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Near Miss of the Day 346: Intimidating driver leans on horn ahead of close pass

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country

Most cyclists are also motorists, as highlighted at the start of this Near Miss of the Day video from road.cc reader Dave, who takes to his motorcycle to show the safe way to overtake people on bikes.

What prompted him to do that is an incident, also show on the video, in which a motorist made a very close pass on him on a dual carriageway, beeping the horn as they approached; if that's ever happened to you while you're out riding, you'll know how intimidating it can be.

What adds to the intimidation here is also that there is ample space for the motorist to move into the outside lane and overtake the cyclist safely.

> 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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7 comments

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TriTaxMan | 4 years ago
1 like

Submit it to the police, because that is not careless driving.  That is dangerous driving.

Because of the fact that the driver was on the horn prior to passing you without giving you adequate clearance that shows intent, which means careless driving is ruled out.  You cannot be carless if you see the cyclist, blast the horn and close pass anyway.

You never know, you might actually get some action on the matter.

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Gary's bike channel | 4 years ago
0 likes

oh no, never EVER ride , drive without recording it, not in britain. I refuse to- which is really sad, even just to cycle a minute or so to my highstreet, i make sure at least one or two cameras are recording. Silly isnt it, and certainly not something a dutch grandmother would feel the need to do. I firmly believe filming footage, attaching it to somewhere like rate driver and you tube will help matters. The police just arent seen as a threat to these people, but knowing your car is being watched, and you might get recognised in public, that to me seems more of a detterent. You cant go around abusing other people on the road, just how you wouldnt walk into kfc and abuse a granny in front of you for being slow to order. The police obviously have to make it LOOK like they care, but outside the met service, i doubt many of them do. Theyre too understaffed to go around dealing with every incident they get reported to.   I'd rather have my rides recorded too, as if i were unlucky enough to be wiped out whilst riding motorbike/ pushbike, at least there would be some evidence to show the suspect vehicle. I found a motorbike on its side, with a rider absolutely screaming in agony and blood pouring from his chest. I had been cycling nearby and after calling the ambulance, he was taken away and spent months in hospital. The driver failed to stop. It was only at that point my comment on our local news paper article prompted the police to track me down, and ask me directly for footage of my ride that day. They were searching for a grey mercedes, driven at speed, which didnt stop at the lights and who went into the side of the motorbike rider, who was doing nothing wrong. Thanks to my footage and one cctv camera, they found the driver and car. Thats why i want everyone to have a camera on the road, not just for their own safety, but even perhaps for prosecuation of others who might otherwise have escaped it. 

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jamessansome | 4 years ago
1 like

Is it worth reporting drivers for poor driving though? I commute between Surbiton/Epsom and close/bad passes happen every single week. If I had a camera I would spend hours each month editing and sending footage off. I have close passes, people overtaking immediately before and on small roundabouts, overtaking then cutting back in and hitting the brakes as they join a que of traffic. I ride with 3 bright front lights, side amber lights and two rear lights, high vis night and day which helps but you STILL get people pulling out right in front of you and trying to overtake......

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bike_food replied to jamessansome | 4 years ago
0 likes

jamessansome wrote:

Is it worth reporting drivers for poor driving though? I commute between Surbiton/Epsom and close/bad passes happen every single week. If I had a camera I would spend hours each month editing and sending footage off. I have close passes, people overtaking immediately before and on small roundabouts, overtaking then cutting back in and hitting the brakes as they join a que of traffic. I ride with 3 bright front lights, side amber lights and two rear lights, high vis night and day which helps but you STILL get people pulling out right in front of you and trying to overtake......

After not using cameras for 10 years I started using them about 2 years ago and I'm probably going to stop now. It's pretty pointless here in Wiltshire, they offer no method to upload content online, you have to supply footage on the original media or a disc and they're only interested if there was a collision.

It just pisses me off even more when I review a dangerous incident from my camera knowing nothing will be done then read a story on this website about another police force prosecuting for something seemingly way less dangerous.

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OldRidgeback | 4 years ago
2 likes

I appreciate your frustration. But I'd submit it to the cops anyway. The driver is a jerk. There are plenty of other drivers in the clip who show clearly how to do an overtake properly.

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Gary's bike channel | 4 years ago
3 likes

oh also, i dont bother sending to the police now. I see theyve got [operation snap] running in dorset, but the last time i reported someone for getting out their car, punching me in the face and pushing me off my bike into oncoming traffic, simply because i refused to cycle at 30 mph on a pavement shared with pedestrians,[ by hearing no further contact from them]  ive kind of lost faith in the police's ability to act on such matters. 

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Gary's bike channel | 4 years ago
2 likes

thanks very much for using it simon. Anything i can do to show people just what NOT to do around cyclists. It makes no sense to me, why do people driving think its ok to horn at someone on a bicycle for seemingly[ slowing them down] yet they are perfectly content with sitting behind someone two abreast at zero mph in long lines of traffic? They dont horn at them, or get out and try to push them to the side of the road do they? so how comes its ok to beep at someone moving FASTER than lots of cars in traffic? Just the same- would be- if a cyclist or motorbike rider comes up alongside cars in traffic, looks at the drivers and says loudly KEEP LEFT! USE THE BUS! SINGLE FILE, NOT TWO ABREAST! speed up!       you cant have it both ways, this is my point. If people cannot work out how to pass someone using the most effecient, congestion busting, versatile vehicle in the world, then they should not be in control of a killing machine. Ive been stuck behind cars EVERY day, as have many other cyclists, especially in london and bournemouth, but we never abuse the car drivers for slowing us down, because we're decent citizens. 

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