Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Updated: Near Miss of the Day 293 - why wait when you’re driving the bigger vehicle?

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Bristol...

This near miss featured one oncoming driver turning across a cyclist’s path… and then a second driver following.

James has only recently purchased a camera, “as I fairly regularly encounter drivers with questionable judgement on my 11 mile commute through Bristol.”

Most of James’s commute is on the Concorde Way cycle path from the city centre to north Bristol with only around 15 minutes on the road in his 40-minute ride.

“Unfortunately, this seems to be enough to see some truly awful rush hour driving where drivers are fighting for every metre in order to get to the next standstill traffic jam; putting pedestrians and cyclists at risk in the process.”

This particular incident occurred on August 1 – only the second day James had used the camera.

He said the driver of the silver car paused before cutting the corner. “Following the silver car was a lady in the brown C-Max, who definitely saw me, was looking me right in the eye, but decided to put her foot down and cut right in front of me at speed and into the oncoming traffic of the side-road.

“You can't really hear anything with this camera but I skidded and lost enough speed to miss the side of her car.”

It looks close, but James also reckons the super wide angle lens makes objects appear much further away that they were in reality.

The footage was submitted to Avon and Somerset Police, who have responded:

"On viewing the footage I agree that the standard of driving falls below the required standard and I shall be seeking to prosecute the driver of the vehicle.

"Thank you for taking the time to upload your footage and helping to keep our roads safe."

> 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

> What to do next if you’ve been involved in a road traffic collision

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.

Add new comment

18 comments

Avatar
Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
0 likes

However, it was patently obvious what was coming. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. Concentrate on stopping, rather than waving your arms about and shouting at the driver(s). I know, I know, we shouldn’t have to, but hey, self preservation society 

Avatar
mdavidford replied to Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
6 likes

Judge dreadful wrote:

However, it was patently obvious what was coming. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. Concentrate on stopping, rather than waving your arms about and shouting at the driver(s). I know, I know, we shouldn’t have to, but hey, self preservation society 

 

It wasn't obvious at all. The second car's indicator was masked by the first car until it was far too late, and there was no reason to assume from it's attitude approaching the junction that it was about to swing across on the wrong side of the road, at speed, without a clear view of whether the road was clear.

 

If you took the view that you should anticipate that the driver of every car was likely to do something illegal and irrational like this at any given moment, you'd never take the bike on the road at all.

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
1 like

They should be reported, so dangerous to enter a junction on the wrong side of the carriageway!

Avatar
jacko645 | 4 years ago
3 likes

looks close, but James also reckons the super wide angle lens makes objects appear much further away that they were in reality.

Definitely agree, I constantly have problems trying to convince people that cars were closer than they look. It may be possible to turn a wide-angle picture into rectalinear but I'm yet to find any software that does it.

Avatar
alansmurphy | 4 years ago
0 likes

I've also noticed how often cars have to adjust their line (or not) when you're approaching a junction and they're turning in. They look at you as if you should levitate!

Avatar
zero_trooper | 4 years ago
6 likes

I don’t believe that it even registered with the driver that you existed (eye contact or not). They just rushed the junction, following the silver car as nothing significant was on-coming. i.e. something that would damage them.

Good luck with your complaint and keep us updated. When the footage is uploaded to A&S police, does it generate a reference number?

Avatar
Eton Rifle replied to zero_trooper | 4 years ago
2 likes

zero_trooper wrote:

I don’t believe that it even registered with the driver that you existed (eye contact or not). They just rushed the junction, following the silver car as nothing significant was on-coming. i.e. something that would damage them.

Good luck with your complaint and keep us updated. When the footage is uploaded to A&S police, does it generate a reference number?

Yes, you get a reference number immediately and an officer will follow up with an email as to their decision within a few days.  

I have had three warning letters sent to drivers and two notices of intention to prosecute (NIP) so far this year (the latter for twats driving onto roundabouts, cutting in front of me when I had priority).  My commute is only two and a half miles each way and only about half of that on roads.  And I only report the worst incidents.  That is how fucking bad north Bristol is for crap drivers.

