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news
Road rage with cyclists-stopped. 0-46 screenshotNear Miss of the Day 564: “You’re on camera – I suggest you leave it!” – cyclist intervenes in road rage incident
“You’re on camera – I suggest you leave it!” – that's the advice a cyclist in Dorset gave a driver after a near coming-together between his car and two other riders started to escalate into a road rage incident, as shown here in the latest video in our Near Miss of the Day feature.
The incident happened in Christchurch, and road.cc reader Gary, who filmed it, believes it is the poor design of the bike lane as it approaches a roundabout that brought the motorist and cyclists into conflict.
"The cycle lane is on the left, but as it gets to the roundabout, it pushes you closer to any cars who might be in the road," he explained.
"The driver overtakes fine, but the bad design of the cycle lane means it curves in just as you reach the roundabout. The result is the car comes closer to the cyclists, and the cyclists get closer to the car.
"The car got a tap from the rider, and the driver then came alongside beeping.
"I've been involved in far too many of these situations, so I yelled', "You're on camera! I suggest you leave it!"
He added: "They took note and went away. Only to be overtaken back by me 1.5 miles on. Because we know, cars are faster than bicycles."
> 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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26 comments
I am suprised that road was so empty of traffic, it's normally solid all the way into Christchurch. This driving is typical of the area though, the 'must overtake' cyclists at any cost even though they know there will be a junction or traffic queue within a few hundred yards. On the rare occasion I am driving I hold back behind cyclists until it is safe to overtake and as a result I drive slower, but it doesnt impact my overall journey time. The journey is more comfortable and more enjoyable (as if driving through town could be enjoyable) because my speed is more consistent.
poor as these cycle lanes are (and not the most consistant lines from the riders either) the biggest issue with the road layout is the stop start nature of the cycle lane, it simply disappears 10yds before the r/bout, the very pinch point where it is most needed.
As many others have said I would be happier not to have these stupid crappy lanes if they are not up to standard and improving our lot, in this instance I would much rather be "out in the traffic"
I'm pretty sure the local councils got money for putting in so many mile of 'cycle lanes' a few years ago and that included murder strips. This is why you got too thin ones or stop starts ones and the occasional one less then a few metres long as every metre counted towards it. The the definition and actual guidelines were put in place which stopped that practice.
There is one road near me where the council actually moved the centre markings more to the right as the dual Carriageway was wide enough. The means the near lane is wide for a cyclist and a car to pass safely without needing to cross the markings but they haven't bothered to paint a cycle lane as not needed.
about 20 years ago yes I think the government offered councils financial boosts to grants they received to increase the total mileage of cycle lanes, and the result was usually a bunch of paint and not fit for purpose stuff put in.
that said, where such stuff has then been scrubbed out by road upgrades that focus on motorists needs, and that ignore the cyclists, those road usually actually feel much worse to ride on, worse than roads that had no infra to begin with, so Im not sold on ripping that stuff out because its doing something even if its not what youd hope would be called cycling infra these days.
I would much prefer bike lanes (the narrow ones that aren't segregated) to be completely abolished, unless they are able to be wide enough such that a car would naturally be the 1.5m away from a cyclist positioned somewhat to the left of centre.
I preference I would like to simply see cycle symbols in the middle of road lanes, reminding cars that cyclists have equal right to be there. And on that note, cycle symbols to be used in conjunction with cycle lane lines. Too many drivers think that cyclists must be in the cycle lane.
I took a quick ride across Reading down the Oxford Road yesterday, occasional spice run, 60 quids worth and a very full bag. The Oxford Road has those cycle symbols on the road with no cycle lanes and a supposed 20 mph limit. I was of course faster than the rest of the traffic, still didn't stop the impatient from a few "reckless" (and pointless, of course) passes.
Thing is, good that they maybe, I don't think most drivers really look at the road too much. We have to, and it probably translates into when cyclist drivers are in their cars. When I'm a passenger I know I'm noticing the appraching potholes.
I would like to simply see cycle symbols in the middle of road lanes, reminding cars that cyclists have equal right to be there. And on that note, cycle symbols to be used in conjunction with cycle lane lines. Too many drivers think that cyclists must be in the cycle lane
Very good idea!
in case none of you can hear it, once i caught the car up the first time, the passenger asked me' did you get it on camera?'' so im pretty sure it was that that stopped them escalating it further. Proof cameras can help stop rage. Not in all cases, but occasionally.
