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Near Miss of the Day 165: Close pass followed by dooring and angry exchange because motorist had then driven into hedge
Today’s near miss takes place on a Ruette Tranquille on Guernsey. Ruettes Tranquilles are a network of lanes on the island with a recommended speed limit of 15mph on which pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders have priority over motor vehicles.
Alex said: “Despite being over this recommended speed limit myself, the driver clearly had a serious case of MGIF (must get in front) that could only be cured by trying to run me off the road and then threatening me in the street because I’d made him hit the hedge as he tried to squeeze by me. Luckily a guy overheard them and came out of his house and coaxed them away from me.”
The incident occurred in February during Alex’s ride home from work. He said the dooring left him with a broken finger, “but luckily no damage to the bike.”
He said that after being treated at A&E, he went to the police station that evening to make a complaint and provided them with a copy of the video footage.
“After four months, and much chasing, I was informed by the police that they would not be taking any action against the driver as ‘seeing as I had time to hit the car as it passed me, I had time to move out of the way’.
“I immediately made a complaint, and after a further six weeks of chasing, have still to receive anything other than an informal remark that they’re happy with their investigation.”
Alex says that in May a local cycling group launched a ‘Stay Wider of the Rider’ campaign with the support of Guernsey Police, complete with a floor mat showing their recommended overtaking distance.
“I volunteered my time on a Sunday to man the police’s stall at a charity event to promote the initiative and talk to the public about it. And as treasurer of the local cycling group, I even wrote the cheque to pay for the floor mat and associated car bumper stickers. Guess I won’t be doing that again.”
> 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
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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42 comments
It's a quiet route to enjoyed by pedestrians as well as wheeled vehicles, not a motorway, so not comparable at all.
Post-incedent behaviour is inexcusable, - but... we don't know how long he was behind, and there are a couple of opportunities to have let a vehicle pass in the clip...
100% agree.
And the rest is maybe how we stop the inexcusable happening. There were a couple of spaces to have let a vehicle past.
Or we can just be patient twats.
Except that the limit on this road is 15mph and the cyclist says he was doing more than that, so why let someone past when they were breaking the speed limit to do so?
If you're driving in the outside lane at the speed limit and someone comes up behind you the highway code/best practice is to move over when safe to do so and allow them past.
It would have taken three seconds of free-wheeling to allow the car to pass if timed right.
Um, yeah, so that’s not what the Highway Code says at all.
The Highway Code says a lot about how to safely overtake and treat cyclists, though.
I can see you are determined not to understand what one of these greeen lanes is.
OTOH these lanes give priority to non motorised vehicles so Mr Guernsey SUV can just suck it up
You've completely missed the point that it is a green lane therefore cars have to give way to everyone and not exceed 15 mph.
The cyclist could have gone at 3 mph and still had priority.
Such Green lanes are a selling point of the channel islands for tourist purposes.
But we DO know how long there wasn't an opportunity to pass safely, about 15 seconds - if the motorist had been waiting to pass earlier in the video, he would surely have passed unsafely earlier. Or do you think the motorist patiently waited 15 seconds before impatiently passing?
I would like to see the next few minutes to see how he gets the car out of the hedge and his reaction to the door. Proper entertainment.
Thanks for pointing out that the car had rolled backwards and destroyed the drivers door. I was wondering how the cyclist suddenly appeared to be so far ahead in the road as the manchild ranting commenced. Definitely makes this worth another viewing.
Second that simontm, I was thinking it would be a great place for a family Cycling holiday with my nervous new riders in the family, not now. Unless I hear of a change of attitude we won’t bother with the channel islands
I think a nice email to the ‘States’ members and the head of the tourist board pointing out a recommending cyclist don’t visit Guernsey because of the lack of compliance with the law might be interesting.
I've been to Jersey and I had a very positive experience, so I hope this bloke is a rare example.
How it can be brushed under the carpet with multiple offences is worrying, so your idea is a good one.
The idiot driver's dashcam footage of his own face as he walked back to his car and realised the damage would have been priceless.
Looks like it, i bet that door don't shut properly and has knackered the hinges on it, serves him right the dick.
Did the driver get out without putting the handbrake on and did the car roll back down the lane, nearly tearing the drivers door off? Oh dear.
That's hilarious. What a knob of a driver.
Quite how the Police think there's nothing to action is beyond me. Bloody joke.
Hope that repair cost him a bit.
If either of my daughters turns into a whining bint like that, I swear I’ll kill myself.
Clearly it is the parent's fault, it is the way she has been brought up by arrogant, stupid aggressive dad, so blaming the kid isn't really fair. Trouble is, when she gets behind the wheel of a car, she's going to be just as bad.
Just watched it again to see the door bending bit, and noticed that the daughter has a large "staff" badge around her neck. I wonder what kind of company would employ someone with quite such exceptional customer relationship skills.
Just watched it again to see the door bending bit, and noticed that the daughter has a large "staff" badge around her neck. I wonder what kind of company would employ someone with quite such exceptional customer relationship skills.
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Guernsey Police?
I'd be tempted to cut the daughter a bit of slack. Its probably her first car incident and shock makes people say and do silly things, especially if she was in the car as it rolled backward.
The dad has no excuse 100% the cause of the entire incident.
I would have went after his insurance company for the broken finger.
Utterly appalling driving and staggering incompetence are not the best mix. I suspect that the driver is a well know celebrity or millionaire, so the police won't do anything, and would probably let him off killing someone. I'd certainly argue that stopping, apparently without reason, and then opening the door when the cyclist tried to pass was assault.
I agree with previous posters, keep escalating this and take it to the media. Does anyone know how to look up Guernsey reg plates to find out who the owner is?
He's pretty tight with old wallet if he's got millions to spend and he's driving that crap.
Wow, that's Guernsey off of my list of places to visit. Useless Guernsey Police! If you've got time to be hit by a car you've got time to get out of the way and crash into the hedge instead.
lol Summed it up nicely.
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