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Near Miss of the Day 348: Awful driving in 4x4

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

Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a succession of examples of poor driving by a motorist in a 4x4 in South London - starting with them turning right through a red traffic light, and culminating  in them cutting uo a cyclist on London's Cycleway 7 in Tooting.

It was filmed in November by road.cc reader Adrian as he commuted home, although he did not sent it to the police, as he explains.

"It wasn’t sent to the Met, who on current form would have prosecuted, because life got in the way – most notably being burgled which changed priorities somewhat," he said. "In regard to the burglary, the important thing is that they did not steal the bikes.

"Still, when a south London scooter driver also remonstrates with the driver, you know it’s a shocker," he added. "For the avoidance of doubt, no other cars were involved in the making of this movie – it’s all his own work."

> 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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12 comments

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50kcommute | 4 years ago
0 likes

Tooting... I used to call it the valley of death... You can pretty much guarantee an incident once a week on a commute through there.
Best advice to the cyclist is to slow it down and be mindful that the car drivers dont give a f about you.. Lots of uninsured drivers around there who do what they want and when the want to..unsuprising they ran the red, more surprising a couple of cars behind didn't also!

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alansmurphy | 4 years ago
0 likes

alche, I'd say the cycle lane isn't bad; it's the cars either parking in it or those driving in it causing the danger!!!

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alchemilla | 4 years ago
1 like

What a useless cycle lane, totally unfit for purpose.

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Master Bean | 4 years ago
2 likes

All I can see is a cyclist move into a blind spot. Why do some cyclists do this? Do they enjoy putting themselves in a dangerous situation?

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Master Bean | 4 years ago
1 like
Master Bean wrote:

All I can see is a cyclist move into a blind spot. Why do some cyclists do this? Do they enjoy putting themselves in a dangerous situation?

Do you not have to have a minimum level of vision to be allowed to drive?

If the driver has something wrong with their eyes and has a blind spot they shouldn't be driving, it seems to me.

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growingvegtables | 4 years ago
0 likes

Old 'un.

 

Q - "What's the difference between a hedgehog and a LandCruiser?"  [Other 4x4s/SUVs are available .]

A - "With a hedgehog, the pricks are on the outside."

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AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
1 like

I expect to get into the cycle lane. Not a manoeuvre I would have tried especially if the cyclist was aware of the junction layout where the lane disapears 5 yards later and the car has to come across to stay straight. 

However no such reason for almost entering it the second time. 

As for the parked cars mentioned, they were all in areas where the council decide it is fine for cyclists to have to come across and clash as they all had red boxes allowing it for a set time. 

finally, it is a good job it wasn't submitted to the Met as they might have decided the cyclist had RLJ'd at the start as he was moving on red/amber and not on green. 

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grumpyoldcyclist replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
2 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

 

finally, it is a good job it wasn't submitted to the Met as they might have decided the cyclist had RLJ'd at the start as he was moving on red/amber and not on green. 

I doubt it.

I submitted footage to Cheshire police of a 42 tonne articulated moving off when fully on red and it was another 3 seconds prior to going to red / amber. This was on a busy interchange A55 / A483, but they said they would take no action.

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JohnnyRemo | 4 years ago
0 likes

Why did he try to go up his inside at the bus stop?

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Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
10 likes

FFS all those parked cars in the cycle lane. 

Also, if you live in a city and drive around in a 4x4 you are a knob.

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Rik Mayals unde... replied to Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
2 likes

Russell Orgazoid wrote:

FFS all those parked cars in the cycle lane. 

Also, if you live in a city and drive around in a 4x4 you are a knob.

That would account for about 70% of the population then. Either a knob, or a dumb blonde, usually the prime suspects behind the wheel of a 4x4.

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Russell Orgazoid replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 4 years ago
0 likes

biker phil wrote:

Russell Orgazoid wrote:

FFS all those parked cars in the cycle lane. 

Also, if you live in a city and drive around in a 4x4 you are a knob.

That would account for about 70% of the population then. Either a knob, or a dumb blonde, usually the prime suspects behind the wheel of a 4x4.

An appalling generalisation, I know. Didn't George Carlin once say:

"Think how thick the average person is and 50% of the population are thicker than that"

or words to that effect.

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