James, you should probably take this down until you hear from A&S.  I was asked by Cycliq (I use their Fly12 CE) for the footage of the NIP incidents and checked with A&S.  They instructed me not to share the footage as both cases were still sub judice.

Avatar
Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
0 likes

A brown C-max....sexy.

you will deffo get more sex driving one of those.

Avatar
clayfit replied to Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
3 likes

Plasterer's Radio wrote:

A brown C-max....sexy.

you will deffo get more sex driving one of those.

Sports car:  "I'd like to have sex at least once"

People carrier:  "I've had sex at least once"

Avatar
Phil99 | 4 years ago
4 likes

Ridiculous bit of driving

>> The footage has been submitted to Avon and Somerset Police

Hopefully they'll contact the driver(s) at the minimum, but don't they recommend not publishing the footage online before they've decided what action they're going to take (or not take)?

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 4 years ago
11 likes

Pedestrian was also crossing that side road when they turned in. Just completely shite driving by any standard.

Avatar
EK Spinner | 4 years ago
15 likes

Cutting the corner when turning into junctions has become so common now that I often find folk stopping to "flash" me out a junction when I am waiting on the giveway lines, all so that they can sweep into the junction. Do they not relaise just how far round their steering goes.

 

and then these folk get onto juries (believing themselves to be good drivers) and whether driving standards fall below that of a competent driver. It really is time that driving rules were policed robustly (not warnings or courses - strong meaningful punishment) and then driving standards would improve 

 

Avatar
Bmblbzzz replied to EK Spinner | 4 years ago
0 likes

EK Spinner wrote:

Cutting the corner when turning into junctions has become so common now that I often find folk stopping to "flash" me out a junction when I am waiting on the giveway lines, all so that they can sweep into the junction. Do they not relaise just how far round their steering goes.

 

and then these folk get onto juries (believing themselves to be good drivers) and whether driving standards fall below that of a competent driver. It really is time that driving rules were policed robustly (not warnings or courses - strong meaningful punishment) and then driving standards would improve 

 

...and that traffic rules were enforced by police not by juries, 12-point "totting up" rules being the most heinous example. 

Avatar
mike the bike replied to Bmblbzzz | 4 years ago
0 likes

Bmblbzzz wrote:

 

...and that traffic rules were enforced by police not by juries, 12-point "totting up" rules being the most heinous example. 

[/quote]

 

Traffic rules are enforced by the police and a court will establish guilt or otherwise.  Depending on the type of court, a jury may play the major part in this decision.  But that jury has no say in any punishment, that is the job of the judge.  So anyone who gets away with the 12 point ban has a judge (or magistrate) to thank. 

Avatar
zero_trooper replied to EK Spinner | 4 years ago
2 likes

EK Spinner wrote:

Cutting the corner when turning into junctions has become so common now that I often find folk stopping to "flash" me out a junction when I am waiting on the giveway lines, all so that they can sweep into the junction. Do they not relaise just how far round their steering goes.

 

and then these folk get onto juries (believing themselves to be good drivers) and whether driving standards fall below that of a competent driver. It really is time that driving rules were policed robustly (not warnings or courses - strong meaningful punishment) and then driving standards would improve 

 

 

Good point about jurors believing that they are all competent drivers.

Avatar
Tribble replied to EK Spinner | 4 years ago
0 likes

EK Spinner wrote:

Cutting the corner when turning into junctions has become so common now that I often find folk stopping to "flash" me out a junction when I am waiting on the giveway lines, all so that they can sweep into the junction. Do they not relaise just how far round their steering goes.

 

This.

Occasionally a driver will overtake me while we are both turning into a side road, necessitating them cutting the corner. There's one particular blind, car lined corner on my route which seems to be popular for this. Only once has karma struck (literally) with a car coming the other direction.

Avatar
Biggus-Dickkus | 4 years ago
8 likes

Like all these rubbish drivers if there had been a 40-ton lorry approaching the junction they certainly wouldn't have cut the corner...

Avatar
danhopgood | 4 years ago
6 likes

Reckless by the woman in the C-Max.  Both she and the preceeding driver completely cut the corner on the side road too.

Latest Comments