Near Miss of the Day 466: Pointless ‘victimless’ punishment pass

Today’s near miss – effectively considered a ‘victimless’ crime by Avon and Somerset Police – was the second close pass by the same driver on the same stretch of road.

The incident occurred on Coronation Road in Bristol, near ASDA last month.

“This was the second pass from this driver on that stretch of road,” said Jack, who submitted the footage. “The first was just a 'regular' horribly close pass.”

When challenged about his manoeuvre, the driver’s response was: "Use the cycle lane."

The incident was reported to police, who responded: “Thank you for taking the time to upload your footage which has now been processed (a warning letter or a fixed penalty or a prosecution has been issued). Thank you for helping to keep our roads safe.

“I can confirm that as you are a witness to this offence, you will not receive any further updates.”

Most police forces accept reports by cyclists of careless or dangerous driving – often close passes captured on camera – as a complaint by a victim. They will then provide information about the investigation in compliance with the Victims Code of Conduct.

However, several forces effectively treat close passes of cyclists as a “victimless crime” by regarding those on the receiving end as merely witnesses.

Cycling UK believes that in treating a cyclist submitting evidence as only a witness, these forces are implying that their report isn’t been taken seriously.

> 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