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Near Miss of the Day 217: Driver towing horsebox makes VERY close overtake

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s Warwickshire

A video showing a shockingly close overtake on a group of cyclists has gone viral on Twitter with almost 50,000 views – and police say they are investigating the incident.

It happened yesterday on a group ride of Warwick Lanterne Rouge Cycling Club, with the driver of a horsebox just millimetres away from hitting one of the riders with the trailer as they overtook at speed.

One of THE worse close passes I’ve ever seen on today’s Club Ride!! @WMPRHRT this is unbelievable!! Literally inches from a fatality @Warwick_Courier @WarwickCops @WMPolice @ClosePasses #opclosepass @cyclingweekly @WeAreCyclingUK @TakeThatCyclist #wlrcc pic.twitter.com/C59YCR43gK

In a tweet, the club said: The rider was pretty shook up to be honest as it was SO SO close.

It added the horsebox had hit the kerb of a traffic island as the driver overtook, and that the motorist could not have “missed the group as it was on our club ride so 8/10 riders. Just a pure idiot wanting to overtake then running out of room rapidly … easy option other than braking was to nearly kill someone

Warwickshire Police are now investigating after requesting the original footage.

> 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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32 comments

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panda | 5 years ago
0 likes

Hello everyone, first post from me.

I showed this to a friend of mine in the pub on Friday.  His instinct (and his wife owns horses) was that the horse-box was probably stolen.  Apparently thieves target them (who knew?). 

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davel replied to panda | 5 years ago
2 likes
panda wrote:

Hello everyone, first post from me.

I showed this to a friend of mine in the pub on Friday.  His instinct (and his wife owns horses) was that the horse-box was probably stolen.  Apparently thieves target them (who knew?). 

My instinct whenever cyclists people on bikes spook horses is that the bikes were probably nicked too.

In fact the horses might also have been nicked.

It's all the scallies, innit.

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Hirsute | 5 years ago
0 likes

Twitter feed no longer exists.

Hopefully pulled due to impending prosecution.

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Milkfloat | 5 years ago
1 like

Glad to hear that Warks police are looking at this, but don’t get your hopes up. They have totally ignored the submissions I have sent them. Perhaps public shaming is the only way to even get someone there to even look at video.

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Trickytree1984 | 5 years ago
8 likes

Agreed Glen. Unfortunately all the horse riders commenting on the horse/triathlon close pass video didn't pay cyclists the same courtesy

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Glen C | 5 years ago
4 likes

I’m a member of the WLRCC although I wasn’t on the ride featured in the film.  My sympathies are entirely with the rider - however, I don’t think that anyone should be concluding that the behaviour of this particular driver can be generalised to that of all horse riders, or all drivers towing horse boxes, as some comments seem to be suggesting.

The idiot in charge of this car was responsible for their own actions and I hope they receive appropriate censure and reflect on how things might have turned out differently and consider what impact that could have had for their own life and, especially, for everyone else involved.

 

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Boopop replied to Glen C | 5 years ago
2 likes
Glen C wrote:

I’m a member of the WLRCC although I wasn’t on the ride featured in the film.  My sympathies are entirely with the rider - however, I don’t think that anyone should be concluding that the behaviour of this particular driver can be generalised to that of all horse riders, or all drivers towing horse boxes, as some comments seem to be suggesting.

The idiot in charge of this car was responsible for their own actions and I hope they receive appropriate censure and reflect on how things might have turned out differently and consider what impact that could have had for their own life and, especially, for everyone else involved.

 

Well said. If we start saying that all horse riders drive like this then of course the same logic could be applied to say all cyclists go through reds, which we know not to be the case.

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John Smith replied to Boopop | 5 years ago
7 likes
Boopop wrote:
Glen C wrote:

I’m a member of the WLRCC although I wasn’t on the ride featured in the film.  My sympathies are entirely with the rider - however, I don’t think that anyone should be concluding that the behaviour of this particular driver can be generalised to that of all horse riders, or all drivers towing horse boxes, as some comments seem to be suggesting.

The idiot in charge of this car was responsible for their own actions and I hope they receive appropriate censure and reflect on how things might have turned out differently and consider what impact that could have had for their own life and, especially, for everyone else involved.

 

Well said. If we start saying that all horse riders drive like this then of course the same logic could be applied to say all cyclists go through reds, which we know not to be the case.

 

The attitude is driven by the way the BHS and horse riders reacted to the incident a few months ago. In isolation it probably would not be the case, but a few people’s noses were put out of joint by the horse riding communities refusal to see cyclists as fellow vulnerable road users.

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Jimmy Ray Will | 5 years ago
0 likes

I think the challenge here will be identifying the vehicle and, should the original footage provide a clear enough image of the number plate to do so, identifying who was driving at the time.

Hopefully someone in the group got the number. 

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Hirsute replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 5 years ago
2 likes
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I think the challenge here will be identifying the vehicle and, should the original footage provide a clear enough image of the number plate to do so, identifying who was driving at the time.

