Near Miss of the Day 775: Two videos highlight inconsistency in close pass enforcement

Two videos submitted by a road.cc reader highlight the inconsistency that often arises in sentencing motorists when it comes to close passes on cyclists.

Filmed in Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire close to junction 16 of the M5, the first video resulted in the taxi driver who made a close pass on road.cc reader Jim receive 6 penalty points on his licence.

“This ‘professional’ driver chose to pass me rather too close as I rode to work. I tried to discuss the matter with him but he rudely ignored me. Therefore it was inevitable that the poor driving would be reported to the police.

“He contested whatever action the police took and the case went to the Magistrates' Court. Court Result 6 points £620 Costs £44 Victim Surcharge £440 fine

“As well as the conviction, Licensing Authority may choose to take further action. If a taxi driver amasses 6+ points they're required to appear before a Council committee to review their licence.”

The second incident, which Jim said was “Far worse from my point of view,” however, only saw the driver, who was also fined, receive five penalty points, although certainly from the footage it appears to be far closer.

In a comment on that incident on YouTube addressed at the driver, Jim said: “Because of your reckless impatience I very nearly didn't get home from work to my family this evening.

“Your driving has been reported to the Police and I hope you seriously change your ways before you kill someone.

“I understand that you will receive a warning, fixed penalty or prosecution for this terrifying close pass.

“I am not on the road to be terrorised by impatient incompetent drivers like this. I am merely trying to stay fit and get to and from work without putting another polluting car on the roads.

“Driving like this puts people off cycling and leads to more people in cars clogging up our local roads. From 2015-2020 2 cyclists were killed, and 83 seriously injured every week, 94.5% of these cases involved at least one motor vehicle.

“I do not want to be a statistic. I do not want my death mentioned in a local paper as a caring father, husband son and brother. Up your game now. This is your opportunity to learn to drive safely the easy way,” 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