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Near Miss of the Day 249: London bus runs red light

Our regular feature showing close passes from around the country - today it's London...

Today’s near miss features a cyclist stopping at a red light and a bus failing to do so.

The incident occurred in 2016 while Simon was heading west on the A3 (Wandsworth High Street, just off the end of CS8) and about to turn left to head south on Garratt Lane.

Simon – who also sent us this close pass by someone driving a cement truck – was keen to emphasise just how scary it is to have a long vehicle turn towards you when you’re trapped on the inside.

“Having come to a stop at a red light a bus driver decided that red lights are actually just advisory, and rounded the corner through the light with me on its inside – which isn't dangerous at all...” he said.

> 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

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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5 comments

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iandusud | 5 years ago
0 likes

The bus driver must be a cyclist!

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BetterNever | 5 years ago
3 likes

Was expecting to be shocked but that's just standard driving for London; you'll see it pretty much every light change. Used to be that you'd have amber gamblers chancing it before the lights change. Now drivers blatantly sail on through a red light if it's only just changed. There's zero enforcement and it's become the norm.

Avatar
John Smith replied to BetterNever | 5 years ago
1 like

 

BetterNever wrote:

Was expecting to be shocked but that's just standard driving for London; you'll see it pretty much every light change. Used to be that you'd have amber gamblers chancing it before the lights change. Now drivers blatantly sail on through a red light if it's only just changed. There's zero enforcement and it's become the norm.

 

That can’t be right. Only cyclists ignore red lights!

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Jetmans Dad replied to John Smith | 5 years ago
0 likes

John Smith wrote:

That can’t be right. Only cyclists ignore red lights!

No, no, no ...

Cyclists ALWAYS ignore red lights. There's a difference. 

:o)

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grumpyoldcyclist | 5 years ago
1 like

Was it reported at the time, police or TFL, and what was said / done?

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