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FD61 OEF Dangerous Overtake

Near Miss of the Day 442: Close pass on blind corner

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Essex...
by Simon_MacMichael
Wed, Jul 15, 2020 17:29
8

Today's offering in our Near Miss of the Day series is one of those in which you watch the clip for the first time and assume you've seen the piece of bad driving being highlighted, in this case a van driver overtaking the cyclist, then as you continue watching you realise there was worse to come.

This one happened in South Ockendon, Essex and was filmed by road.cc reader Tony, who told us: "I was cycling up Stifford Hill, a short climb with the road marked by double solid white lines.

"Towards the top there is a blind corner and the driver of this Ford C-Max decides this is a good place to overtake into oncoming traffic (apologies for the bad language), was really surprised at the poor judgement of the driver thinking this was a good place to overtake. 

"I've reported this to Essex Police, just waiting to see if they do anything," he added.

> 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 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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8 comments

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iandusud | 3 years ago
5 likes

Aweful driving. I had a lovely ride out last Saturday but on two occasions I was overtaken on completely blind bends in both cases on a narrow road. In either case if another vehicle had been coming the other way it would have been an unavoidable head-on collision with serious very consequences. I can't for the life of me imagine what the drivers in question are thinking, although the answer is probably that they are not thinking. 

Avatar
OldRidgeback | 3 years ago
3 likes

The C Max driver needs to be reported for this. It was very poor driving. The double white lines are there for a reason. To be honest, the driver of the white van shouldn't have overtaken either as the cyclist seemed to be travelling at faster than 10mph, though at least enough space was given and there wasn't anything coming the other way. A warning to the latter and penalty points to the former would be in order.

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zero_trooper | 3 years ago
2 likes

That was a real 'Follow the (big white) van into the void' overtake cool

Terrible thought process (if any!) going on there. Ideal for a 'driver improvement course'.

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LetsBePartOfThe... | 3 years ago
1 like

Really frightening to watch. Glad cyclist Tony and the oncoming vehicle's occupants were unscathed. 

Get this idiot overtaking driver off of the roads before they kill someone.

 

 

 

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 3 years ago
5 likes

Complete dick, you were holding pretty much primary position and still plonker went for overtake across double white lines.

Report and quote legalisation about lines, blind corners and your speed which being over 10 mph

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
6 likes

JHC, I actually swore out loud.  That driver needs taking off the road now.  If Essex police don't do something serious, I'm starting a crowdfunder to have him removed from the gene pool.

Never mind, when the government report on road crime finally comes out, I'm sure it will have provision for banning dangerous cretins in tin boxes immediately instead of a totting up of points that don't actually mean you get banned if you have a good lawyer.

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Velophaart_95 | 3 years ago
5 likes

Poor, dangerous & impatient driving - as is the norm on most roads of the UK. No amount of education or Highway Code reading would make a slight bit of difference to them; they're not bothered.

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Bungle_52 replied to Velophaart_95 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Making them cycle on this road for a week may change their minds.

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