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Near Miss of the Day 814: Coach driver nearly hits cyclist (includes swearing)

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Staffordshire...

A coach driver who overtook a cyclist on a bend and came within inches of hitting him with the rear of the vehicle is the star of our latest Near Miss of the Day video – although the rider on the receiving end says he was “more than a little surprised” that police did nothing more than write to the firm that operates the coach to point out the standard of driving.

“This took place in Tean (Staffordshire Moorlands) on A522 Cheadle Road, and was submitted to Staffordshire Police,” said road.cc reader Jase, who shared the video on YouTube.

“As I turned into the road, and knowing the road would have parked vehicles (outside the chippy!) I accelerated to give myself some room, I figured that there was a vehicle behind me as a car on the opposite side of the road had stopped; knowing that the road curved to the left, what I didn’t expect was for them to attempt an overtake on the bend.

“I was a little taken aback that it was a coach attempting the overtake, and fear started to grow when – as they rounded the bend – physics dictated that the back end started to drift towards me. You could probably hear this given my poor language (something interestingly Staffordshire Police didn’t comment on), but I think the video speaks for itself as to why I swore!

“Having submitted to Staffordshire Police I was surprised that they hadn’t got back to me within their six-week window, so I requested an update. It was then that I was told that the officer ‘wrote to the manager at the company regards the driver’s driving standard’,” Jase continued.

“I was more than a little surprised by this (in)action, especially when you consider that the driver is a – ahem – professional driver. They broke multiple Highway Code rules, and I have no faith that the manager at the company will do anything – given the lack of livery on the coach, I’m not able to trace who the company is.

“I’m now considering taking this further with Staffs Police, so would be curious to see what other readers think,” 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

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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18 comments

Avatar
IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
2 likes

Regardless of the cyclist, was the standard of driving acceptable for an urban area with serious hazards, sufficient that the highways felt that it was necessary to mark the road with no overtaking? Clearly the driver was unable to stop when the road was obstructed on their side, leading to the oncoming car being forced off the highway, but generally crossing a white line at speed rather than proceeding with caution as would be appropriate when you are obstructed?

As mentioned below, the amount of parking where not allowed is also part of the problem. I wonder if the lack of yellow lines is a nasty combination of them being inappropriate as it is illegal to park with the white lines anyway, so the council should not put them in place, and drivers not knowing the law and assuming they are allowed to park (possibly outside their own houses?).

I would contact the Highways Authority with that video and ask them to comment on whether the design is appropriate and what mitigation they could put in place.

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Sriracha | 1 year ago
5 likes

Leave aside the near miss for a moment, and we have a shit-show which is somehow unremarkable for its ordinary "everydayness". Crossing double white lines, parking on double white lines, overtaking on a junction, parking wholesale on the pavement, driving on the pavement - all within just over a minute. I'm guessing the police didn't even raise an eyebrow, these things are just accepted, and will be the exactly the same day after day.

As for the overtake, classic case of assuming/pretending the cyclist is a stationary obstacle in the road.

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Seagull2 | 1 year ago
1 like

At 42 seconds, i reckon the offending bus driver had already started his overtake and  if  the oncoming minibus had not turned left , things could have been even worse 

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StokieBloke replied to Seagull2 | 1 year ago
0 likes

Think you are right on this one - otherwise I may have ended up a bit thinner than usual

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Bungle_52 | 1 year ago
3 likes

Thanks to Jase for reporting this and for sending it in to road.cc.

I know most on here disagree but I think having a letter sent is a partial result as I think it should have some effect which, in the first instance, is what we desire. Some drivers, I'm convinced, don't think they have done anything wrong if they've managed to miss us. It does, however, depend on the response to the letter from the company. As a first step it would be good to ask the police what reply they have had to the letter. If there is none then it's unlikely to have been taken on board by the driver and the police should really chase it up as otherwise there is no point sending it out.

