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news
Near Miss of the Day 692: Lorry driver pushes in front at roundabout — police take no action...but advise cyclist on Highway Code
Today in our Near Miss of the Day series, we're in Oxfordshire for an impatient HGV driver pushing their way in front of a cyclist at a double roundabout (plus a strange response from Thames Valley Police).
road.cc reader Tom told us this one, which starts at around 2 minutes 30 seconds into the video, happened on his commute from Thame to Oxford. As he crosses the M40 and A40, Tom has to negotiate this double roundabout where the lorry driver was not too keen to wait for a safe place to pass.
"As you can see in the video a Maritime HGV driver pulls up alongside me at the first roundabout and then moves across me through the second roundabout without indicating," Tom told us.
"They definitely know I'm there and there's added irony when you can see the 'cyclists beware' sticker on the back of the trailer..."
Having sent the video to Thames Valley Police, Tom was told 'no further action will be taken on this occasion'.
He did, however, get sent some advice from Rule 76 and 77 of the Highway Code relating to roundabouts...
Roundabouts can be hazardous and should be approached with care. You may feel safer walking you cycle round on the pavement or verge. If you decide to ride round keeping to the left-hand lane you should:
- Be aware that drivers may not easily see you
- Take extra care when cycling across exits. You may need to signal to show you are not leaving the roundabout
- Watch out for vehicles crossing your path to leave or join the roundabout
"Essentially, I wanted to see the opinion of road.cc readers on what to do next," Tom continued. "Am I in the wrong here and the Police right? Are the police blaming me for nearly being sideswiped?"
> 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
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 29 min 38 sec ago
Damn you, you're right and now I have to report myself to the police for hate speech by omission.
- hawkinspeter 46 min 3 sec ago
To be charitable to the police (though I wonder why I should), they're acting on a specific complaint raised by the motorist and so are doing their...
- hawkinspeter 27 min 29 sec ago
Interesting to hear from someone who was involved in the Bristol-Bath path. I think it's largely a victim of its own success, most notably during...
- chrisonabike 2 hours 4 min ago
Get "rats for LTNs and modal filters" founded immediately or we're doomed!
- chrisonabike 2 hours 6 min ago
They almost never get to experience them... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ngifg--1eW4
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its tricky because there are arguably hundreds, maybe even thousands of "problem areas" on any sportive route, that potentially could result in the...
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Unfortunately the key voices on the opposition don't tend to come from a place amenable to logical persuasion. "My friend told me..." or "you can't...
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Surely please get down on your knees, rappers rap about gats not cats and foil isn't made from oil and can hold your all told
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Elderly man sentenced following serious crash in Ringwood...
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53 comments
Is the youtube video the same quality as the original? There should be a frame at that angle which shows the plate although the uneven surface may still prevent that.
No idea - it's just my experience that there often isn't a frame good enough to show the reg. Maybe I just ride on exceptionally bad roads.
I have certainly had problems where the vehicle is further to the edge of the frame and at speed coming towards me.
there often isn't a frame good enough to show the reg
Contrary to the claim of someone on this or another topic on here, you do need stabilisation- especially if you want to nail villains in the dark. GoPro works well, but the PC software is dire and they have discontinued the GPS since the 7
discontinued the GPS since the 7
Have they? Not noticed although that was very hit / miss on the five. The other crapness with it was it's tendency to not record the speed for the first few minutes AND reset the distance / elevation figures for each 11 min segment that the ride was split into when downloaded from the camera.
It was me!
I won't be nailing any villains in the dark with my Fly6, stabilisation or no stabilisation. Here's an example of two of the clearest frames I could find for numberplates at dusk, one whilst riding the bike, the other whilst the bike was on a kickstand (stabilised!). As you can see, they're about the same, a blurry mess.
A faster shutter (ideally global) and active illumination is what's needed.
