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Driver pulls out on cyclist at junction

Near Miss of the Day 175: Driver pulls out of junction as cyclist approaches

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s Coventry
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Aug 23, 2018 17:32
14

The latest entry in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a motorist pulling out of a junction as a cyclist approaches.

Fortunately, the rider - road.cc reader Sevenfold - was able to take evasive action to avoid the foreign-registered car.

The incident happened on Monday afternoon on Cromwell Lane, Coventry, as the vehicle, which is left hand drive, exited  Westwood Heath Road.

Whether the driver just didn't see Sevenfold - who had a 700 lumen light on flash and was wearing a bright yellow jersey - or deliberately decided to chance exiting the junction ahead of him is something we'll never know.

> 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

Near Miss of the Day
NMotD Coventry
NMotD West Midlands
Simon MacMichael

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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14 comments

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Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
2 likes

After literally being back on the roads as motorcyclist for days, I've alread witnessed endless fckwit behaviour that probably wouldn't happen to cars. The other night, in the space of 1/2 mile someone pulled out of junction on me, another reverses out of junction on me, stops, maybe figures out it's not a car and then carries on reversing and I swerve around them. Before I reach the end of the road a gang of chavs on bikes with no lights bomb off the nearside pavement and across the road in front on me. Tbh, it's more annoying on a motorbike because you're going faster and there's more of you to see.

I think it's just a problem that cars don't give two shits about two wheels regardless of how they're powered. At least I can smash some mirrors and do one at high speed on the motorbike.

Avatar
Krazyfrenchkanuck | 5 years ago
0 likes

I don't want to blame the cyclist in any way or form but, the article mentions that the cyclist has a 700 lumens flash on. I find it awkward and hard to believe, considering the ambiant light that we do not see a single reflection on the car or on the reflective yellow street signs. 700 lumens is quite a lot.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to Krazyfrenchkanuck | 5 years ago
3 likes

Krazyfrenchkanuck wrote:

I don't want to blame the cyclist in any way or form but, the article mentions that the cyclist has a 700 lumens flash on. I find it awkward and hard to believe, considering the ambiant light that we do not see a single reflection on the car or on the reflective yellow street signs. 700 lumens is quite a lot.

I'm not sure of your point, and as such, you're not blaming the cyclist.

Avatar
vonhelmet | 5 years ago
4 likes

That’s definitely a thing. People know cyclists are slower than cars, but they seem to assume that means 6mph rather than 16mph or even 26mph.

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CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
4 likes

Also, thanks to Sevenfold for editing the video down to just the incident,  nice to not have 3 minutes of wind noise and 'nothing to see' footage to plough through!

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PRSboy replied to CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
0 likes

CygnusX1 wrote:

Also, thanks to Sevenfold for editing the video down to just the incident,  nice to not have 3 minutes of wind noise and 'nothing to see' footage to plough through!

Fair point... though actually I find the build-up interesting (aside from the unbearable tension!) in as much as we can appraise what lead up to the incident, spotting what might go wrong and what we can learn from it.

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a1white | 5 years ago
2 likes

"The sky was all purple, there were people runnin' everywhere"

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brooksby | 5 years ago
0 likes

Meh: I see this sort of thing all the time..,

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jasecd replied to brooksby | 5 years ago
5 likes

brooksby wrote:

Meh: I see this sort of thing all the time..,

Doesn't make it right. Lazy, selfish, careless driving has been normalised and it's a big part of what puts us at risk. It should be called out for what it is at every opportunity.

Avatar
brooksby replied to jasecd | 5 years ago
1 like

jasecd wrote:

brooksby wrote:

Meh: I see this sort of thing all the time..,

Doesn't make it right. Lazy, selfish, careless driving has been normalised and it's a big part of what puts us at risk. It should be called out for what it is at every opportunity.

I didn’t say it was right, or even not-wrong, just meant that I see it and experience it enough that it doesn’t get my heart pumping any more. Motorists see cyclist, think “not fast” and pull out thinking they’ve got plenty of time/room. My wife and I get it in our cars too (vintage VWs), and I’d imagine it’s the same train of thought...

Avatar
Hirsute | 5 years ago
0 likes

LH drive- blind spot*.

There was a article about 'the hun in the sun' and why these things happen earlier this year.

 

* and no, this does not mean I am 'victim blaming' or any other 'summer madness/heatstroke' rants.

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don simon fbpe replied to Hirsute | 5 years ago
4 likes

hirsute wrote:

LH drive- blind spot*.

There was a article about 'the hun in the sun' and why these things happen earlier this year.

 

* and no, this does not mean I am 'victim blaming' or any other 'summer madness/heatstroke' rants.

You can compensate for being a LHD, I know this from experience. It might take a little longer to pull out of a junction, but that's better than knocking off a cyclist. If the car behind gets gobby, just respond in foreign. If they get gobby and insulting, change to english.

Avatar
CygnusX1 replied to don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
1 like

don simon wrote:

hirsute wrote:

LH drive- blind spot*.

There was a article about 'the hun in the sun' and why these things happen earlier this year.

 

* and no, this does not mean I am 'victim blaming' or any other 'summer madness/heatstroke' rants.

You can compensate for being a LHD, I know this from experience. It might take a little longer to pull out of a junction, but that's better than knocking off a cyclist. If the car behind gets gobby, just respond in foreign. If they get gobby and insulting, change to english.

As a former owner of a LHD car on UK roads for several years, I can confirm  blind spots can be accounted for by angling the nose of the car slightly differently at junctions tahn you would in a RHD. 

Mind you,  the car in question was a Fiat barchetta roadster and I would drop the top at the mearest hint of sun so blind-spots were minimal. 

Frozen fingers were an occupational hazard though - once had the top down in January driving from Manchester to Leeds, sunny when I set off, blizard conditions on the M62 over the hills.

Avatar
Tommytrucker | 5 years ago
3 likes

Rider summed it up perfectly I think.

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