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news
Near Miss of the Day 547: “My fellow riders did not know how I was not hit,” says cyclist as Jeep driver tailgates overtaking motorbikers through pinch point
Updated: Adrian has been back in touch with us on 1 March to tell us that the driver was prosecuted and received £100 fine and had their driving licence endorsed with three penalty points.
“My fellow riders did not know how I was not hit” – that’s what the cyclist who filmed this close pass in Worcestershire told us as he submitted the footage for our Near Miss of the Day series, and it’s certainly a close one as the driver of a large SUV follows a line of motor bikers past a group of cyclists, overtaking the lead one just as the road narrows due to a pinch point.
The incident happened back in August, with road.cc reader Adrian telling us: “As part of the Gloucester Cycling Club four of us were in a single file approaching Upton upon Severn, Worcestershire.
“We were passed by multiple motorbikes with plenty of room. However as we approached a pinch point with a centre island a final motorbike came through and as the space was running out I thought I heard another bike overtaking, but instead it turned out to be a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
“Absolute idiot and my fellow riders watching from behind me did not know how I was not hit.
“The pass was so bad, I submitted the footage to the West Mercia Police force, but heard absolutely nothing. Then after two months of silence I complained the Chief Constable of the force,” Adrian added.
“This did get a response but I never heard if the driver was prosecuted.”
> 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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Adrian has been back in touch with us on 1 March to tell us that the driver was prosecuted and received £100 fine and had their driving licence endorsed with three penalty points
This is an excellent result. I would be happy with it. Most of these people get away with no action whatsoever.
£100 fine and 3 points sounds like it was dealt with by way of Fixed Penalty Notice.
Thanks for chasing this up
Good result. Well done, Adrian.
Moderately good. Given the seriousness of the offence and the callous disregard for other people's safety, I think the penalty is extremely lenient. Much better would be a year's ban and a retest.
Certainly more serious than simply speeding is what cops seemed to have equally compared to.
>More appropriate penalty should have actually reflected the nature of driving with intent to endanger life and required court action and not a pathetic fixed penalty.
Traffic islands are hands down the most dangerous thing for cyclists IMO.
When I see one coming up I just take the lane and make it impossible for anyone to overtake.
They are so dangerous.
While I can see your point, it isn't the islands that are dangerous; it's the drivers.
The comments in this thread and other threads for that matter, about crimes and victims.
The problem is that 'close passes', careless driving, dangerous driving etc are NOT crimes. They are offences under the Road Traffic Act and as such there is no 'victim'. You can be a driver, rider or casualty, even a witness. But, there's no 'victim' label. You could be treated from the investigating officer's perspective as a victim and even presented in court as a victim, but legally not.
So the complainant then falls between legal guidelines and Victim Support doesn't get involved and there is no onus, or requirement for the police to update the (they say) complainant or witness / (we say) victim.
This would be a start, to get vulnerable road users treated as victims and not complainants/witnesses.
There is a precedent in that drivers/riders/casualties in Road Traffic Collisions should get updates. But, there again I've read plenty of examples on road.cc where it's obvious that an RTC has occurred and the police have fobbed it off, either not recorded it, or not investigated it.
A crime is the same thing as an offence. Offence = criminal offence.
Is it and it isn't.
Speeding for example is an offence under the Road Traffic Act but is not classed as a criminal offence if you accept the FPN and points. It is a criminal offence if you decide to take to a court and found guilty though. I expect the same for a lot of others like Careless and Dangerous driving if the FPN is offered to them.
Exactly. As I understand it, you also don't get a criminal record for anything dealt with by Fixed Penalty Notice. After all ... strictly speaking you haven't actually been formally charged with, or convicted of, a criminal offence.
FWIW: Something does not magically become a criminal offence just because you choose to contest the charge. That would be illogical because if it is not a criminal offence then you would not have need to contest it. Speeding is a criminal offence. If you accept a FPN you will likely avoid prosecution for this criminal offence. There are many criminal offences where a formal caution is issued and the perpetrator avoids a criminal prosecution. However, if they repeat offend the earlier offence will be taken into account in sentencing. It is not possible to do that if it is not actually a crime.
"I am the Law"
Offence = road traffic offence
If you were caught doing 50mph in a 30mph zone, you wouldn't get the option of a Fixed Penalty Notice. It would be a summons straight to court.
Then if you pleaded guilty or found guilty after pleading 'not guilty' (and subsequent trial) you would have your driving licence endorsed, but no criminal record.
However, some more serious motoring offences are known as 'recordable offences' and will appear on your criminal record.
Consider littering, would that really be suitable for a criminal record?
I'm sure this point will be addressed in the review of road law that the government announced.......I've forgotten exactly how many years ago but it was quite a few.
You know, I'd quite forgotten that particular Govt promise...
It has been such a long time since you bought that one up.
I'd almost forgotten about it, good reminder.
Wow...
It was 2014, wasn't it?
Irrespective of what category this appalling overtake falls into there's one thought that immediatley springs to mind and that's when a pinch point approaches turn and look around and maybe (IF IT"S SAFE) move into the middle of your lane to stop overtakes like this happening.
Simply turning and looking round is often enough but blocking this manoevre is sometimes the best way forward.
Simply turning and looking round is often enough
The problem is the mobile pinch points produced by oncoming traffic. I have no doubt that this b****** is driving this way many times a day.
They don't seem bothered about close passing, but will take a vehicle possibly with false plates rather more seriously
Except they don't. Pretty much no traffic offences are taken seriously by Lancashire Constabulary- I suppose that if you charge past a police car stopped at a red light they may wake up, but torpor is the best description of them.
Little question, you've turned, looked and it isn't safe, what do you do?
You definitely cannot weave in front of idiots like this.
I don't get the 'I did get a response…'
What was the response?
"We didn't see the response as it wasn't wearing hi viz!"
I actually flinched watching that one - it's horrendous.
completely unacceptable that the cops ignored this report.
According to the Vehicle Registration on GOV.UK......K200 SMS...is a Grey Land Rover so was this car on false plates.
Video shot in August. VED renewal date 1 Sept 2021. So it's possible they changed cars in the month after the video was made.
It could be K200 SKS, but that's a black Vauxhall.
As there are questions over the legality of the plate on the vehicle, it might be an idea to resubmit the video to the cops. They don't seem bothered about close passing, but will take a vehicle possibly with false plates rather more seriously. It's of note that when a vehicle has false plates, there is a strong likelihood other offences will be linked with the driver/keeper.
Note also that research shows criminals have a high rate of committing driving offences. It's the link with risk taking/anti social behaviour.
Curious about the number plate. It looks like K200SMS, but that comes up as a Landrover. Maybe the turd changed cars since the video was taken, or maybe the plate is just defaced - what looks like the M is far from clear.
The law needs to change so that all police forces are required to provide a response to submitted footage within a set timeframe, and similar to a small claims, if the perpetrator does not provide a counter to the claim they will be given penalty points and a fine. If they contest the claim and lose, they get a stronger penalty. This is the only way to put a halt on this growing trend of driver aggression towards cyclists.
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