Road markings are wrong. I'd stick to the nearside lane for going straight over. Either lane 2 should be consistantly marked right turn only, or it should split into two lanes and the dashed line moved so the lorry would not have crossed it. I'd contact the highways agency/council to get it sorted.
https://goo.gl/maps/koYUozGRRLJCfRtU7
The victim blaming response from the police is insulting - I'm not suprised they aren't taking further action, but to suggest Tom should have got off and walked is ludicrous, and in my experience staying in the left hand lane all the way round (if that is contrary to what the road markings suggest for the intended route) is bad advice - it might be permitted under the highway code but I think it's a recipe for disaster.
That said, I think the road markings might be to blame to some extent in this case. As Tom exits the first roundabout, there are two lanes, with the left-hand lane arrowed straight and left, while the right-hand lane is arrowed straight and right (https://goo.gl/maps/5nC2yKyUquNuYWs16). However, as the road approaches the second roundabout, it splits into three lanes, with the left two lanes both arrowed straight only (the option to turn left appears to have vanished) while the right lane is arrowed right only (https://goo.gl/maps/KZrGGVYT9Ngvv98BA). This split appears to be achieved by the left hand of the original two lanes getting wider and splitting into two.
This creates an odd situation: there are two vehicles both wanting to go straight, and on exiting the first roundabout they are initially both in lanes indicating that you can proceed straight. However, one of those lanes becomes a right-turn only lane, while the other splits into two straight only lanes. The driver in the right hand lane therefore must move into the middle lane to proceed straight - despite originally having been in the correct lane! Arguably in this case the cyclist ought to have remained in the left hand lane following the split (given that the left hand lane was also arrowed straight ahead, and the general principal is to remain in the left lane unless there is a reason not to). However, I certainly don't thing that exculpates the lorry driver from changing lanes without due consideration for vehicles using that lane.
I also note that despite two lanes entering the roundabout arrowed for straight ahead, the A418 on exit only has one lane (without any marked opportunity to merge).
It also creates an odd situation where it's not clear whether exiting to the service station or following the A418 is considered "straight" and if they both are, why there was initially a left arrow.
It seems to me a better solution would be: immediately upon exiting the first roundabout, the two lanes are marked straight and left (in the left lane), and right only (in the right lane). That provides a clear indication that if you wish to proceed straight, you must move into the left hand lane at some point. When the lane splits into three, the lanes are simply arrowed left in the left lane (for the services), straight in the middle lane (A418) and right in the right lane (M40). Clear which lane you need to be in, and avoids potential issues at the single lane A418 exit. Plus put some markings on the roundabout itself so people stick to their lanes.
spot on, the lane markings here create conflict by directing people to move between the right lane (of 2) and the middle lane (of 3) despite the middle lane being spawned from the left lane.
Further the straight on exit is the motorway services, do we really need two lanes going there? and the right exist is a single lane exit.
Where was the cyclist going in this case? Presumably wanting to turn right, despite being in the lane for straight on. Relying on the HGV driver in a lane marked for straight on and right, not going straight on. Footage cuts out before the roundabout so we don't see. But I suspect the cyclist wanted the A40 to Oxford and the HGV driver may have wanted A40 oxford (swinging wide to stop the trailor hitting th kerb), or may have wanted the services.
Most blame in this case sits with the markings, they need changing.
The left turn takes you in to the services. Straight on continues along the A40 (presumably where the cyclist and lorry were both headed), with the right turn taking you onto the M40 N.
(The services looks straightish, but that's just because of the wide circumference of the roundabout.)
But the A40 is a 1 lane exit, while the services is a two lane exit. so marking the roundabout with two lanes for straight (meaning A40) is bound to create conflict
reinspecting the markings
1st set
lane 1 straight lane 2 straight/right
2nd set
lane 1 left/straight lane 2 right/straight
3rd set
lane 1a straight lane 1b straight lane 2 right (no left marked here)
Fine, but my comment was correcting you saying that straight on was the services (it isn't - it's left) and the cyclist was in the wrong lane for turning right (highly unlikely they were turning right, because that's the motorway).
whereas i'm interpreting the services as straight on, and the a40 and m40 exits as both rights, while the left is no entry because it is the northbound exit slip. as the services is at 45 degrees left, while the a40 is at 45 degrees right (as from the bridge) so it's very arbitrary to pick one as straight
But using your definition of services as left makes this junction even worse, so we have lanes 1a and 1b both for the a40 (which is a one lane exit) and no lanes marked for the 2 lane exit of the services, and how anyone could be certain that all drivers presented with the view below would identify the a40 (to the right of the blue buses) is straight rather than the services being straight is beyond me.
