You’ve no doubt heard the argument about cyclists and hi-vis by now…
You might have even read a certain loophole-loving lawyer’s since-rejected petition and media rounds about the idea cyclists should be required to wear bright hi-vis clothing on the roads.
On the other hand, others, notably the Surrey Police Roads Policing Unit, have pointed out you can wear all the visible clothing in the world, but if someone is not looking then they are not going to see you anyway…
How have you turned this into a discussion about high viz?
We have cars covered in it and big flashy lights and drivers STILL don’t see us. pic.twitter.com/e4PF8v7uqu
— Roads Policing – Surrey Police – UK (@SurreyRoadCops) June 26, 2020
That’s the basis for today’s Near Miss of the Day offering too which comes courtesy of a reader who was riding at night when the driver ahead started to drift across to the wrong side of the road, getting closer and closer.
Listing the full array of safety brightness on display, our reader told us he had: “Two front lights, two rear lights, reflectors all over and I was wearing a hi-vis jacket.
“Not much to comment apart from ‘If they ain’t looking they won’t see you’.”
Back in December we heard from another highly visible cyclist, for NMotD 838, after they were almost knocked off at a mini-roundabout, only for the driver involved to run a red light to avoid having to explain their behaviour moments later.
“Tell me again about hi-vis and lights!” the rider concluded.
> 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 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
20 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 850: “Lights, reflectors and hi-vis — if they ain’t looking they won’t see you””
In a useful bit of timing,
In a useful bit of timing, Mark Hodson reweeted this today
https://twitter.com/MerseyRoads/status/1624703788597579777
is the weirdest thing about
is the weirdest thing about that the driver took so long to react to hitting a human being and seems unable to process it to even get out of the car ? or the car behind just treats it as an obstacle in their way.
Could be in their phone,
You do get car in car ones like that in dash cam uk when it is even more stupid.
But but this is one of those
But but this is one of those edge cases again. It was dark. You can’t seriously expect people to see as well in the dark! That’s why people are encouraged not to drive in the evening and at night, you have to drive with your window open and why the speed limits are 10 – 20mph lower after civil twilight. (Is that right? )
chrisonatrike wrote:
If I have to drive in the dark, I have a few beers first. It makes me pay more attention. Safer for everyone that way.
Why is the car driving in the
Why is the car driving in the middle of the road?
AI glitch
AI glitch
potholes ?
potholes ?
Drunk, high, blind, using
Drunk, high, blind, using their phone/satnav, incompetent, asleep, unlicensed, distracted by child/passenger or just didn’t give a f**k?
Sadly a large proportion of the driving public are one or more of the above.
It’s called taking the
It’s called taking the primary, stops cyclists overtaking you
lol, somehow everything you
lol, somehow everything you post comes across as anti cyclists, or simply trolling
To knock down the chickens
To knock down the chickens
Cheeky little keying as you
Cheeky little keying as you pass will teach them a lesson. Never failed for me.
I was riding down a little
I was riding down a little lane yesterday and passed a sign saying ” Slow toads crossing”. Never seen that before. Apparently 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads every year. That’s a lot isn’t it?
There’s something hypnotic
There’s something hypnotic about the phrase. “Two and twenty tons of toads are totalled on the roads”. See – it’s even lured me into an extra two tons of toad destruction.
What about the fast roads?
What about the fast toads? Where do they cross?
Toad Hall. Then the Red Lion
Toad Hall. Then the Red Lion Inn, then they don’t because they’re in prison for joyriding.
I think they jump on the
I think they jump on the slower ones backs. Like playing leapfrog.
It would really be a bonus if
It would really be a bonus if pathetic fantasists were to move elsewhere
Lights and hi viz (for a
Lights and hi viz (for a cyclist) in an urban street lit environment serve only 2 purposes.
1. To be an annoying distraction for drivers from whatever it is that’s more important for them to be looking at inside their vehicle.
2. Deflect at least some small part of the blame for causing an accident and getting themselves run over.