Hopefully someone in the group got the number. 

In the twitter feed it has

"Details sent over, also the original footage is a little clearer and a clear shot of the reg plate is clear..... so that’s great news"

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HoarseMann | 5 years ago
4 likes

Wow, that's as bad as a close pass can get. There's so much wrong here I'm watching this for the outcome, got to be way more than a driver awareness course to act as a deterrent and to deliver some justice.

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alansmurphy | 5 years ago
1 like

Got to be speeding as well!

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alexb | 5 years ago
1 like

This article: https://singletrackworld.com/2016/10/calculating-a-passing-distance-usin... on Singletrack is an excellent example fo how to get your footage taken seriously.

I'd also recommend anyone with a camera to position themsleves alongside a wall at a series of fixed distances, have a friend take photos of the actual gap and compare it to footage from the camera. 

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CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
1 like

That scared the crap out of me just watching from my desk, hope the rider was wearing  his AG2R replica kit!

Hope that clip has been formally submitted to the police (not just tagging them on twitter).

Love the name of the club BTW - sounds like one I might be able to keep pace with!

 

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StuInNorway | 5 years ago
2 likes
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brooksby replied to StuInNorway | 5 years ago
0 likes
StuInNorway wrote:

And from just a month back https://road.cc/content/feature/249845-how-pass-horse-riders-safely-your...

Ah, yes, who can forget such sage advice as

BHS saying “There is room for everyone to enjoy riding out. Equestrians and cyclists are vulnerable road users. We share similar risks when riding on the road.”

and

... reinforces the need to give horses a lot of room when overtaking them – and to do so on the right.

“Most horses are used to traffic passing them on the right so pass them as you would anyone else; don’t cut inside, and allow plenty of room in case the horse is surprised or startled,” the BHS says.

“Riders may need to ride two abreast for safety, particularly when escorting a young or inexperienced horse or rider – please give them a chance to sort themselves out before you go by.”

Maybe that driver wasn't a member of the BHS?

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Stef Marazzi | 5 years ago
1 like

If they don't get done for dangerous driving then the law is an arse

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brooksby replied to Stef Marazzi | 5 years ago
4 likes
cyclesteffer wrote:

If they don't get done for dangerous driving then the law is an arse

A horse's arse.

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Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
2 likes

Would somebody please think of the horses.......

 

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peted76 | 5 years ago
3 likes

I know this rider and saw it pop up on FB yesterday....

That's enough to put anyone off riding on road ever again.

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
0 likes

I'm seriously impressed by the fact that the rider barely dropped speed and carried on. It's by far and away the worst I've seen or experienced. 

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Legin | 5 years ago
2 likes

That is the worst I have seen; very lucky nobody was seriously hurt.

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Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
3 likes

I know that what feels like a close pass out on the road often doesn't look so bad when you review the camera footage. This looks incredibly bad, I can barely comprehend how shit scaringly close that must have actually felt. Hope this gets some airing on the Horse and Rider sites, and also that the Police follow up with some appropriate action to bring the driver to account.

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TedBarnes replied to Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
0 likes
Mungecrundle wrote:

I know that what feels like a close pass out on the road often doesn't look so bad when you review the camera footage. This looks incredibly bad, I can barely comprehend how shit scaringly close that must have actually felt. Hope this gets some airing on the Horse and Rider sites, and also that the Police follow up with some appropriate action to bring the driver to account.

Exactly. I had one recently where on the footage, it doesn't look that close. However, I know the car couldn't have been more than about 75cm away - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hit the rear passenger window with on its way past with my hand... 

This should be relatively easy for Inspector Knacker to prove as dangerous driving:

    a. Measure the width of the road at that pinch point. 

    b. Measure the size of that trailer.

    c. Finally, measure the width of a bike. 

I'm guessing b+c pretty much equals a. 

Oh hang on, you need to add a bit extra to a. for the extra space created by the twonk driving over the traffic island. There goes the dangerous driving charge

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JohnnyRemo | 5 years ago
1 like

Utterly unbelievable. How the feck did he/she manage to keep that upright...

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StuInNorway replied to JohnnyRemo | 5 years ago
1 like
JohnnyRemo wrote:

Utterly unbelievable. How the feck did he/she manage to keep that upright...

If it had a horse on board, it was standing on teh right hand side . .  and now has sore hooves from that jolt.
Even just watching the video I nearly needed to change underwear.

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mikecassie | 5 years ago
0 likes

I bet animal lovers will be more up in arms over the 1 tonne of muscle in the horsebox than the cyclists, although I bet it was empty.  

I'm glad no one was physically hurt.  Hope the police can get the driver and press charges to the maximum extent of the law.  

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
0 likes

double post

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
6 likes

JHC, that was close.  Funny thing is, horseriders demand that we treat them with respect.

Glad to hear the police are investigating, and I sincerely hope charges will be brought, and not just the usual driving without due care, that was dangerous driving.

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brooksby | 5 years ago
3 likes

I was watching that, thinking "surely not through that pinch point", but sure enough... 

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