Near Miss of the Day 269: Quick reacting cyclist avoids being left-hooked

Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day shows a driver making a left hook on a cyclist at a junction – with police subsequently sending the motorist on a driver awareness course.

It happened on Camberwell New Road in South London to YouTube user MCRCyclist.

He said: “This was the closest I've come to being hit since moving to London. The police sent the driver on an improvement course, which he accepted and offered his sincere apologies for the incident.”

He also provided a summary of his statement to the police: “I was cycling along Camberwell New Road towards the Oval when I first encountered the driver of RA55TNA, as seen in the video, the driver pulled out of the junction at Flodden Road causing me to brake harshly to avoid a collision – if I did not take such action I would have collided with the rear.

“We travelled in the direction of the Oval where both myself and the driver waited (junction of Lothian Road). I placed myself in front of the driver in the green cycling box. When the light went green I proceeded to take primary position in the first lane (travelling towards the Oval) and picked up a steady speed of 18mph. As I approached the junction of Vassall Road I was still in the first lane, which is left turn only for all traffic EXCEPT for cyclists, buses and taxis, I became aware of RA55TNA which was travelling beside me in lane 2 (ahead only lane).

“Without warning the driver indicated and turned across my path (from Lane 2, to Lane 1 to turn left) with the intention of turning down Lothian Road. I had to react instantly to avoid a serious collision by swerving to the left. This instant reaction (as can be seen in the video) saved me from being hit by the driver of RA55TNA. It is impossible, unless the driver of RA55TNA was distracted, not to have been aware of my presence, unless the driver performed the action intentionally.”

> 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