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news
Near Miss of the Day 310: Cyclists get punishment pass
The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows two cyclists in Scotland being subjected to a punishment pass by a motorist in West Lothian, Scotland.
The incident on Sunday has filmed by road.cc reader Oldfatgit, who is still recovering from an incident that left him with serious injuries and has not ridden on his own since.
He saisd: "Myself and another club member were riding two abreast on Whitburn Road, Bathgate, and at around 0811 we were subjected to a punishment pass by the silver car.
"I am recovering from multiple broken bones, including a shattered knee, after being hit by a car driver on my way home from work in August last year – I appreciate that the silver car driver does not know this, but it’s still a shake to the confidence and a cause of worry.
"Following the accident, I’ve not been able to ride solo, and things like this only make it less likely that I will ride solo again."
He added: "This was not reported to Police Scotland – because I did not change my path or speed as a result of the pass, Police Scotland are not interested in ‘close-pass’ reports from cyclists."
> 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.
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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28 comments
Headline should read "cyclists get cowards pass, aka punishment pass" changing the language does change how people view behaviour and being labelled a coward rather than someone upholding (their version) of the law is not only the truth it may also change the behaviour of others
What’s the betting that was an incompetent old fart?
Fixed that for you
Fuck off. There was no one coming the other way so the driver didn't have to wait to pass at all, and even if they had had to wait that still wouldn't excuse the pass.
I am not condoning what the motorist did but the cyclist is rather a long way out in the road. We do have to share the road with other motorists so we should if possible ride as near to the curb as possible without endangering ourselves...
If riding 2 abreast then you should try and go single file when there is traffic and go 2 abreast again when there is no traffic. If you ride 2 abreast around London then you're asking for trouble.
No just NO.....
Perhaps you would like to read cycling UK guidance on riding primary position in the road and actually understand the rules of the road. The highway code rule 66 recommends cyclists should "never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends" This road was neither narrow nor busy therefore they were perfectly sensible in riding two abreast.
That was fully highlighted by the two other cars that passed oldfatgit either side of the twunt in the Kia.
I was cycling along quiet B Roads (along National Cycle Route 1 near Kelso) on Sunday with a group of friends. The road was straight and 2 lanes, and we were cycling 2 abreast, and the groups had fragmented such that there were around 3 distinct pairs of cyclists, and despite the fact there was no impediment to cars passing, again which was highlighted by numerous car drivers who managed to pass us safely, there was one idiot in his shitting Peugeot that decided he had to blast his horn as he passsed every single pair at speed, only just giving room to the outside cyclist.
Each pair in the group said that the car could easily have passed them safely (straight, two lane road with plenty of visibility), but the car driver just decided to be a complete twunt about it for absolutely no reason
Car driving troll who has never, ever read the Highway Code, Bikeability training or the RoSPA site in relation to cyclists positioning on the road.
How many vehicles coming towards them, are you Diane Abbot?
A couple of weeks ago I was riding along a quiet, dead straight, wide road on the outskirts of Carlisle, with a friend. We were riding 2 up. A car came past, blasting his horn, quite close, and then gave us the finger. He made the mistake of turning into his place of work about 2 hundred meteres along the road. I pulled in to ask him what it was all about. His first words, before I could speak were, "You are not allowed to ride 2 abreast on a main road! My dad is a policeman." You can imagine the rest of the conversation. I am honestly thinking of carrying a copy of the highway code with me.
You should have asked him what his dad thinks about the legality of using a car horn to intimidate vulnerable road users.
You should have asked him what his employer thinks about employees …
Download it on to your phone, though I'm sure it would make some rabid drivers combust if you showed it to them.
https://toptests.co.uk/highway-code/
Depressingly typical. It's not even as if there was anything approaching to avoid, just monumental ignorance/arrogance.
Not to mention uncontrolled aggression and self-indulgence. He's in posession of a weapon and can't resist the temptation to bolster his feeble ego by using it to threaten someone, just for the sake of it.
Wonder if the police attitude would be the same if someone swung a baseball bat inches past a cop's head?
Though I'm not sure if it's down to the police indulgence of motorists, or if it's partly due to austerity having wrecked the public services in this country.
@Oldfatgit
I'm a call taker at Police Scotland. If you called 101 and spoke to me I'd be booking an appointment for an officer to come and see you due to the fact you've got corroborating evidence from your camera. At the very least you'd hope the driver would be spoken to. Police Scotland have done a few high profile "Operation Close Pass" campaigns, initially in Edinburgh and then it was rolled out across other areas.
Unfortunately - in Glasgow at least - Police Scotland will take no action. If you're lucky they might reply with an email saying "on this occasion no harm was done...".
Interestingly, there has been no Operation Close Pass in Glasgow. Though I did get close passed by a Police van shortly after it was launched in Edinburgh.
I'm not worried about being on the outside of the group and am happy to take my turn on the outside - I gain confidence from being in the group or with another rider.
The group - or even another rider - helps by providing another set of eyes and ears to my own, and provides moral support by just being there.
The accident has took away a lot of things that I enjoyed doing, and if I stop cycling then it's won.
The close pass also happens at a pedestrian crossing. Those zigzag lines mean overtaking isn't allowed. That footgae should go to the cops. Tho whether Police Scotland will do anything about it is another matter.
Assuming Scottish law isnt different to rest of GB on this,that rule only applies to overtaking of motorised traffic,why they then cant simply apply careless driving to it I dont know,,but you wont find the police interested in those zigzag line passes, all you can only really hope for is the car doing the overtake to have enough doubt not to try
Not in this case, as they're only doing 12kph. You're allowed to overtake at crossing if the cyclist is doing 10mph or less!
Sriracha, can't reply quick enough to keep up with your edits!
Yeah, well, I only read the bit about riding two abreast after writing my original post, which was a little acerbic.
Sorry to hear about your injuries and loss of confidence. Would it help your confidence if you cycled on the nearside of the pair?
I think he says he was two abreast, which would account for his positioning on the road.
If nevous I'd suggesting being the one on the inside
Can you not delete a post on here?
Posted the same thing twice, so wanted to delete one.
Is it edit only?
Good overtaking from the motorists either side of the miscreant. It shows that it doesn't have to be nasty out there.
Good luck with your recovery Oldfatgit.
Thank you