Near Miss of the Day 850: "Lights, reflectors and hi-vis — if they ain't looking they won't see you"

You've no doubt heard the argument about cyclists and hi-vis by now...

You might have even read a certain loophole-loving lawyer's since-rejected petition and media rounds about the idea cyclists should be required to wear bright hi-vis clothing on the roads.

On the other hand, others, notably the Surrey Police Roads Policing Unit, have pointed out you can wear all the visible clothing in the world, but if someone is not looking then they are not going to see you anyway...

How have you turned this into a discussion about high viz?

We have cars covered in it and big flashy lights and drivers STILL don’t see us. pic.twitter.com/e4PF8v7uqu

— Roads Policing - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) June 26, 2020

That's the basis for today's Near Miss of the Day offering too which comes courtesy of a reader who was riding at night when the driver ahead started to drift across to the wrong side of the road, getting closer and closer.

Listing the full array of safety brightness on display, our reader told us he had: "Two front lights, two rear lights, reflectors all over and I was wearing a hi-vis jacket.

"Not much to comment apart from 'If they ain't looking they won't see you'."

Back in December we heard from another highly visible cyclist, for NMotD 838, after they were almost knocked off at a mini-roundabout, only for the driver involved to run a red light to avoid having to explain their behaviour moments later.

"Tell me again about hi-vis and lights!" the rider concluded.

> 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