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Near Miss of the Day 342: Ban for driver who made 90mph close pass on cyclist

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country – today it’s Northamptonshire

A motorist who made a close pass on a cyclist at 90mph has been banned from driving for six months in the first prosecution brought under Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Snap.

The footage was shot by road.cc reader Dave, whose videos have been featured in our Near Miss of the Day series a number of times, although he was unable to share this one with us until the court case concluded.

Dave, who several years ago met with the force’s then chief constable, leading to it conducting its first ever operation targeting close pass drivers, told us that the incident on 11 September on Bedford Road, Rushden, “frightened the life out of me.”

On Monday Denzel Masawi of Rushden, aged 26, was convicted of driving in excess of a 30mph speed limit after pleading not guilty of the offence at Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court.

Besides the six-month ban, he was also fined £592 and ordered to pay a £59 victim surcharge and costs of £620.

PC Dave Lee from Northamptonshire Police’s Safer Roads Team said: “Operation Snap was launched to allow members of the public who capture bad driving on camera to easily submit it to Northamptonshire Police.

“This new process makes it easier for both those with cameras capturing the bad driving and for us to be able to process it.”

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

> 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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25 comments

Avatar
wtjs | 3 years ago
0 likes

Some relatively good news at last. The insurance penalty should be severe, if the company has any sense.

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fixit | 4 years ago
0 likes

and again, a BMW ...

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DrG82 | 4 years ago
6 likes

My guess is that this tool will simply ignore the driving ban and be out driving by the weekend at the latest. People with such utter disregard for the law aren't suddenly going to go straight getting caught once.

I'd like to see vehicles being impounded in cases of repeat offenders and any further offences should result in the car being seized and sold or scrapped

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OldRidgeback | 4 years ago
5 likes

He was banned for his outrageous speeding due to the cyclist's footage, not for a close pass.

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Kendalred replied to OldRidgeback | 4 years ago
3 likes

OldRidgeback wrote:

He was banned for his outrageous speeding due to the cyclist's footage, not for a close pass.

And I suspect the only reason he passed at a reasonable distance is that he could. If there had been traffic coming in the opposite direction does anyone actually think he would have slowed down and waited behind? Not a chance.

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bikeman01 | 4 years ago
1 like

Pretty lenient sentence/fine but only possible because the road traffic act requires the vehicle owner to state who was driving or be convicted themselves. Something most police forces seem to forget when investigating dangerous driving.

Also obviously speeding and probably not necessary to prove actual speed once the driver has admitted the offence.

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Mungecrundle | 4 years ago
6 likes

Dave,

Thankyou for taking the time to report this and being instrumental in making the roads safer for everyone.

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Muddy Ford | 4 years ago
6 likes

90mph in a 30?! I.e. A residential street that is likely to have pedestrians crossing the road. He should have been jailed.

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Philh68 | 4 years ago
2 likes

Maybe I need to update my rear camera, it struggles at times to capture a plate at 30mph, let alone 90mph at that distance… that’s quite impressive that the plate was mostly legible.

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randonneur replied to Philh68 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Me too.
The car that did exactly that was too fast for my camera. I tried and tried to read that plate.
My camera frame rate is 30 so bought c Cycliq which has 60fps but it stopped working on first charge.
Instead I bought a spare rear camera and mounted it on the front with black tape over the red.
Now I get more chances and motorbikes as they don't have front plates.
Motorbikes seem for the most part to be more careful.

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CyclingInBeastMode | 4 years ago
4 likes

A few years ago I was with out with an old school friend (lady) having a pootle in the sun not far from my old stomping ground, just as we were coming around a bend a motorcyclist was speeding towards us and decided he needed to enter our lane to make the bend. I was riding on the outside to protect her as she wasn't a regular cyclist and I really thought he was going to wipe us out. She was absolutely petrified by this but we did go out again almost every time I went up visiting.