Looked like the car overtook the cyclists then they chose to undertake at the roundabout. Dont rely on super cycling "infrastucture" to keep you safe. And if you cycle into a problem well there you go.
Nope, he barely overtook one of them and kept pace with the other going into the roundabout and squeezing him in.
Overtaking on the approach to a mini roundabout (amongst other situations) simply demonstrates an inability to look ahead, anticipate and adjust speed to avoid exactly this type of entanglement.
Cyclists are really easy to overtake safely yet such a simple manoeuvre appears to flumox far too many motorists.
even more so, when they don't over take, but in fact only ever pull along side. At no point is the car ahead of the cyclists
The cycle lane is a joke. Too narrow, and creating conflict. Don't know why anyone uses them. Add that to the joke standard of driving round here, and you see this conflict daily in bcp and new forest every day.
One of my pet peeves being overtaken right on a junction, especially a mini roundabout ; it doesn't even matter if I'm in prime they, motorists, just go over the white centre.
The description failed to mention that the second cyclist in line p ut fromthe kerb line without looking behindas the car drew alongside. Nothing to do with crap infrastructure, just rider in attention
if the driver was going right at the roundabout then maybe pulling alongside near a roundabout could be excused, going left/straight on and assuming the cyclists will simply disappear and get out of your way because car, not on imo. The car had to stop anyway because there was already one of those metal 4 wheel objects on the roundabout, which any decent amount of braincell activity would have considered a strong possibility of happening.
dont overtake cyclists on roundabout approaches like that, they just make you look incompetent
It looked like the driver was indicating to turn right, at least on my screen, I could be wrong though.
so why did the car end up going left/straight on instead ? or leave a car and halfs width gap on their right side at the roundabout ?
actually on review, its lucky the car did have to stop at the roundabout, because I think with a clear road,theyd have simply accelerated into that first exit and left the cyclists no room at all as the road layout means theyd have had their front wheels chopped across
If the car was allowing the correct 1.5m passing distance, they wouldn't have been 'alongside' and the cyclist wouldn't necessarily need to look behind to move out a few cm. What if there had been a pothole or other obstruction necessitating a sudden course deviation of a foot or two? The HC explicitly states that drivers should leave sufficient room for this exact reason.
But drivers like Nicmason know better than the highway code, and know it is unreasonabkle to expect drivers to leave too much space.
Crap infrastructure doesn't help, but in this case it's irelevant on account that there was none at all. Paint ≠ Infra.
The issue here was driver inattention, lack of knowledge of HWC, and general negligent and incompetent driving.
When looking at individual cases it is without fail the driver that is responsible for their crap behaviour, regardless of how poor the layout is - always drive to the conditions
146 - "Adapt your driving to the appropriate type and condition of road you are on. In particular
In any case not only did the driver fail to observe 163 re close pass, but they also failed on
162 - "Before overtaking you should make sure
167 - "stay behind if you are following a cyclist approaching a roundabout or junction, and you intend to turn left"
Not to mention
112 - "The horn. Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence. Never sound your horn aggressively."
And of course
147 - "Be considerate. Be careful of and considerate towards all types of road users, especially those requiring extra care
But yeh, f*cking cyclists....
And all of that also applies to the cyclists.
Cyclist inattention.
IMO cyclist in groups often seem to be more interested in the others in their group and not in whats going on all around them.
All of those are examples of how the driver intimidated and endangered the riders in direct contravention of the hwc, either deliberately or through incompetence.
Care to share how you believe the riders endangered the driver Nic?
Crap cycling infratructure that actually puts cyclist in more danger. Better known as 'moordstrookje' (Murderstrips) in Belgium. Not an excuse for crap driving.
I'm sure I read somewhere that painted cycle lanes increase the risk of cyclist casualties...
https://road.cc/content/news/advisory-bike-lines-increase-risk-cyclist-c...
Crap cycling infratructure that actually puts cyclist in more danger
Agreed- so-called cycle lanes like this are much worse than useless and fully deserve the Flemish description!