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Lorry close overtake

Near Miss of the Day 155: Lorry driver in close pass then cuts in too soon

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s West Yorkshire
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Jun 25, 2018 12:09
6

Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day series highlights a very common type of close overtake we see involving long vehicles, whether they be buses, coaches, articulated lorries or other vehicles towing trailers.

We’ve now seen a number of videos shot by cyclists where the driver of such a vehicle will give a bit of space as they begin the overtaking manoeouvre – but then pull in before it’s safe to do so, meaning the gap between the rest of the vehicle and the kerb gets closer and closer.

If you’ve ever found yourself on the inside of a lorry or other vehicle when that’s happened – and we imagine it’s a situation most if not all regular cyclists have encountered – you’ll know how unsettling it is.

This one, compounded by the fact the vehicle was driven at speed then pulled off the road moments later – happened around six months ago to road.cc reader Pete on the A58 in Ripponden, West Yorkshire, with the lorry belonging to the haulage company, Claude Hellowell.

He told us: “I didn't report it. I couldn't upload it to the local police Facebook or to the company's.

“300 yards later he had to stop to turn right into the company yard but was still doing 40 when he passed me and had to pull in because of parked cars and an oncoming car.

“As you see the end of the trailer was probably a foot away from my shoulder and he ended up inside the bicycle lane.

“This is common with semis,” Pete continued. “The cab goes past a yard away and the trailer gradually gets closer.

“Yesterday I had to stop my car so that an oncoming truck could give an oncoming cyclist room as it passed. It was clearly going to pass at all costs,” 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

Near Miss of the Day
NMotD lorry
NMotD West Yorkshire
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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6 comments

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severs1966 | 5 years ago
0 likes

It's completely normal in West Yorkshire for nearly all lorries to close-pass bike riders, regardless of what lanes exist. It happens hundreds and hundreds of times a day.

The lorry drivers know they can drive however they want, because nothing they do will be punished by WY cops. WY cops especially will refuse to do anything to protect bike riders, against whom they operate a systematic, institutionalised bias and hate regime.

If the rider in this video had been killed by the lorry, they cops would have done nothing. They probably would only reluctantly attend the scene, because cyclist injuries are irrelevant to WY cops.

Avatar
ktache | 5 years ago
4 likes

There have been a number of videos posted in this enlightening section where if the cyclist had been in primary they may very well have ended up dead.  It is not the answer to everything.

Avatar
Awavey | 5 years ago
2 likes

Id agree the cycle lane encourages passes like that, but the practical reality of putting the riding in primary theory to use, is you are going to be using your body as a shield against a 44 tonne truck, and my experience of those situations is the truck is coming through whether you are hugging the kerb, riding in the lane as the rider above, or taking the centre of the road.

so I just dont think riding prime works in those cases, others it does for sure, but Id hate to think we discouraged anyone from cycling who looks at that video and thinks theres no way Im riding in prime against a truck that big, just to stop the truck doing the stupid overtake, as I know I wouldnt.

We ought to be making it far more widely unacceptable that the overtake is even considered possible and part of that is by getting the police to take these close passes more seriously, part of that is certainly on commercial vehicles the firms taking pride in how their drivers behave on the road, after all its their name plastered on the side of the truck.

 

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to Awavey | 5 years ago
0 likes

Awavey wrote:

Id agree the cycle lane encourages passes like that, but the practical reality of putting the riding in primary theory to use, is you are going to be using your body as a shield against a 44 tonne truck, and my experience of those situations is the truck is coming through whether you are hugging the kerb, riding in the lane as the rider above, or taking the centre of the road.

so I just dont think riding prime works in those cases, others it does for sure, but Id hate to think we discouraged anyone from cycling who looks at that video and thinks theres no way Im riding in prime against a truck that big, just to stop the truck doing the stupid overtake, as I know I wouldnt.

We ought to be making it far more widely unacceptable that the overtake is even considered possible and part of that is by getting the police to take these close passes more seriously, part of that is certainly on commercial vehicles the firms taking pride in how their drivers behave on the road, after all its their name plastered on the side of the truck.

And it is proven that riding in such a manner is actually far safr than not. You utterly fail to see the psychological effect on humans, even on ones that are total cockwombles. No gap, driver slows down, gap, driver goes for it no matter what the impending outcome may be. Forcing the hand of another to deliberately ram into the back of you is extremely unlikely to happen in this scenario, you might get beeped at, you might get an engone revved at you but the chances of being driven into the back of, nope, that is such a rare occurence.

However riding in the gutter is proven time and time again to encorage wankers to come passt at almost any speed they like and then basically say 'fuck you, get out my way I'm totally obblivious to you now.'

So yeah, actually riding in primary DOES work in these cases and you really need to rethink and look at why it works because you're more likely to be involved in an incident that may well change your life in a bad way than by not 'taking the lane'.

Avatar
Paul_C | 5 years ago
5 likes

stupid cycle lane basically encourages it

 

if he were riding 'primary' like he should be in traffic like that, then they would have to wait until safe to overtake, but staying in the lane just encourages drivers to pass as they think that he's safe if in the lane

Avatar
Expatpat | 5 years ago
0 likes

Seriously?

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