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Near Miss of the Day 86: Overtaking driver cuts in on cyclist to avoid oncoming car
Today’s near miss sees a BMW convertible driver overtaking in the knowledge that an oncoming car can easily be avoided simply by steering towards the cyclist.
The incident occurred in July 2015 on Cumberland Road in Bristol and is a fairly classic encounter within the ‘well the driver in front overtook, so I may as well just follow’ oeuvre.
It’s not always easy to see how close these things are on video, but the driver coming the opposite way clearly feels they need to hit the brakes in response to the situation.
Mark, who recorded the footage, sounded a familiar refrain when he said that he didn’t report it, “because previously when I tried they weren’t interested.”
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.
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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19 comments
Now I apologise in advance to don Simon, but wouldn't mind seeing good driving from those in Audis.
You've lost me, mate.
"And is it Cumberland road, the shared use path adjacent to which has trees liberally planted *in* the cycle path?"
No, you are thinking of Coronation Road which is on the other side of the cut. That shared use path is appalling, and I won't cycle on that at all. I think, every time I have cycled down Coronation Rd I've been subjected to some kind of abuse, only ever had that once on Cumberland Rd.
Oh, OK:thanks
This is my route into Bristol city centre from home which I ride regularly and have done for years. Nobody deserves a punishment pass but this guy is riding on a very busy narrow arterial road right next to a perfectly good cycle lane on the footpath.
Sometimes cycle lanes are badly designed and don't function well enough to use. This is definitely not the case on Coronation Road.
I can't understand why people put themselvesin these situations and cry about it when the next idiot to come down the road takes a chance with their personal safety
You mean use the road as they're entitled to?
Maybe because they're as entitled as anyone else to use the road and idiots on roads chancing the personal safety of others makes for a pretty shit society?
I am the person who posted the video, and was my regular commuter route into the city centre for a few years as well.
Firstly, this is not Coronation Road, it is Cumberland Road.
Secondly, it is not a cycle path, but a shared footpath. Along that road I can cruise comfortably at 18mph without pushing it, are you suggesting that travelling along a footpath which usually is occupied at that kind of speed is reasonable and safe, because I certainly don't.
Thirdly, this cycle route leads onto the chocolate path, which even 2 years ago, I did not by any means consider to be a suitable route, being narrrow, slipperly, and occupied by pedestrians. Not a route to be taken at a reasonable speed or one I felt safe on.
I do use shared paths and cycle routes when appropriate and safe to do so, but Cumberland Road is not a particularly busy route, nor is it particularly narrow for most of its length, and I felt much safer using the road, rather than the path.
Doesn't the chocolate path keep getting closed because of "subsidence"? I think it's shut at the mo', in fact.
And is it Cumberland road, the shared use path adjacent to which has trees liberally planted *in* the cycle path?
I can't understand why motorists use the A30, I mean running parallel to it, near me anyway, is the M3, a very expensive road built eapecially for them.
This is getting really boring Road.CC
Your now having to dredge up incidents from 2 1/2 years ago to fill a space on the homepage. Give up, we all know that there's idiot drivers out there who don't give cyclists any consideration, or worse, don't think cyclists deserve to your 'their' roadspace.
All this series does is further antagonise things. Why not ask for footage of polite passes? Put a positive spin on things and pariase the decent road users out there.
I totally disagree, the more we as cyclists put this behaviour out there, the more chance there is of it changing, or somebody doing something about it. Driving like this is not good enough, there is no excuse, we should not have to put up with it. If a driver passes a pedestrian that close, there would be outrage.
There is outrage, but only if a cyclist passes them that close.
How does this antagonise things ? Maybe some of these drivers will see their footage and get another viewpoint. If we don't point out how dodgy some of these actions are - then how will they learn ?
Luckily most drivers are fine - so footage of safe passes would be far too many and dull to watch.
I think this is boring too. You are correct and they should post videos of polite and legal videos instead. There is no way that would be boring. " here is a video of a Nissan Micra passing a cyclist with 1.5m space, well done for meeting the minimum standards of driving. Tune in tomorrow for an exciting video of a Mondeo stopping before an ASL." I don't think I could handle all that excitement.
Plus if you think that's boring I would stay away from the rest of the site. No lie, they literally post reviews of socks and shorts, yawn city or what!
I don't know whether this series does any actual _good_ , I agree with you to that extent. But you could just ignore it.
I do know that complaining about it 'antagonising things' is ridiculous. Are you really saying if everyone just puts up with life-endangering behaviour and tugs their collective forelocks then bad driving will miraculously disappear? Or that pointing out what 90% of non-cyclists already know - that cycling on the road can be scary - is somehow making bad driving more likely?
(Also it's generally people who are antagonised not "things")
You have made your point. You don't like this 'series'. Feel free to ignore it. I assume we won't see any further comments from you on these posts.
"a fairly classic encounter within the ‘well the driver in front overtook, so I may as well just follow’" and put other people's lives at risk.
Affectionately known as the 'bro-vertake'. Because your life is less important than getting left behind by their bro's in the car infront.
Not to be confused with the 'slow-vertake', where the driver thinks they can do it in 5th, only to be beside you long enough to give them your best dissapointed face, and perhaps even share a pot of tea.
This. The common belief that if the car in front had room/time to overtake then clearly the several cars following also do, no matter what their eyes tell them...
(I think it's an attitude related to that thing in HHGG, where the Ravenous Beast believes that if you can't see it then it can't see you (so if you cover your eyes, you're completely safe from it...)).