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news
Near Miss of the Day 542: Shockingly close overtake (video includes swearing)
The rider on the receiving end of this very close pass into oncoming traffic in Leicestershire says he was forced to steer towards the gutter to avoid being knocked off his bike.
Chris, the road.cc reader who sent the clip in, told us: “This occurred on 17 September 2020 whilst I was commuting home from work.
“As per the video description, the pass was far too close into oncoming traffic. It was pointless, I could still see the car over a mile later (although it is probably a good thing I didn’t catch up with him). Apologies for the swearing as he passed me.
“I reported this one to the police, it's not often I do this but if this driver continues like this then a vulnerable road user could come off badly.
“The driver has been offered a re-training course at his own expense, which if he doesn’t accept he will likely be fined and receive points. I consider this a reasonable outcome, and hope he learns from it.
“I had to steer towards the gutter to avoid a potential collision with the rear of the car as he moved left and the road was narrowing,” Chris added. “I was moving around 17-18mph at the time.”
> 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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20 comments
Call me cynical, but the OP should contact the police in two months or so and get the result in writing.
'Re-training course' and 'likely to…' ring alarm bells with me. What if the driver fails to attend a 're-training course' and then the unlikely happens - they aren't prosecuted.
'Re-training course' and 'likely to…' ring alarm bells with me.
And me. There's going to be a big push to arrange an amnesty for huge numbers of offenders because of the court backlog- this seems to be running at about 2 years. The shyster lawyers have been advising (I'm guessing, of course!) the offenders to refuse the offer to plead guilty and insist on a court appearance because they think the police/ CPS will just lose interest and abandon the court cases- that's why few of the Covid fines (strictly speaking, we have only been told about the large Covid fines) have been paid. All my cases are cast-iron- the offenders are as guilty as sin. My aim is to make it as difficult as possible for Lancashire Constabulary to apply this mega-dodge.
If it's anything like a speed awareness course, the offer is only made if there have been no offences in the previous 3 years. Failure to attend results in a withdrawal of the offer and reversion to the points & fine that would have been applied.
Does a driving course affect your insurance premiums like an FPN with 3 points would?
Depends how the insurance company word their question re 'previous motoring offences' I would have thought.
As an alternative to a Fixed Penalty Notice or even court I suspect not.
However, what is a 're-training course'???
No, since it's not a conviction and doesn't need to be declared.
You may not be legally obliged to disclose a course as it's not a criminal conviction but it certainly is a 'material fact' and, as per Zero Trooper's comment, some insurers have now started specifically asking about them.
Also insurance is based on good faith so might fail that test and void your insurance.
Nope. LV, Direct Line, Admiral, Churchill specifically do *not* require declaration. Yes, it undoubtedly depends on the insurer, but they cannot void your insurance if they do not require you to declare it - and definitely if they tell you there's no need to
Hence "might"
You're not legally obliged to disclose anything to an insurance company - it's a contract, not a law. It all depends on what's in the terms of the insurance, and many insurers do not require it, some going so far as to explicitly state that they don't want to know.
There are differing opinions on whether 'the driving course' is a good result. Mine is that the police horror and distate for putting points on the licence of people who are proven guilty of cyclist-hostile driving means that only the points are an effective punishment. The joke unfailable course is worthless.
'Oh! I never knew you weren't supposed to hurtle past cyclists only a foot away!'
In some ways the course takes more of their time, might teach them something and is as costly as a fine.
The fact they've been on a course is noted and they don't get the option again if they re-offend.
It does sometimes backfire - a relative went on one (for speeding) and the only thing they came away with was that they could be doing 70mph on that bit of dual-carriageway that only has one lane in either direction, instead of the 60mph limit they thought applied!
In some ways the course takes more of their time
Maybe, but it doesn't take more of their licences- which is what I'm interested in. I think they already know that passing a red traffic light is an offence.
These driver improvement/speeding awareness courses can be beneficial.
I went on one a few years ago and it was excellent, mostly because the presenters were excellent. I genuinely benefited from it.
Likewise, a relative was due to go on one last year until the inconvenience of a global pandemic struck. They ended up doing an online version. Not ideal, but they thought that they got something out of it.
Well done for staying upright and getting a result. The re-training should consist of at least 10 hours riding a bike as well as learning to drive.
Awful driving and good job the bus had cleared but you do need to be further out from the kerb.
(Edit : and you have the speed for it too ).
Was it a chest rigged camera?
Good to get a result from reporting it. From the comments you frequently see on this page, not all police forces seem to take this seriously.
What a tw#t. Good result, well done Chris for following up
Agreed.
This is why I have a helmet mirror - see them coming an claim the
lane