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Near Miss of the Day 152: Co-op lorry driver in close pass

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

The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows the driver of a Co-op delivery lorry making an early morning close pass on a cyclist when there was no other traffic around.

Not only did the absence of other vehicles make the close pass unnecessary but the driver also made it at a point where the road narrowed due to a pedestrian refuge, squeezing the rider into the kerb and close to a lot of pavement furniture.

The footage was shot by road.cc reader Lee on Gloucester Road, Bristol at 6am last Thursday morning.

He told us: “No other vehicles on the road at all, no need really. I’ve not reported it as, yes he’s made a mistake, but no one deserves to lose their job or get grief over something like that. We all make them.

“I’d much rather people get educated rather than vilified,” he continued. “We’ve all got bills to pay.”

“I should really have took the central part of the road … it was early,” 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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13 comments

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brooksby | 5 years ago
1 like

The Bristol Post picked up this story and one of their commenters started quoting HC about slow vehicles pulling over and letting queues of traffic pass!?  They ignored the HC about overtaking as that wouldn't fit their narrative, and seemed to entirely miss the point that it was an otherwise empty road - which is usually nose to tail motor traffic - at six in the morning...   Idiots.

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burtthebike replied to brooksby | 5 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

The Bristol Post picked up this story and one of their commenters started quoting HC about slow vehicles pulling over and letting queues of traffic pass!?  They ignored the HC about overtaking as that wouldn't fit their narrative, and seemed to entirely miss the point that it was an otherwise empty road - which is usually nose to tail motor traffic - at six in the morning...   Idiots.

From the Post article "A Co-op spokesperson said: “Road safety is a priority for our business and we expect all our drivers to follow our strict policies. We are investigating this matter urgently.”"

So the Co-op is aware and investigating.  Good

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/dangerous-near-pass-co-o...

Having just read some of the comments, they are best avoided.

Avatar
Redvee | 5 years ago
3 likes

One of the guys in work saw this video and said the HGV was nowhere near the cyclist but not having seen the video at the time I didn't make a comment.

Given my employer I won't say much more on the incident but will be taking the details into work on Wednesday as I work at the same depot where this driver is based.

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burtthebike replied to Redvee | 5 years ago
2 likes

Redvee wrote:

One of the guys in work saw this video and said the HGV was nowhere near the cyclist but not having seen the video at the time I didn't make a comment.

Given my employer I won't say much more on the incident but will be taking the details into work on Wednesday as I work at the same depot where this driver is based.

Good for you for taking direct action.  I hope it works.

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whobiggs replied to Redvee | 5 years ago
0 likes

Redvee wrote:

One of the guys in work saw this video and said the HGV was nowhere near the cyclist .

 

 

Well the front end wasn't quite so close.....!  

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Stu Kerton | 5 years ago
8 likes

I'd definitely say it is worth reporting to their employers.

About six or seven years ago I had a very similar pass from a refuse lorry. It started off okay width wise but oncoming traffic meant he started to pull in on me and I honestly thought the rear end was going to tag my handlebar and drag me under the wheels.

I emailed the youtube link to the company with the reg, details etc that afternoon.

The next day I got a call from the driver himself apologising. He admitted he'd made a stupid mistake by not judging my speed and overtaking with oncoming traffic but felt that he still made the maneuver relatively safely as he thought he'd left me enough room. 

That was until he watched the video and seeing things from my perspective he could realise how close and scary it really was and would never ever take that sort of risk again. I could tell from the way we spoke the video had actually shaken him up.

I was happy that he'd understood and thought that was the end of it.

A week later though I got a phone call from his Transport Manager who had been on holiday when the incident happened. He'd viewed the footage and had suspended the driver without pay for two days. 

A lesson for the driver he said and a statement to the other staff that driving like that would not be tolerated.

He also asked if he could use the video for driver training. 

All in all it was the best possible outcome in my eyes.  

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brooksby replied to Stu Kerton | 5 years ago
0 likes

Stu Kerton wrote:

About six or seven years ago I had a very similar pass from a refuse lorry. It started off okay width wise but oncoming traffic meant he started to pull in on me and I honestly thought the rear end was going to tag my handlebar and drag me under the wheels.

I think this seems to be a recurring problem with long vehicles, even those driven by supposedly professional drivers (ie. trained above and beyond the bog standard driving licence).  Far too many close passes seem to be long vehicles overtaking and pulling in, seemingly forgetting (or not caring) that the back of their vehicle doesn't have room.  If they'd been driving a 'normal' sized car, the example in hand would have been (slightly) less appalling, IMO.  Still bad, but not "nearly fatally" bad.

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Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
4 likes

I understand your concern for the driver's livelihood. However if it is a first offence as it were then (s)he is unlikely to get more than a warning and that is the end of it. If it is another in a long line of complaints against him / her then they really need to be moved to other duties before someone gets hurt.

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PRSboy | 5 years ago
6 likes

Indeed, we've all got bills to pay, we all make mistakes, no one deserves to lose their job  life

 

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
15 likes

"He told us: “No other vehicles on the road at all, no need really. I’ve not reported it as, yes he’s made a mistake, but no one deserves to lose their job or get grief over something like that. We all make them."

Sorry, but I fundamentally disagree with not reporting this, at least to his employers.   The driver probably doesn't know what they did wrong, and unless they are told about it, they'll do it again, and again and again until they kill someone, but that'll be a bit late.

At the very least send a report to the Co-op including the vid, so that they can update the driver's skills and prevent it happening again. 

How will you feel when you read about a Co-op lorry being involved in the death of a cyclist, when you could have prevented it?

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kraut replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
5 likes

burtthebike wrote:

"He told us: “No other vehicles on the road at all, no need really. I’ve not reported it as, yes he’s made a mistake, but no one deserves to lose their job or get grief over something like that. We all make them."

Sorry, but I fundamentally disagree with not reporting this, at least to his employers.   The driver probably doesn't know what they did wrong, and unless they are told about it, they'll do it again, and again and again until they kill someone, but that'll be a bit late.

At the very least send a report to the Co-op including the vid, so that they can update the driver's skills and prevent it happening again. 

How will you feel when you read about a Co-op lorry being involved in the death of a cyclist, when you could have prevented it?

+1

Dangerous drivers absolutely deserver to lose their jobs as drivers. Preferably before they kill someone.

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brooksby | 5 years ago
1 like

I didn't recognise the Gloucester Road with no cars on it!

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Hirsute | 5 years ago
5 likes

Should have been on a horse.

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