Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day feature is the second in a row where a father and son out cycling were on the receiving end of aggressive driving – remember this one from Tuesday? In this case, we can’t help but wonder whether coverage by some media outlets of cycling during lockdown may have contributed towards the aggression?
It happened to road.cc reader Philip, who was out riding last week with his son close to home on the North Downs on the Surrey/Kent border.
“We were passed by two cars (the second of which was a bit too close),” Philip told us.
“However, a third car then came up behind (after some other bikes passed us) and was very frustrated as it could not pass because of the other bikes and an oncoming car.
“You can hear the driver hoot their horn and drew level right next to my 12 year old son and I, within about a hand’s width of us and had to wait for the road to clear.
“Bizarrely the oncoming car also shouted ‘idiots’ at us. If either of us had wobbled or hit a pot hole we could have been killed or seriously injured by the car.”
Philip sent us a separate video shot on the Pilgrim’s Way the same day where again, he and his son encountered an aggressive driver.
“”When we were stopped so that my son could have a drink, a crazy driver hurtled down the tiny country road at tremendous speed,” he said.
“You can see him weaving past bikes on his side as well as oncoming bikes as he crests the hill, gives me the finger because I was waving for him to slow down and then no regard for the other oncoming cyclists.”
> 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@road.cc">info@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
29 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 400: Aggressive drivers in the North Downs”
I am very important – get out
I am very important – get out of my way.
I can only assume the driver in clip 2 was going around looking for trouble.
Probably ‘essential’ trouble…
Probably ‘essential’ trouble…
The AA are moaning today
The AA are moaning today about petrol prices not being low enough – when you see this kind of automotive nonsense, you get to thinking it cannot soar high enough.
No doubt driver 2 was on an essential journey, delivering gowns to a local hospital.
I ride both those roads
I ride both those roads regularly and I’m afraid I have some sympathy for the car drivers in both instances. Going up the hill to the roundabout the road is wide and cars do travel up it quickly – the group is quite wide of the kerb and then two swing out to overtake the camera and the 12yr old goes right aross the white line. I’m not surprised they got beeped. On Pilgrim’s Way they stopped for a drink on the side of the road where there’s a hedge so were standing in the road when they could have safely got onto the verge on the other side. Yes people drive too fast, yes people pass too close and dangerously, but cyclists needs to take responsibility for their own safety. The roads are relatively empty at the moment, good luck when traffic returns to normal!
mikehfcreative wrote:
Based on the content of your solitary post here I take it you don’t cycle on the road regularly.
Neither driver’s manouevre was safe or appropriate. Both were aggressive and typical of a bully who think that there will be no consequences for them.
mikehfcreative wrote:
how about these conditions being the new normal?
How about the old ways of “cars will drive fast” becomes, well the old ways – you know like Jimmy Saville presenting Top of the Pops on a Thursday night.
How do you know all this?
How do you know all this? Were you the driver?
The 12 year old was by the kerb.
There is no clear evidence that one of the other riders “after some other bikes passed us” crossed the white line (and what if they did – is it beyond the wit of motorists to think about safe distancing?)
Did you join them for a drink ?
hirsute wrote:
We can only assume that this is a rhetorical question.
mikehfcreative wrote:
umm, no. the overtaking cyclists were out past the centre line to give the 2m social distancing, as they ought to. the approaching vehicle should have waited for the cyclists to complete the overtake before starting theirs.
no doubt they are a sh1t driver who only saw cyclists ‘4 a breast’ in the middle of the road and decided to give them some horn for holding up their much more important journey.
as for cars travelling ‘quite fast’ – driving up to the speed limit is ok when there are ideal conditions on the road. when the road is full of vunerable users, speed should be reduced accordingly. it’s no longer safe to travel at the speed limit, or anywhere near it.
mikehfcreative wrote:
No he didn’t, he was in front of the camera the whole time until the very end of the video. He never left the far left hand side of the road
Again, no we didn’t. We pulled into a farm field access, off the road. These cameras have ‘fish eye’ lenses so the perspective close up may be blurred. Also, we were waiting to rejoin the road after having stopped, you can probably see that from my son’s stance, he has one foot clipped in and the other on the ground. I was looking back, waiting for cyclists to pass which is why the handlebars move when I look back forward. We were not the problem, you can see the car drive really fast down that road, far to fast considering there were a lot of cyclists. He also made no effort to slow down, all I did was wave my hand down and suggest he slow down, to which all he did was respond with a middle finger.
I live about 2 mins from the second video location and maybe 5 mins from the first and also drive these roads incredibly regularly. There are always cyclists but I wait patiently, pass carefully and give a wide birth. It’s not hard and anything else isn’t excusable.
First car – they were doing
First car – they were doing the right thing – slowed down, moved over and tooted to let the riders (who moved out too far) know they were there. I don’t know why this video is here – the riders are in the wrong not the driver.
