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news
(Not so) Near Miss of the Day 496: Driver deliberately slams on brakes, causing cyclist to crash
The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series starts with a driver overtaking a couple of cyclists dangerously - and ends with the motorist shortly afterwards slamming his brakes on without warning, causing one of the riders to crash.
It was filmed in Dorney, Buckinghamshire yesterday by road.cc reader Lyndon (and is the second video from him we have featured this week), who told us: "I had an encounter today which I'd consider a hit and run.
"It was a nice day so a friend and I decided to head down to Windsor, Berkshire. Just outside of Dorney Lake, a white BMW followed passed very closely.
"I knew there was a busy junction ahead and figured I'd catch the driver up at the junction and tell them to be more considerate.
"When I got near the the car, he saw me and brake checked me, and I went into the back of him. If you play the video slowly, you can see him looking in his wing mirror as I am falling down.
"I am completely dumbfounded as not only did the collision make a loud bang, that the passenger in the vehicle did not encourage him to stop at the scene.
"It's a sad state of affairs when someone knocks a cyclist down and leaves them in the road.
"I have sent the footage to the police, full files of front and rear footage where the faces of the driver and passenger are visible. I can only hope Thames Valley Police will prosecute him," he added.
"I do not understand how someone who behaves this way is permitted to use a vehicle on public roads."
> 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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75 comments
Video link now broken. Does that mean the Rozzers are involved properly?
Essentially what's happened is that the BMW driver has checked his car, has seen some damage to the bumper and has now reported the incident to the police.
The police are investigating the cyclist for criminal damage and this video has become important evidence.
For the drivers sake, the police are doing all they can to ensure justice prevails, however there are concerns that, as a custodial sentence is unlikely to be applied here, the cyclist may not have sufficient means / insurance to facilitate suitable compensation for the driver.
Hoping for an update in the next few days.
In related news, the passenger of the BMW car is receiving councelling for the mental trauma caused by the cyclists aggression in this attack.
I've privatised the video for the time being. I am still waiting for police to respond to my submission, but don't want to give them a reason to not pursue the driver.
I am still waiting for police to respond
Don't wait too long- the primary police weapon is delay, followed by losing the documentation so "now too late to process", you're only a witness, we have taken some action but we're not going to tell you what it was...
You need to phone 101 Lyndon and ask for an update. If you don't chase it, it could get overlooked.
I figured I'd give them a week before chasing. That will still give them 7 days to get an FPN in the post if they decide to pursue. I'll ring up tomorrow.
Spot on.
Any acknowledgement at all from the police?
Just watched that again... It's such a shame that the chap did chase after the BMW as that pass was ludicrous and any force not taking action in response would have serious questions to answer.
Alas the relaliation, the subsequent 'criminal damage deliberately caused to the car' (getting into the mindset of a contemporary police force there), will more than negate any need to investigate.
If you've got a camera on, you've won... surely?
But... and its worth noting this, should forces not take action when viable video evidence is submitted (and we are not demanding witch hunts here, a snooty letter to the driver will probably suffice 90% of the time), then more vigilante action is going to be the only natural side effect.
Retaliation? Cycling faster is not retaliation. If he had kicked out or damaged the car or the driver, then that would have been retaliation.
"If you've got a camera on, you've won... surely?" Yes but adrenalin sometimes takes over, especially with the starting close pass.
I had one on Monday when we are supposed to be in lockdown, squeezing through with oncoming vehicle when all they had to do was wait 10 seconds. I did want to catch up and speak to them, although in this instance I felt I would be in control and it wouldn't have been a rant.
I regularly have a run-in with the same driver of a white van in my village.
He close passes at speed, if I'm going through where there's only room for one vehicle (with parked cars all the way down the right hand side of the road, so I'm riding in the left lane, so it's my priority) then he will keep on coming forcing me to pull over/stop.
I found out where he lives last night - am thinking of sending him a copy of the HC as an Amazon gift...
Ton of manure instead ?
Recently did the same and close passed a wing mirror with a d-lock... Wonderful!
Highway code tells us to leave sufficient distance to brake, I'm not aware of an exclusion for bikes. Not that this makes the actions of the car driver any better. And he (the cyclist) was asking for trouble going to the outside of the vehicle, could have been so much worse. The road isn't a racetrack.
