Near Miss of the Day 231: Driver overtakes cyclist on country as car approaches from other direction

There are idiots everywhere and some are drivers or cyclists. Thing is a mistake or impatient attitude could end up killing someone.

They should use this in road safety ads.

What I would like is for some undergrad to do their dissertation on why motorists drive like that around cyclists, mainly focussing on talking to the drivers to find out what they were thinking when they did something so utterly obviously dangerous.  We need to understand why so many drivers are quite so totally incompentent and don't give flying F*** about other people's lives.

Just run of the mill stuff.

Now that is a sad statment! cut in on had to break to avoid a colision. and police don't respond.

Horrid and far too common a move. Glad you're okay.

What do the police want someone dead before they do anything,keep trying mate they might do something about it and it may make the driver think next time,it may save someone's life.

As so normal for these dreadful overtakes, the driver hardly pulls away after either.

The end of first paragraph is a bit misleading so I've fixed it for Roadcc as follows:

"Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day feature shows a very dangerous overtake by a driver on a cyclist, with the motorist cutting in before completing the manoeuvre due to impatience and stupidity."

Exactly the same happened to me a year ago. Uploaded front and rear videos to Lancashire Police who then called me in for a chat. Driver was offered the option of an awareness course or some points. Police never told me which option driver took but good to know that our local force takes this sort of thing seriously.

Quote:

Is that squeal on the sountrack from you braking or is it the sound of gases escaping from an extremely clenched sphincter?

A bit of both, if I hadn't braked I'd have been in the hedge at best. There's a rear view in amongst my other videos, you'll see the van driver behind the overtaking car drop back as it happens expecting the worse.

If you look at the tree just round the corner you'll see shoes hanging from it which has become a memorial for a young lad who was killed in a car crash a few years ago (with another car), it's not a great spot to be with traffic behind you as impatience often kicks in and you end up in this situation with nowhere to go with another car coming the other way on the opposite side of the road.

Quote:

It might be worth chasing up with a complaint if they don't respond within 10 days

 
I will do for this one. Wiltshire police do apparently accept video footage but you have to mail it on a disc according to the only source I could find on the internet. I emailed them yesterday asking if they are able to accept uploaded files directly or of I should use the nextbase portal as they don't seem to respond to uploads, they haven't replied yet.

My take on that left indicator is "Get over to the left you pesky cyclist".   Looked to me like your road positioning was as it should be.

Drivers like that should be made to repeat the experience from the cyclists' angle. That'd learn 'em.

That is a very scary moment, I am not sure I could have carried on at that pace afterwards. kudos!

Unfortunately this happens all too often and in some cases it causes fatalities, as in the case a few months back where a tractor driver towing a trailer hit a cyclist, while attempting to overtake in similar circumstances.

I often get nervous cycling on fast A roads with blind bends for this very reason.

As I also drive on the same roads, what I have found interesting is the attitude of some drivers behind if, as a driver, I do hold off from overtaking a cyclist in these circumstances.

I was once behind a cyclist on a blind bend on a steep hill, so the cyclist was very slow.

I held back and got furiously beeped at by the white van man behind me.  I could see he was probably also mouthing obscenities.

In another case, someone actually attempted to overtake both me and the cyclist and nearly had a head on with a car in the opposite direction.  Fortunately both drivers did manage to do an emergency stop in time!

I would expect a response for any video uploaded to the police.

It might be worth chasing up with a complaint if they don't respond within 10 days as they'll then rush to do an "early intervention" to prevent it becoming a formal complaint (providing that you're happy with what they plan to do).

I had one video dismissed because they claimed that the video didn't show the junction as being right turn only (a car tried to turn left through me and my bike), so I raised a complaint along with a still from the fottage clearly showing the right-only traffic light and the mandatory right-turn sign below it. They quickly replied saying that they were going to review it again (which is exactly what I wanted) and in the end they sent the driver a warning letter.

Not sure wether to be shocked or appalled. Possibly appalled but not shocked, or maybe a little bit shocked because that is the acceptable stated response or shocked that this sort of thing is not a shock.

Obviously mitigating circumstances of indicating to pull back in. Because using the indicator makes the driver free from blame. Still, the real lesson, here is to not buy a cheap brand motorcar. Get one of those expensive usually German models. Many round my way appear to come fitted with special technology that allows the driver to overtake on the approach to bends and junctions where normal physics prevents a direct view of what is coming the other way.

Glad you are OK Mike. Is that squeal on the sountrack from you braking or is it the sound of gases escaping from an extremely clenched sphincter?