These criminals need to have their licenses ripped up for far longer and severe penalties, this is typical pathetic response that has virtually no impact in the grand scheme of things.

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vonhelmet | 4 years ago
6 likes

Ban is pathetic. Clearly has nothing but contempt for the law.

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Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
0 likes

Prefer a fast pass with room to a close past at Honda Jazz speed. 

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grumpyoldcyclist replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
9 likes

Rick_Rude wrote:

Prefer a fast pass with room to a close past at Honda Jazz speed. 

It is blatantly obvious that the driver is travelling far in excess of the speed limit and it has passed through the judicial system and the result there concurs with what we see on the video. Would you prefer that the police had done nothing on the basis that no-one had got hurt, this time?

I too have had closer passes but it doesn't make prosecuting this lying, dangerous driver wrong.

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Rick_Rude replied to grumpyoldcyclist | 4 years ago
4 likes

grumpyoldcyclist wrote:

Rick_Rude wrote:

Prefer a fast pass with room to a close past at Honda Jazz speed. 

It is blatantly obvious that the driver is travelling far in excess of the speed limit and it has passed through the judicial system and the result there concurs with what we see on the video. Would you prefer that the police had done nothing on the basis that no-one had got hurt, this time?

I too have had closer passes but it doesn't make prosecuting this lying, dangerous driver wrong.

Did I say anything about not wanting him prosecuting? I just said out of the two situations I'd prefer a wide pass at any speed over granny doing 30 in a 60, 2cm from my handlebars.

 

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Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
0 likes

Close pass?

Too fast, yes; close, no.

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Hirsute replied to Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
0 likes
Russell Orgazoid wrote:

Close pass?

Too fast, yes; close, no.

The police mangled unit formula is 30cm per 10mph plus 60cm, so that means the distance to be was 3.3m.
So, perhaps within that

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Russell Orgazoid replied to Hirsute | 4 years ago
1 like

hirsute wrote:
Russell Orgazoid wrote:

Close pass?

Too fast, yes; close, no.

The police mangled unit formula is 30cm per 10mph plus 60cm, so that means the distance to be was 3.3m. So, perhaps within that

I'm happy that the driver was held to account.

The formula strikes me as looking for a question to a desired answer. 

Still a result!

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Hirsute replied to Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
0 likes
Russell Orgazoid wrote:

hirsute wrote:
Russell Orgazoid wrote:

Close pass?

Too fast, yes; close, no.

The police mangled unit formula is 30cm per 10mph plus 60cm, so that means the distance to be was 3.3m. So, perhaps within that

I'm happy that the driver was held to account.

The formula strikes me as looking for a question to a desired answer. 

Still a result!

Forces that express an opinion say 1.5m at 30, so that is the basis of the formula. Not sure how that factor in 40T vehicles.

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billymansell | 4 years ago
4 likes

Not really a close pass but certainly frightnening.

Good on Northants Police for adopting this initiative. I follow PC Lee on Twitter and he, like his colleagues, do a tough and at times harrowing job in wanting safer roads.

I just  hope Operation Snap leads to a more consistent and objective approach to video evidence than in the past where Northampton police and the CPS could see reason to prosecute only for the case to be pursued by officers in another town who'd side with the driver and see no case to be answered.

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
1 like

Double.

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zero_trooper | 4 years ago
6 likes

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/crime/rushden-motorist-caught-ov...

 

So the driver has been convicted of speeding  based on the cyclist's excellent footage. Amazing!

He pleaded not guilty, so whatever system the police use to estimate vehicle speed from video footage must have been scrutinised and accepted. 
 

Three times the speed limit. I hope that his insurance company are in the loop.

 

Good result laugh

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
3 likes

Sounds good but for 3 times the speed limit in a built up area through a crossing, the first be and ban seem light.

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ktache | 4 years ago
3 likes

Well done both Daves.

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StraelGuy | 4 years ago
9 likes

Brilliant, serves the massive cock-womble right smiley.

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