No, the road isn't a racetrack, but neither is it a public space where people in metal boxes on wheels can go about bullying vulnerable road users.
This video is a total mis-representation of what happens on our roads -
It's always a black BMW
Whether this was the 'brake checking' BMW driver's fault or the cyclist's failure to leave sufficient braking distance; it is still a reportable Road Traffic Collision. So it is the responsibility of the driver of the motor vehicle to stop, exchange details and report the matter to the police. Not the cyclist.
Depending how the individual force operates (each police force has slightly different rules) the police should then 'investigate' the incident. 'Investigate' covers a broad range of actions and (unfortunately) inactions.
In this case I would suggest as a minimum (because of the injury/damage); interview the cyclist, view the video footage, trace and interview the car driver.
A Notice of Intended Prosecution is not required as it is an RTC. However, an NIP may be required for the initial close pass as that is probably a separate incident/offence.
My worry would be that the initial close pass is 'lost' in the investigation and the police fail to prosecute for either incident. So treat as two separate complaints.
Correct.. their are two separate events that the motorist should be investigated for by police.. the video clearly shows both close pass and brake checking events, which both appear to be deliberate dangerous driving; additionally, the driver nearly hit an oncoming car as well, no doubt due to watching the cyclist in his rear view mirror, rather than watching where he was going.
Isn't it an offence not to stop after a collision?
Yes.
The Road Traffic Act 1988 s 170 (2) states that it is an offence for a driver of a vehicle to fail to stop and give their details when involved in an accident that has caused either damage or injury to someone other than the driver or their vehicle.
Is there any damage to you or your bike? If so, start a claim against his insurance. If he knows you hit him, he has an obligation to inform his insurers.
As the rider collided with the vehicle this could backfire. It would be very hard to prove this was a deliberate brake check, and the rider (I think) would be liable for any damage to the car.
I have every sympathy with Lyndon, however, in this case, he is on shaky ground.
The close pass and failing to stop would be on the driver, but the collision, sadly, is on the rider.
I wish Lyndon every luck with the Police, but as the evidence shows the collision to be his liability he may wish this to quietly die a death.
And crash for cash scams? Are they the victim's fault too?
Yes, it might be very difficult to prove a brake check, and I suspect the police might take objection to a bit of 'red mist' on the cyclist's part (hard as I know it is not to react), but it's not as simple as person behind = liable.
This was an 'open road' incident though where you should be able to stop within the distance you see.
Cash for crash is normally where there is no reasonable possibility of being to stop in time eg they pull out of a side road, swap lanes on a dual carriageway with little or no warning eating up your braking gap.
I must admit, the example that you provide is something akin to what I was expecting to see - overtake followed by brake check. As the beemer pulled away though, and it took about 40s of furious pedalling to catch up, the close pass and the brake-check are, to all intents and purposes, discrete incidents.
I think my point is somewhat missed
A proved case of a cash for crash scam would not be the victim's liability by definition, but that is the point - it needs to be proved (not sure but it would likely be a fraud, and so be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Liability is civil, and has a lower burden of evidence, that of balance of probabilities).
In any case that is irrelevant as I don't believe there is any suggestion of C4C here.
On an open road, the rider accelerated to catch up with the car in front and was subsequently too close to be able to stop when the driver applied the brakes. I agree with you, I believe that the driver saw an opportunity and brake checked, BUT that is my opinion, and it would be very difficult to convince a court, even under civil law.
Essentially, it is that simple. You must be able to stop in the distance that you can see to be clear (HWC 154).
I think we fundamentally agree. All I was trying to get at is that being able to stop in the distance that you can see to be clear is not an absolute (and in fact it's not even a 'must' in the HWC), it relies on certain reasonable assumptions. A deliberate brake check is not one of those reasonable assumptions. Totally accept your points about the difficulty of proving a brake check, and that the rider in this case got too close after chasing. I only mentioned crash for cash, as I thought a brake-check was one of the methods used for exactly this reason - they can be very difficult to avoid.
I think we do - my view regarding liability is a pragmatic one as to expected outcome. I think the Beemer driver to be an utter tw*t, and I hope Lyndon's complaint re the close pass and leaving the scene gains traction.
Yep, that's confirmed it - we do agree
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