Near Miss of the Day 834: Punishment pass on cyclist lands driver in court

What's the point of that? It still doesn't stop the vehicle from passing too close. My horizontal flag stops people coming too close.

He means the person who took the vid should put his camara behind the rider so the camera is not being blocked by the rider Also if the car hits your flag then what happens it also make your bike wider so you also have a chance of hitting someone too

My flag is retractable so I can lane filter and use bike paths. I have never hit anyone. The camera is completely useless in any direction because it doesn't stop the vehicle from being close in the first place but my flag does.

antigee wrote:

Let's call a punishment pass what it is...a cowards pass...I'd live with "cowards pass AKA punishment pass" if helps transition away from a phrase that is dangerous both as an action and as a justification

Good, but perhaps "Bully's Pass" might be slightly more apposite?  Given that bullies are cowards with some power.

Think those drivers that intimate cyclists like these might be OK to be called bully's but being called out for what they are cowards changes th we narrative

not sure I get the point you're trying to make.

its a punishment pass, because the driver is intentionally passing you closely to "punish" you, for daring to cycle in what they consider to be their way, yes its cowardly, but its still being meted out as a punishment.

so how is it dangerous to describe it as such ?

Awavey wrote:

not sure I get the point you're trying to make.

its a punishment pass, because the driver is intentionally passing you closely to "punish" you, for daring to cycle in what they consider to be their way, yes its cowardly, but its still being meted out as a punishment.

so how is it dangerous to describe it as such ?

Using 'punishment' can be interpreted (by carbrains) as meaning that it is in retalliation for the cyclist's behaviour although we know that most of the time it's due to the driver being aggressive and not actually understanding the rules of the road. There's also a hint of the driver policing the road and simply delivering justice when we know that's not the case.

"Coward's pass" doesn't carry any connotation of blaming the cyclist and also de-glorifies the driver's actions.

Exactly

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Good points.

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You've convinced me.

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Flintshire Boy wrote:

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Good points.

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You've convinced me.

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Happy to hear it although at the back of my mind is a little voice suggesting that you're being sarcastic - I'd best ignore it.

Because it implies to some people that the punishment was "earned"

I'm agnostic to it personally but can see the point. 

Punishment makes it an entitled action ..cowardly describes it for what it is.

I can see the probem but not sure about coward's pass.

How about deliberate dangerous pass, unnecessarily close pass or intimidatory pass.

Not really sure I'm up there with 'cowards pass' either.

In todays aggressive society, it could be taken that the driver was a coward for not getting out and lumping the cyclist.

I can think of several names for it, but I'm assuming press and publishable names are preferred.

"Overtaking like a cunt" or a variation of would get a vote from me.

Oldfatgit wrote:

Not really sure I'm up there with 'cowards pass' either. In todays aggressive society, it could be taken that the driver was a coward for not getting out and lumping the cyclist. I can think of several names for it, but I'm assuming press and publishable names are preferred. "Overtaking like a cunt" or a variation of would get a vote from me.

I would much prefer it if aggressive motorists decided to not use their vehicle as a weapon and instead got out to try to inflict harm. There's a helluva difference between getting a couple of bruises from some flabby motorist versus broken bones from their tonnes of speeding death metal.

Yep ... but then we're back in the Utopia where everyone drives with care and consideration.
Unfortunately... that will never, ever happen.

Oldfatgit wrote:

Not really sure I'm up there with 'cowards pass' either. In todays aggressive society, it could be taken that the driver was a coward for not getting out and lumping the cyclist. I can think of several names for it, but I'm assuming press and publishable names are preferred. "Overtaking like a cunt" or a variation of would get a vote from me.

Careful on the language, OFG - there are certain individuals on here who get very het up about the use of the c-word.  It's like saying "wing mirror" or "Beetlejuice".

brooksby wrote:

Careful on the language, OFG - there are certain individuals on here who get very het up about the use of the c-word.  It's like saying "wing mirror" or "Beetlejuice".

I knew I'd find a use for this one day

hawkinspeter wrote:

I knew I'd find a use for this one day...

I'm not sorry for the language.
It is a word that seems to be particularly unpleasant to many people on an almost subconscious level.

It's almost as unpleasant as being passed with inches to spare by an arrogant fecker who thinks that their life is more important than yours.*

If it makes people think - and act - correctly, then I'm all for it.

Except around here in the Central Belt of Scotland. Here, it's pretty much a term of endearment and used as punctuation.

How about calling it "dangerous driving" and prosecuting it as such?

Let's call a punishment pass what it is...a cowards pass...I'd live with "cowards pass AKA punishment pass" if helps transition away from a phrase that is dangerous both as an action and as a justification

Not necessarily, it's usually just the advocate putting forward what the client wants the Court to hear. I've been there and you can tell your client it's a bad idea, you can tell them that it's not gonna fly and is likely to be counter productive but at the end of the day it's up to the client. And on far too many occasions they are their own worst enemy as seems to have been the case in this matter.