From the bridge, it's more like 75 degrees left to the services, and 15 degrees right to the A40. It's only because the approach has curved left to join the sweep of the roundabout that they look more equal in that screenshot.
I don't disagree that the lane markings are a mess though.
What this confusion confirms is multi-lane roundabouts are a nightmare and you should expect anything!
One thing I did consider is why lane 1a is not marked as a left for the services. There is a good reason, the first joining road is a no-entry exit slip road; if there was a left turn arrow there, it could encourage those not paying attention to turn left onto it!
they are closer to equal than that. (the slight bend in my line from drawing freehand was not intentional to make it look better) maybe 50/40 or 55/35
I think we all agree the intention of the arrows is far from clear, and this with people looking with time, how they are to someone driving across the bridge for the first time with only seconds to decipher their meaning is obviously worse. Unfortunately rectifying this will not be a priority for oxfordshire highways, or highways England (whoever is responsible) until a coroner makes a recomendation. which we all hope won't happen.
I think there will be more vehicles crossing the bridge heading for the services (coming from M40 southbound), than there will be crossing the bridge and heading to the M40 northbound from Thame and the number of lanes should reflect that. If I was in charge of that painting operation I'd have the destinations labelled as well as arrows, because the principle directions of left, straight and right don't easily apply.
That was my main thought as well - it would remove a lot of ambiguity if they'd just label the lanes
A40 Services | A40 | M40 N
Which seems to be the intent.
We have a roundabout near us that is a blackspot for cycling casualties. One of the reasons is that the cycle is painted all the way around the outside of the roundabout ... and most of the incidents involve motor vehicles exiting the roundabout and taking out a cyclist riding in the lane that isn't.
Not surprisingly, any rider with any experience whatsoever ignores the cycle and negotiates the roundabout the same way they would if they were driving.
Whilst I agree that coming up against a lorry can be a fatal incident, there is a certain level of bad driving that is not worth submitting to TVP. Really it has to be something quite impressive. I've had two drivers hit me, but because I wasn't critically injured they merely had a warning. I would suggest that when anyone reports to TVP that they list the offences that warrant a NIP. They themselves have told me that a close pass isn't enough. TVP are known for not taking as much action as other police forces, however I do not believe they are the worst police force for this.
I think this is great advice in general ( I haven't had direct experience with TVP)
I've started to include actual ref to HWC, including reiterating between the MUSTs and SHOULDs.
I've also narrated my actions, to ensure that where an inexperienced rozzer might take issue I can bat it out of the way pre-emptively.
Recently I've started including how it left me feeling, in the language that is relevant to public disorder or assault legislation - eg feeling threatened, in fear of injury or life.
We shouldn't have to go to these lengths I suppose, but I've started to see it as helping them to come to the right conclusion.
It's not always going to work, but on a percentage game of lots of iterations I believe it helps.
For anyone wondering, go to the last 30 seconds to see the incident. Unless you want to count up the ratio of "could do better" to "quite good" passes whislt watching the whole thing.
Edit: Just read the response.
Police hate to do anything with Roundabouts I have found in the past because if you really look at the markings and rules, there is so much leeway. However it might be worth pointing out that the Rule is "IF you decide to ride round keeping to the left-hand lane you should:" and you didn't. Plus the action of the lorry driver cutting across you without indicating and causing you to brake didn't happen ON THE ROUNDABOUT but on the road leading up to it.
...wHIle gETtinG A heADaCHe fROm ThE rOAd JITteR.
Jellyvision makes Squirrels Sick
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