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ROAD RAGE - 4x4 Close Pass + Brake Check - "Don't hit my car!" - BV67 EHX

Near Miss of the Day 77: Driver makes very close pass through roadworks then confronts cyclist

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s London
by Simon_MacMichael
Wed, Jan 10, 2018 12:51
65

Our Near Miss of the Day feature is back after taking a bit of a break over the Christmas and New Year period, and be warned, our first one of 2018 has some very colourful language.

It shows a pick-up truck driver who decided, rather than wait a couple of seconds for a cyclist to get through a short section of roadworks, to overtake him at exactly that point. 

The cyclist, not unreasonably, responded by hitting the side of the vehicle, which shows how close it was, and raised his middle finger. The motorist then hit the brakes and then, at the next junction, got out of his pick-up truck and a rather heated discussion ensued.

It was uploaded to YouTube by CBL, who said: "If I can hit your vehicle with a closed fist, without even stretching, then you're too close, there is no argument.

"After the video ended, I chatted to other man who stopped and thanked him for the 'back up'. "

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.

 

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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65 comments

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John Smith replied to alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like

alansmurphy wrote:

I suppose the 'taken the lane' is quite a contentious point though. You don't have the right to just take the lane if a car is in it and travelling at a particular speed; they seemed to arrive at the single lane pretty much at the same point.

 

The camera is clearly on the cyclists head and for me he glances rather than does a proper shoulder check. If you feel you're going to be narrow on the left and not take the whole lane, therefore I can half check and move out, then you've no right to complain when there is something on your right. If he'd checked properly and earlier, then you'd signal early, be out in the lane and anticipate the vehicle behind responding to that, if they didn't you'd have a better argument.

 

The pickup driver chose to overtake as lanes merge. Would he have done that if it was a bus in the buslane?

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alansmurphy replied to John Smith | 6 years ago
0 likes
John Smith wrote:

alansmurphy wrote:

I suppose the 'taken the lane' is quite a contentious point though. You don't have the right to just take the lane if a car is in it and travelling at a particular speed; they seemed to arrive at the single lane pretty much at the same point.

 

The camera is clearly on the cyclists head and for me he glances rather than does a proper shoulder check. If you feel you're going to be narrow on the left and not take the whole lane, therefore I can half check and move out, then you've no right to complain when there is something on your right. If he'd checked properly and earlier, then you'd signal early, be out in the lane and anticipate the vehicle behind responding to that, if they didn't you'd have a better argument.

 

The pickup driver chose to overtake as lanes merge. Would he have done that if it was a bus in the buslane?

No he didn't, the cyclist chose to change lanes without checking it was clear endangering himself and other road users...

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ClubSmed replied to alansmurphy | 6 years ago
2 likes

alansmurphy wrote:
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

alansmurphy wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

 

The cyclist has priority

The motorist ignores the fact that the road user ahead cannot simply dissappear.

The motorist endangers/assaults the vulnerable road user with his killing machine. The motorist unlawfully obstructs another road user and deliberately attempts to cause them harm/crash.

All this BS about him being in a different lane when it's obvious he will be merging into the single lane of the roadworks means cunty McCuntface has to ensure he doesn't do something that endangers another. There are many references to this in the HC.

The police will claim the cyclist is breaching the peace/public order offence and do fuck all.

Couldn't disagree more.

If the 4x4 was in the inside lane doing 20mph and the cyclist was in the outside doing 25mph and the 4x4 put his indicator on and moved out within a second - would you blame the cyclist?

Except the person on the bike would still be hurt/killed and the motorist totally unharmed/unthreatened physically or mentally if there is contact, it's lawfully encumbant on the motorist to not assault/threaten someone else.

Please give a single example of what you've described as actualy happening in any point in history that actually threatened harm to a motorist by a person on a bike, you can't because it never ever happened.

Disagree all you like, the motorist was in the wrong 100%. put two motors in the same situation and the 4x4 driver would still be in the wrong, it's still encumbent on them not to cause a collision/threaten harm, they had ample opportunity to avoid this but chose not to. Again this is in the HC and used by the police to prosecute.

Disagree again, the law isn't based on the threat/vulnerability. If you put two 4x4s on the road you'd anticipate the one ahead would not indicate and move within a second whilst not checking their mirrors. The point I was trying to make is that if helmet cam bike was in the outside lane and the 4x4 on the inside and the 4x4 had acted as the bike did it would be another close pass video where the driver would be blamed. Suggesting they had ample time, they had a second. One second.

We don't know how fast the 4x4 was approaching though, it could be that it was all safe when the cyclist looked behind but because the 4x4 was speeding the situation changed.

Given the above possibility that the cyclists may not have been at fault, let's look at the actions of the 4x4 and ask ourselves "is there any possibility that his actions are faultless?"

We do not have the full facts, we don't know how thoroughly the cyclist checked behind, If a hand signal was given, if it was given how long for and how the 4x4 was being driven before coming into view. All of these can make a big difference to who was at fault for the close pass, but the resulting dangerous driving is definitely the fault of the 4x4 driver.

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iandusud | 6 years ago
2 likes

Having driven cycled in London rush hour traffic quite a lot over the last four years I have to say that this sort of thing is thankfully not too common. I find that most London drivers have come to understand that it is pointless being in a hurry as it's only going to get you to the back of the traffic queue a few seconds earlier (as witnessed here). The pick up driver in this case clearly must have known that the cyclist was there and that he was moving into the outer lane to avoid the lane closure. The dirver simply decided to put his foot down and squeeze past, making a dangerous overtaking manouvre, which is illegal, as you should only overtake when and where it is safe to do so. 

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ChrisB200SX replied to alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like

alansmurphy wrote:

If the 4x4 was in the inside lane doing 20mph and the cyclist was in the outside doing 25mph and the 4x4 put his indicator on and moved out within a second - would you blame the cyclist?

Yes, because you have to give way to the vehicle in front.

There is no left lane when the 4x4 begins to overtake, also, it's not that the right lane continues and the left stops, both lanes become one.

Ask yourself what would have happened if it had been a bus instead of a cyclist.

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