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wtjs replied to Bungle_52 | 1 year ago
5 likes

I know most on here disagree but I think having a letter sent is a partial result 

Yes, I disagree. So-called 'warning letters' are worthless because the offenders know that the police can't be bothered to either really send them or to record them properly so that the offender isn't sent 'warning letter after warning letter'

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Awavey replied to wtjs | 1 year ago
4 likes

me too, but a big part of that is because Ive no idea how a driver who receives such a letter reacts to it, Ive never heard it discussed or read anything about how a driver in receipt of one of these letters ever comments about how it affected them or made them change their ways, take better care, etc etc. I know the police claim theres some stat about reoffending rates which shows letters have an impact, but lets face it the net to catch most drivers offending is often full of holes big enough you can drive an HGV through, so theres really tiny chance of them being caught reoffending anyway.

and if they dont think theyve done anything wrong anyway, how does the letter convince them to recognise they were wrong ?

just based on my own encounters with drivers when Ive had opportunity to challenge them about their driving, Ive never had one who backed down and went, you are absolutely right I was totally in the wrong there, sorry, so how is basically just a piece of paper going to have an effect ?

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IanMSpencer replied to Awavey | 1 year ago
5 likes

It really does depend on the company.

I'll give a shout out to Johnson's Coaches of Henley-in-Arden. The owner is a keen cyclist and supporter of cycling, the company supports and facilitates cyclo-cross events.

On the road, typically we get better interactions on the admittedly rare times our paths cross. Over the weekend, a mate was telling of the time he got close-passed by one - and captured it. It turned out that it was returning to the depot and the driver had his girlfriend with him standing next to him. As my friend knew him, he contacted him directly, saying "Before I send this to the police, I would like to give you a chance to deal with it." The owner said he was grateful for the report because the driver had an unauthorised passenger and he certainly would be having a conversation about the standard of driving and the failure to follow company rules.

I also had a pleasant conversation with them when one of their buses soaked us driving through a puddle as we were walking down a local high street.

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StokieBloke replied to Bungle_52 | 1 year ago
0 likes

The issue is that I don't know if the company will indeed speak to their driver - the police haven't shared the footage with them, nor do they follow up/ask for a reply.

It's subtly different for private vehilces - the police issue (and I quote from another recent infraction) "a formal warning and the details recorded and retained should the driver come to our attention again for similar traffic related matter". I would have expected the police to ask the company the identity of the driver and do something similar

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open_roads | 1 year ago
2 likes

I'd put good money on the police lying and not having written a letter.

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wtjs | 1 year ago
5 likes

Pfft!!- you'd get a Good Driving award in Lancashire for driving a bus like that and not even hitting the cyclist a little bit, as he deserves for telling tales about hard-working drivers

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AlsoSomniloquism | 1 year ago
5 likes

Weird that the solid white lines and direction arrows are on a section that legally allows parked cars from blocking the vehicles from actually following those rules. 

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IanMSpencer replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 1 year ago
5 likes

It does not legally allow parking. Haven't looked up the law, but parking where there are double white lines, even if broken on your side, is unlawful, except for loading - a MUST NOT in the HWC, so we can assume that there must be some law supporting that statement.

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Hirsute replied to IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
2 likes

South Yorkshire Police say it is covered under

Section 22 Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence for the person in charge to leave a vehicle or trailer on a road in such a position or condition as to cause a danger to other road users.

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Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
9 likes

Quote:

 I have no faith that the manager at the company will do anything – given the lack of livery on the coach, I’m not able to trace who the company is.

Find out anything on t'internet; Jase, if you're reading this, the coach belongs to, or did belong to, Falcon Coaches (https://www.falconcoachhire.com), still in their livery but without the badge. Hope that might be of some assistance in taking further action, as you should because it's a shocker.

 

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StokieBloke replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
4 likes

Thanks Rendall - it seems highly likely that they've since sold the coach, especially as the logo has been removed and as I'm roughly 200 miles North of their usual stomping ground!

it also seems to have done the rounds, having also been operated by Leger Coaches

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
10 likes

There's a shortage of drivers, so we can't afford to lose any; but there are lots of cyclists.frown

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nordog replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
4 likes

With very few young drivers capable to drive a small without breaking the laws, the UK might as well plead to the west Indies again for bus drivers, male or female this time!

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