What exactly did you think
What exactly did you think was happening at 20 seconds?
This video isn’t very obvious
This video isn’t very obvious, it’s true. Remember that our vantage point is the back of a bike, and that this is bikes overtaking other bikes presumably at 2 metres width – all too much for this driver.
In UK you can’t be out too
In UK you can’t be out too far. We are permitted anywhere between the centre line of the road and the verge on the carriageway that we occupy.
If you’re overtaking, as they
If you’re overtaking, as they were, it is acceptable to be the other side of the centre line, if you feel it necessary to give sufficient space while passing.
[Unfortunately, far too many car drivers don’t seem to realise that they can cross the white line when passing bicycles.]
I’ve been hooted at a few
I’ve been hooted at a few times by oncoming drivers who seem to feel that this is not allowed. Most odd. Either moving out to the RH lane for roundabouts, or taking ‘the racing line’ into and out of a fast left hand bend. I’m starting to think its me!
Hi, I was the rider who took
Hi, I was the rider who took the video.
The third (black) car was the problem, it was about 10 to 20cm from us when it tried to pass us but could not pass and had to drive level with us at such a closer distance because of an oncoming car. The overtaking cyclists had long passed and were no longer an obstacle. The black car should have waited for the oncoming car to pass, it would really have been a minor inconvenience to them.
However, to your point about distance from the kerb: I rarely ride in the gutter for several reasons 1) much more likely to puncture, hit gravel or a pot hole 2) it leaves far too much space for cars to try and squeeze past, cycling slightly out into the road makes it slightly harder for cars to pass so that they have to make a decisive effort to pass (although this is only a little out from the side). However, in this instance I was riding with one of my two children, when I ride with them I usually ride behind them and slightly outside to give them some slight protection. I don’t think it is reasonable to criticise that protective riding (you can see I passed him slightly while remonstrating with the driver)
I’m not sure why you put “
I’m not sure why you put ” had to drive level with us at such a closer distance “.
They didn’t have to, they could have held off !
Such is the inability of drivers to do a bit of planning!
There was a post on my local
There was a post on my local village fb page about a lamb being killed by a speeding driver, with a request that drivers slowed down a bit. I posted that I supported this and it wasn’t just lambs it was pedestrians and cyclists being put at risk too, and as a result, I appear to have unceremoniously had my membership of that page withdrawn. Wow!?
<sad face>
Possibly unpopular opinion
Possibly unpopular opinion warning!
The first vid, the two overtaking cyclists seem very lackadaisical. Both apparently make half hearted looks over their shoulder before their overtake (it’s a bit more unclear for the rear rider). With the benefit of a rear view camera we can see the black VW approaching at speed, albeit quite far back. I would have allowed the VW to get their overtake in, then gone for it.
If the horn was a warning to make the cyclists aware of it’s presence, I’ve no problem with that (it was just a short beep). In fact, if I was the car driver, I would have presumed that the overtaking cyclists hadn’t seen me.
However, the overtake of the bike with the camera seems way too close.
But doesn’t the car driver
But doesn’t the car driver have only themselves to blame for not being seen, buying a black car. Bloody Ninja car drivers.
Yeah, but it’s the old SMIDSY
Yeah, but it’s the old SMIDSY situation. Those cyclists wouldn’t have seen that car whatever the colour.
zero_trooper wrote:
I think the relevant bit there is “quite far back“.
(I hadn’t realised they had to wait until there are Definitely No Vehicles Anywhere In Sight At All before they (being in front of the motor vehicle which was ‘quite far back’, and therefore having priority) choose to overtake).
If the car driver had been looking ahead / paying attention, then they could have very easily just eased off a bit and there would have been no possible conflict…
Hi,
Hi,
This was my video. The black car was a long way back when they started to overtake and they had been following for a while (my son isn’t quite as fast as me alone). After they passed, there was an oncoming car (so it wasn’t ideal timing for them) however, the oncoming car meant that the black car couldn’t go anywhere once level with us and had to come very, very close to us (the bikes were qutie a way up the hill by then). My front camera decided to switch off 2 mins before this or I would have had the front and back view.
This is a super wide road and there was really no reason for the car to try and pass when another car was coming towards us.
Good point, but what I was
Good point, but what I was getting at was ‘quite far back at speed‘. The outcome was pretty inevitable. At what point do you stop saying to yourself ‘I’m in front, therefore I have first dibs at overtaking’ when a ton of metal is closing down on you from behind.
And I’ll refer you right back
And I’ll refer you right back to
If the car driver had been looking ahead / paying attention, then they could have very easily just eased off a bit and there would have been no possible conflict…
At what point do you stop
At what point do you stop saying to yourself, “I’m driving at speed, therefore everyone in front of me on the road will keep out of my way / get out of my way”?
(Unless you have a blue flashing light on your vehicle, obviously)
?
?