Near Miss of the Day 921: Cyclist suffers "aggressive" close pass by BMW driver, but left "very disappointed" by police response which suggests "you need to be physically injured for more serious action"

When a Scottish cyclist suffered an "aggressive" close pass from a driver at a roundabout they were left questioning why the motorist did not "just wait five seconds" for a safe place to overtake? Having reported the video footage to the police — and been told the driver would only receive "corrective advice" as the manoeuvre was "perhaps unavoidable" — the cyclist has been left with even more questions over Police Scotland's handling of cases such as his.

"Clearly you actually need to be physically injured for more serious action to be taken," road.cc reader Jonathan told us. "I was very disappointed in Police Scotland's response – although the police did say they would approach the driver with advice, they appeared, at least in part, to be excusing the driver before even speaking to them. It suggests a general view that, as cyclists, we should just put up with such aggressive behaviour."

The incident happened in January, Jonathan explaining how it occurred as he was "turning right into my home street off of the main road — the A913 in Perthshire between Perth and St Andrews — which is a 30 mph area outside the local school".

"I was overtaken very closely by a white BMW on the single carriageway entry to a roundabout with a traffic island at that entry point," he said, suggesting that visibility should not have been a factor given it was a clear day and he had a flashing rear light and bright clothing.

"As can be seen in the video, the car [driver] approached me from behind on a straight road so had visibility of me for at least a quarter of a mile," he continued.

"Rather than add five seconds to their journey, they elected to speed past me at the entry to the roundabout, initiating that manoeuvre at the point where the road markings began to be 'hatched' in anticipation of the traffic island at the entry to the roundabout and completing the manoeuvre by narrowly avoiding both me and the traffic island. I apologise in advance for the language on the video, but in my defence I got a major fright!"

Jonathan reported the footage to Police Scotland (something he jokes is "not a straightforward process" as there is not currently an online portal to submit footage directly) and was told the driver would be sought for "corrective advice, with discretion in mind, bearing in mind there was no collision and no injury on this occasion".

> Cyclists in Scotland finally set to be able to submit dangerous driving footage to online police portal… by autumn 2025 – two years after road safety tool scrapped amid claims police inaction was making Scotland's roads "less safe"

Sharing more of the force's comments about the incident, the cyclist explains he was also told: "The vehicle appeared to take an unconventional path toward the junction however it seemed that it moved to this position at a similar time that you moved across to display your intention to go right… however the road surroundings are tight and perhaps this was unavoidable."

Jonathan told us he was left "very disappointed" by the response and comments above. 

"To say that the path was 'unconventional' seemed to me something of an understatement," he said. "It seemed to me to be wholly unacceptable and reckless putting me, as a vulnerable road user, in danger. The manoeuvre was clearly avoidable – just wait five seconds. 

"And in any case, how is this example of an overtake in any way consistent with the Highway Code instruction to 'leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph' and to 'wait behind the... cyclist... and not overtake if it is unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances'? It clearly ignores the instruction: 'DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example... stay behind if you are following a cyclist approaching a roundabout or junction, and you intend to turn left'.

> Near Miss of the Day 920: "This was a typical 'Oh look a cyclist, I must pass them' without any thought for the situation"

"I was very disappointed in Police Scotland's response – although the police did say they would approach the driver with advice, they appeared, at least in part, to be excusing the driver before even speaking to them. It suggests a general view that, as cyclists, we should just put up with such aggressive behaviour. I will revert to the police with my further comments, but it is clear that they consider this minor. Hopefully this attitude will improve in the future."

road.cc will also contact Police Scotland for comment on the case.

Last week, we reported that Police Scotland faced questions from Scottish cyclists over "measures being taken to protect vulnerable road users", the force stating that it would increase patrols and take reports of close passes "seriously" following the death of a "very experienced" cyclist in a collision last month.

> 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