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Near Miss of the Day 113: Very close pass on road with deep puddles due to thawing snow

Our regular feature highlighting close passes caught on camera from around the country – today it’s Surrey

The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day feature shows a motorist making a very close pass on a cyclist on a road with deep puddles caused by thawing snow earlier this month.

It happened to road.cc reader Andrew on Limpsfield Road in Warlingham, Surrey, on Sunday 4 March.

He told us that he encounters similar overtakes on nearly every ride he does.

In this case, he said the motorist was driving the car "too fast for the conditions, not taking into account how close it was to me."

The weather created an extra hazard, since there were "big, deep puddles on both sides of the road," meaning Andrew "moved out to avoid them" - sensible cycling, since potholes could be hidden underneath.

"The car was a long way off when it moved towards the middle of the road," he continued.  "It didn’t slow and came very close going very fast.

"I have reported it, but heard nothing," he added.

"I report all close passes. I did get one phone call from the police, but it was only to say they needed videoo, not stills.

"I had been taking burst shots to save space on the card. I bought a bigger card and now video every ride."

> 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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lesterama | 6 years ago
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That is shocking

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