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news
Near Miss of the Day 159: Driver towing horse box cuts up cyclist at four-way junction
Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day feature technically doesn't fit into the category, with the cyclist involved left with a sore arm after he was struck by a horse box being towed by a van. The driver passed him at a four-way junction, when the cyclist had a green light.
It happened just over a week ago to road.cc reader Andrew as he did a recce of the course of September's Manchester 100km bike ride.
He told us: "I was lucky not to have been knocked into the pavement.
"Thankfully, Cheshire Police were extremely supportive and are going to have a word with the driver."
Andrew added: "The driver clipped my right upper arm, which was sore for days."
The video is typical of many we have seen in the series where a driver towing something cuts in too quickly after the front of the vehicle has passed a cyclist, meaning they become squeezed between the trailer and the kerb.
> 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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23 comments
Right, little confused, my double posts tend to be instant, zero trooper's have over 8 hours difference. ?
I'm not excusing him but could I ask why you slowed so much and moved to the side?
It was almost inviting him to pass when they wasnt space.
That could easily be an A-pillar blind spot - if you're turning right with a long load your main focus is on your off-side. Dreadful driving but he was likely looking in his right hand mirror to check clearance to the right-turning car.
See a lot of horseboxes around here and they are often driven erratically. Primarily they'll try to avoid heavy braking, even if they've committed to the wrong course of action. Too worried about harming the expensive ton and a bit of horse they're hauling. I'm always cautious around them.
I think there's also that added risk of them being wider than towing car - similar to that recent fatality at Earls Court with the portaloo trailer. Bit like a cat with an arse wider than it's whiskers...
Glad you weren't badly hurt in this incident, could have been a whole lot worse.
'Cheshire police were extremely supportive and are going to 'have a word' with the driver'. Crikey you are in luck, buy a lottery ticket quick while you have a run of good fortune.
Mind you, driver passes too close, there's an impact, driver doesn't stop and Cheshire police say they will have a word, but might not, even with all that evidence they do next to nothing, again. Perhaps your luck wasn't that good after all.
Quite right. This is a reportable Road Traffic Collision. The horsebox driver has a requirement to stop, exchange details with the injured party (the cyclist) AND as there's an injury, report to the police
No wonder Cheshire Police are more than happy to 'have a word', you're being fobbed off and saving them a bit of work. A straight forward 'due care'. Driver has apparently failed to see and give way to at least two other road users.
Quite right. This is a reportable Road Traffic Collision. The horsebox driver has a requirement to stop, exchange details with the injured party (the cyclist) AND as there's an injury, report to the police
No wonder Cheshire Police are more than happy to 'have a word', you're being fobbed off and saving them a bit of work. A straight forward 'due care'. Driver has apparently failed to see and give way to at least two other road users.
Yet another criminal who will one day serious hurt someone or worse. But you know, it's a cyclist so deserves everything coming to them.
As I'll continue to say, the rules regarding responsibility are so slanted/discriminatory it's literally costing lives on the road and the police/government are complicit in these deaths with the failure to change matters.
One of my pals was beeped aggressively by a horsebox towing driver at the top of Quarry Hill, Tonbridge at the weekend. One of those 'GET IN THE CYCLE LANE' beeps. Pretty busy and perilous descent at the best of times, and obviously the cycle lane is heavily potholed and very close to several driveways and other road turnings on the way down. Couldn't help wondering how the driver would have reacted had someone hooted at her while she was riding....
I thought horse riders wanted mutual respect with cyclists to help fight the issues we both face with drivers - seems some of them intent on being as bad as the worst drivers once they're behind a wheel! Not surprised from experience - had a Volvo pulling a horse box downhill try to overtake a road race bunch and following car, then pull into the bunch when an oncoming car appeared - he was nearly lynched and carted off by the police - luckily no one terribly hurt.
I have found horse boxes to be some of the worst driven. The big professional ones used by race horses seem to be fine (presumably professional drivers who do a lot of driving and have expensive loads.)
The little ones or old ones seem to be driven by people with no idea. They seem to have no idea of the size and on the one hand drive incredibly slowly but on the other think everyone should get out of their way rather than planning ahead. God forbid that they would actually have to stop at a roundabout or slow behind a cyclist.
That looks nasty but is it not a junction with traffic lights and if so either all the traffic is going through a red light or the cyclist did ?
@Anthony.C I am the cyclist in the video. It was a junction where we had the green light, not a roundabout. (The lights are out of camera shot.) If it was a roundabout, I'd have given way to the van as he would've had priority.
I've emailed the author and asked him to correct this.
I see, thanks for clarifying.
That's not a roundabout.
There's a definite lack of road markings which makes it very unclear who has right of way and should invite caution.
I'd say the cyclist should have yielded to the vehicle coming from his right.
Eh.. it looks like a classic 4 way junction with two light phases where right turning vehicles give way to those going straight or turning left from the opposite direction...
I'd say you're a bellend with less knowledge of the junction than the guy who sent the clip in.
Upon reflection... yeah I'm happy with that assessment.
I'm not sure what exactly you are objecting to and as the rider himself has said that it was not a roundabout.
Do you just come here to abuse people or do you always behave like a twat?
There is the issue of why you think you should give way to someone turning right at traffic lights when the default is the right turners give way.
Yeah, my post is obvious twattery. As is yours, but to my mind your judgey, passive aggressive twattery is way twattier than my direct twattery., because it's disguised as trying-not-to-be-twattery.
And before you start poring and getting defensive over this particular post, it s not your sole 'ooh, you don't wanna do that' bit of bollocks combined with driver subservience you've posted.
But my point, treacle, is this:
What is the point of your post?
'It isn't a roundabout' OK
BUT
'yield to the right' Right, like it's a roundabout you mean? Even though we've established that it isn't? Or maybe we've gone all priorité a droite cos tonight we're gonna party like it's 1899 (France)?
Without seeing the road signs, markings or any knowledge of the junction, what exactly is your fucking point, caller? It's just to moan, in a judgey, inaccurate fashion, at someone nearly being hit by a dick pulling a horsebox. So fuck off.
That's not a roundabout surely...
Horsebox driver should have given way as the riders had right of way, disappointing given the consideration that vulnerable road users should show each other. Lucky that bikes don't get spooked and bolt!
Does anyone know where that was? The video says roundabout, but it looks like a 4 way junction. It can't work out if the horse box was being stupid or very stupid.
I assume this will have the same sort of national press as the issue with the triathlon a few weeks ago, and joint guidence being publised on how to drive a horse box aimed at horsey types?
Plus 2.5m views on Facebook.
Christ that was close. If the lead guy had any pace on that would have been a collision.
Horses on the roads are bad enough. Clearly, horses in boxes are worse.