Near Miss of the Day 757: 4x4 driver pushes cyclists “into the gutter” (video includes swearing)

A stand-off between a 4x4 driver and a pair of cyclists out for a ride near St Helens in Merseyside features in our Near Miss of the Day series today, with the motorist stopped on the wrong side of the road after encountering a pair of dog walkers in front of him.

The footage was shot by road.cc reader Sparrowlegs, who told us: “Tonight a friend and I were having a nice ride out round the back of Rainford in the North West.

“All was going well until we encountered someone who literally couldn’t have got the Highway Code any more incorrect than he did.

“We could see the dog walkers chatting in the road and the car turn on to the road. We thought he’d stop as the blockage was on his side but he proceeded to take up the whole lane and then push us in to the gutter.

“Not content with that he then got aggressive and got out of his car to tell us just how wrong we were and how he had the right of way as he’s in a car and ‘knobheads’ like us are always wanting all the road to ourselves.

“I must admit I lost my cool at one point as he just couldn’t see how he was in the wrong, he was in a car after all!

“I’m happy for you to correct me if I’m wrong but I think the Highway Code proves us correct,” he added.

For an alternative view of the incident, here’s the video that Sparrowlegs’ riding partner shot.

> 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