A London cyclist has shared a video of a close pass that happened on one of the city’s Cycle Superhighways – with the vehicle involved operated by Serco, the same company that services the capital’s Santander Cycles hire bike fleet.
Crazy Close pass – The Serco Van Trying to kill me in video: @MetCycleCops @MetCC pic.twitter.com/levyUtYI4v
— Lee Christensen (@wreckeddeco) March 17, 2017
There’s been a lot of attention paid to the issue in recent months in the mainstream media thanks to the close pass initiative unveiled last year by West Midlands Police, but we have to say, this is one of the worst we have seen.
We’ve contacted the cyclist, Lee Christensen, for a comment regarding the incident, which involved a van of the type typically used for transporting prisoners.
16 thoughts on “Video: London cyclist in very scary close pass by Serco van”
Is that a bus lane or a bus
Is that a bus lane or a bus/HGV/taxi/uncle Tom Cobley & all lane?
Struggling to see why the Serco meatwagon is in the lane in the first place – and that’s before the close pass…
I think I’d want to drag that
I think I’d want to drag that imbecile out through his fucking windscreen!
He needs a visit from plod and a word from his employer.
The Argos stockroom is next in his career, I hope.
Throw the driver in the back,
Throw the driver in the back, and drive the van to its original destination. Do not pass go and do not collect £200.
It looks like the driver is
It looks like the driver is actually looking at his nearside mirror ad he passes and yet still continues to pull to the left. Defies belief
spen wrote:
This is the mentality of most drivers, it’s happened to me. Drivers will in most cases collide with a cyclist rather than another vehicle in a potential crash situation as its conditioned in people not to hit another vehicle.
Its crazy. I was riding to work one morning and a driver tried to pass me at 24mph through a gap that just wasn’t there. His mirror hit me forcing the pedal into the kerb and over I go. Fortunately not hurt and just scratches to bike.
The crazy thing is we were approaching a red light that had been red for few seconds.
Unless you are a driver that is also a cyclist you will treat cyclists as a nuisance rather than a vulnerable road user and until that perception changes the carnage will continue
Critchio wrote:
Crash into a big metal thing or little squishy thing? Little squishy thing, 10 times out of 10. I disagree that it is conditioned – I think it’s instinct. Can’t change that; shouldn’t try to.
The behaviour, the terrible judgement, poor overtaking, impatience, incompetence that gets drivers into situations where they might hit the squishy thing – we should go all out to knock that out of the idiots.
The van is clearly in the
The van is clearly in the right, as there’s what looks like one of those “cyclists stay back” stickers on the back of it.
Pretty awful. But I hate
Pretty awful. But I hate cycle lanes because they are just a piece of blue slippery paint, and they’re barely respected. That one appears to ‘end’ shortly thereafter – begs the question what special protection does the blue streak afford?
Colin Peyresourde wrote:
seems to only serve to encourage the cyclist to ride in the gutter, which is arguably what encouraged the pass in the first place!
beezus fufoon wrote:
The cycle lane there isn’t even wide enough for the rider to ride in the position recommended by the close pass initiative, so it’s completely pointless. The “Cyclists should ride 0.75m from the kerb and cars must give them 1.5m overtaking space” needs to be enshrined into the Highway Code asap.
tom_w wrote:
agree, but lose the “should ride 0.75m from the kerb” bit – I ususally ride between 1 and 1.5 metres out
beezus fufoon wrote:
Victim blaming perhaps? Possibly right though. I found myself on a windy/windy country main road at around 6pm yesterday and was constantly passed by cars on blind corners, often on double white lines. It got to the point that I just started taking the lane every time I heard a car approaching on a blind bend, it mostly stopped them from passing. Still got close passed by artics and countless BMWs whatever I did. Some people will always risk it, but forcing people to pass in the opposite lane (as they should anyway!) seems to make people stop and think.
But it’s not just a choice
But it’s not just a choice between hitting a big metal thing or a squishy thing, there is often the choice of that braking thingy. But that would delay them just a little bit and mean getting to the next queue of traffic a little bit slower.
ktache wrote:
I’d put last-minute braking and/or swerving in the ‘evasive action’ category – they just shouldn’t be getting into those situations as frequently. That was kind of the point of my second paragraph – fix the behaviour that gets the numpties into those situations in the first place.
Road.cc, how about
Road.cc, how about approaching serco for comment?
Media contact points available here:
https://www.serco.com/uk/contact-us
And should the vehicle even
And should the vehicle even have been using the bus lane at all? I don’t know whether they count as buses or whether they have the minimum 10 seats to qualify to use a bus lane.