb. 3) Drivers deliberately pulling out of side turnings into my path even though they have seen me clearly.

It seems to me, as cycling has become more popular and there are many, many more cyclists on the roads, there has been a growing resentment within a small minority of drivers against this trend.

BTW: I have also been a driver in London for 37 years.  Several years I worked as a delivery driver throughout London.

Had one a while ago where I had to make a driver aware of my presence by thumping on the window as I was being squeezed into the kerb. With the support of video evidence, that driver now has a conviction for Careless Driving; plus Common Assault and Public Order offences due to the subsequent behaviour.

Taxi driver is guilty, and you'd probably have got him if you'd hung back after the window-thumping (which was completely justified). GoPro would certainly have nailed him

I will say Thames Valley Police have been excellent with letting me know the outcomes of close passes that I’ve uploaded onto their portal (funnily enough each time the police officer has told me that the person driving the vehicle has said ‘I’m a cyclist myself’)

I am interested in this comment- has the outcome included any real action, which means prosecution, or has it all been pretend action like 'we've had a word with the driver' (which means they did nothing at all) or 'we have sent a warning letter' (which means they probably did nothing at all, but even if they sent a letter they'll make sure they don't notice that if the same driver does it again)?

When the police interview a cyclist about an offence they always say 'I'm a cyclist myself'- but in Police Newspeak this means anyone who has ever been on a bike once from the age of 2.

It's like deja vu. I'll repeat my post from NMOTD 523. The HC is clear "DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example approaching or at a road junction on either side of the road".

Must have been one of those kind, considerate cabbies who are so concerned about the disabled.  I hope you offered him compensation.

Typical MGIF driver. 

Good to hear that TVP do feedback reports, I've reported a punishment pass last week, driver took it upon themselves to enforce a non-existing rule of telling me to ride of poor shared path to the left of me.

Why was the driver in the hatched area ?

Interesting overtake by the tractor. Reasonable in terms of distance and cutting back in, but utterly pointless in terms of progression - the rider was going a similar speed. MGIF writ large....

It never ceases to amaze how so-called professional drivers can go about with such poor awareness of hazards on the road. It is a shame but understandable that you didn't stop to take reg and company details. I too would have been relieved that I didn't get crushed against the verge. This moron will more than likely put the next unfortunate cyclist in danger no doubt very soon.

Get a better camera (Go Pro with image stabliser) or better padding around the connection between the bike and the camera as all the jittery roads make it useless unfortunately. 

As for what I could tell, arsehole cabby was going to pass you AND the tractor then had to abort and thought you would give way. You shouldn't have to but I probably would have as 2 tonne car V 90kgs is a no win. Shame nothing could be done about the twat though.