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Near Miss of the Day 548: Driver makes exemplary overtake ... but almost takes out penny-farthing rider coming in opposite direction

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Greater Manchester...

This is no ordinary near miss, this is a ... oh hang on, forget Marks & Spencer, this is an 'ordinary' near miss, that word being the one by which the bicycles we now refer to as penny-farthings were once known.

And it's one you have to have a bit of respect for, however grudgingly; a driver makes an exemplary overtake on some cyclists, giving them plenty of room ... but in doing so goes so far over onto the other side of the road that they almost hit the penny-farthing rider coming in the other direction.

Having come off my bike a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, the first of those knowing well in advance it would happen as I encountered some black ice ... well, I'm just glad I wasn't having to find an emergency bale-out option from that height.

The clip, filmed in Bowdon, Greater Manchester on Sunday, was sent in by road.cc reader Bob, who said: "The car that overtook gave us plenty of space, but not so the rider of the Penny Farthing who was going the other way!"

This isn't the first time we've used the Marks & Spencer ad's strapline in this series, of course ... we did so in the very early days, and more accurately reflecting the actual wording of the ads, but we just could not resist the pun on this occasion.

> 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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11 comments

Avatar
David9694 | 3 years ago
4 likes

Now cut it out the lot of you - drivers process ONE piece of road information every three seconds.  Cyclist ahead - that's one piece. 

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Philh68 | 3 years ago
0 likes

The guy on the Ordinary doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

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andystow replied to Philh68 | 3 years ago
5 likes

Philh68 wrote:

The guy on the Ordinary doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

He's already used to laughing in the face of Death.

Avatar
Philh68 replied to andystow | 3 years ago
5 likes

True, falling from an ordinary is a bit like getting thrown from a horse. You're high enough to know exactly where you'll land and how much it will hurt, and there's still nothing you can do to make any difference…

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zero_trooper replied to andystow | 3 years ago
1 like

Maybe it IS Death?!? Doing his Covid rounds. I'm sure that's a scythe strapped to the back.

 

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
7 likes

Clearly a pretty bad overtake, and obviously the ordinary rider's fault; no hi-viz so completely invisible to the average driver.  What am I saying!?  It doesn't make any difference and he could have been lit up like a christmas tree, they still wouldn't have seen him.

Definitely the most confusing NMOTD, with the first five seconds being a stationary shot, and the rear shot not being of the overtake, but the ordinary rider disappearing down the road.  Maybe Bob could re-edit that to just the relevant stuff?

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zero_trooper replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
0 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

Definitely the most confusing NMOTD, with the first five seconds being a stationary shot, and the rear shot not being of the overtake, but the ordinary rider disappearing down the road.  Maybe Bob could re-edit that to just the relevant stuff?

Yes, I was blaming my phone for the odd playback.

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wtjs | 3 years ago
1 like

One of the least convincing NMotD of all time.

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Captain Badger | 3 years ago
4 likes

Why do people think a close pass head on is okay?

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grOg replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
0 likes

The overtake followed a predictable line and being able to see the oncoming vehicle is better than a close pass from behind that startles the cyclist.

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alansmurphy | 3 years ago
5 likes

Too tall, SMIDSY

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