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Near Miss of the Day 368: Mr Angry of Berkshire (+ video)

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

Today's offering in our Near Miss of the Day series highlights how people who perhaps are mild-mannered should you encounter them in any other circumstances undergo a personality change once behind the wheel of a car.

The footage was filmed by road.cc reader Stephen, who told us: "A close encounter with a Mr Angry of Berkshire insisting I use the cycle path.

"This was on the A4 between Maidenhead and Slough, my regular commute.

"He was determined to get in front, but unfortunately I didn't get his registration number."

> 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

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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35 comments

Avatar
schneil | 4 years ago
4 likes

If any driver asks me why I'm not in the cycle lane, I ask them why they aren't using the motorway. (Afterall it's built for their exclusive use....) It confuses the crap out of them.

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Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
4 likes

The last time I had an idiot do this to me ( it happens a lot) I slapped his roof. I got the "did you just touch my fucking car" speech. So I said "yep, count yourself lucky it wasn't the other way round" then just left him stuck in the queue.

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Rome73 | 4 years ago
7 likes

I bet that car driver is a brexthicker. 

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mike the bike replied to Rome73 | 4 years ago
1 like

Lukas, you simply must take your humour to the Edinburgh Festival; with wit like this you are a shoo-in for the Perrier award.

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Sniffer replied to mike the bike | 4 years ago
0 likes

Probably do well with that line of humour in Scotland.

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nicmason | 4 years ago
1 like

as balance well done the driver not in the cycle box at the traffic light. 

Personally I don't like those shared use pavement/cycle lanes . IMO cyclists and pedestrians don''t mix well unless you're  cycling pretty slowly which is not much use for a long trip.

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Captain Badger replied to nicmason | 4 years ago
1 like

I don't like them either, I understand shared lanes are not intended for speeds greater the 12mph. I've not found an official confirmation of this figure, but the figure is bandied around a lot, and it makes sense with the poorly maintained surfaces, obstacles and pedestrians (who knew?!) that are usually to be found

In any case cycle lanes are not compulsory, as per rule 61 HWC

"Cycle Routes and Other Facilities. Use cycle routes, advanced stop lines, cycle boxes and toucan crossings unless at the time it is unsafe to do so. Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer."

 

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Hirsute replied to Captain Badger | 4 years ago
0 likes

I thought it was 18, but as you say it's hard to track down the blurb.

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Jetmans Dad replied to Hirsute | 4 years ago
0 likes

I am not convinced that there is an official maximum. Certainly, around here, they are pretty keen on keeping it slow ... twice I have been asked by Humberside Police officers to leave the (deserted) shared use path and ride on the road because I was going too fast to be on it, and both times I was doing around 14-15 mph. 

Interestingly, this particular path is in an industrial area which sees very little pedestrian traffic and with no houses or driveways from which pedestrians could enter the path without warning ... almost as if it is just a way of Hull City Council boosting the amount of cycle provision it claims it has provided for the city. </cynical>

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Moist von Lipwig | 4 years ago
6 likes

Mr Angry appears to have a dashcam fitted under his rear view mirror - hopefully he'll submit the footage of your highly unreasonable behaviour (ie physically existing) and do the job for you.

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HarryTrauts replied to Moist von Lipwig | 4 years ago
1 like

I'm certain there is a correlation between idiot drivers and the use of dashcams.

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Haloric replied to HarryTrauts | 4 years ago
3 likes

I think you are correct, there is, but perhaps not in the way you mean. The more idiot drivers there are, the more sensible people do what they can to protect themselves from them, by using a dashcam in their car, or a head cam when on a bike.

 

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HarryTrauts replied to Haloric | 4 years ago
1 like

My experience is, the more idiotic the driver, the more likely they are to have a dashcam.  Anecdotal, I know, and opinions/experiences will vary.

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Toffee | 4 years ago
9 likes

So I cycle and drive on that road regularly. It's wide and exceptionally easy to overtake a cyclist safely when it's not congested (when it is congested, the cyclists will be moving faster than the traffic anyway). That driver has no excuse at all. There are always cyclists using it and there are always queues, particularly at peak times. He has no reason to be angry.

It's also worth noting that the 'cycle lane' is a shared use path that is extremely narrow in places. I don't use it to ride on, nor have I seen anyone else in my five years living in Maidenhead.

Stephen, if you happen to read this, I support you wholeheartedly. You're a calmer man than I am.

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Kempston replied to Toffee | 4 years ago
3 likes

Ex-Burnham resident here. Commuted there daily and never used that shared use path. Thankfully I never met Mr Angry.
Often would pop into the local Evans Cycles on the way home. Is it still there?

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Toffee replied to Kempston | 4 years ago
2 likes

Yep, it's still there for now! It's always pretty quiet in there though, so I feel it might not be long until it's on Mike Ashley's cull list.

I've got some decent bargains in there over the years though.

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shishman replied to Toffee | 4 years ago
9 likes

Good afternoon Toffee.

This is my video.  Thanks for the comments.  Fortunately, it's not that common to have this type of encounter and I wish I could have said to him that he needed a hug.

I was bored with him as I couldn't get a reply without a f or c word, but he did have the last word!  He repeated use the cycle lane but as I rode off I said 'Nahhh!' but bless him he followed up with a yes yes

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hawkinspeter replied to shishman | 4 years ago
3 likes

I've had a similar angry confrontation with a driver on the A370 in Weston-super-Mare and again, that's alongside a reasonable cycle lane (it doesn't go where I want to go though). It happened when there was some traffic disruption and so I was filtering between two lanes of stationary traffic. I heard a shouted comment as I went past him, so I decided to stop and have a shout back. Funnily enough, it was a very similar circumstance - an old bloke and his wife. No progress was made and I ended up shouting "your ignorance is showing" and cycled off.

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Kempston | 4 years ago
2 likes

I know this road well. At 1:10 in the video he is passing a police station. I would have invited the charming old chap to continue the discussion in there, so they could explain the highway code to him!

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carlosdsanchez | 4 years ago
7 likes

I have something similar on my commute, the passenger yells abuse while the driver hoots the their horn. It's been going on for years now, they must share the same 10 miles or so of my route and they will yell the same "use the f**king cycle path you **nt" at places where there is only a foot path or when there isn't even a footpath. Probably should speak to the policeman I send my close pass footage to and see if they would do anything. This couple seem to hate all cyclists, I've had other riders pull along side me at traffic lights and ask if I get abuse from them as well.

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hawkinspeter replied to carlosdsanchez | 4 years ago
2 likes

The police can definitely act on abusive language use on the roads. In the past they've warned cyclists for bad language with close-passes etc.

Of course, it'll depend on how your local police choose to deal with it.

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Mungecrundle | 4 years ago
2 likes

What a thoroughly unpleasant old fart. A perfect storm of; ignorance, poor judgement, woeful driving skills, lack of regard for others and a foul temper.

My experience though is that unless you have the debating skills of Socrates, don't ever bother to engage in dialogue, drivers can react badly if they feel threatened and they are unlikely to listen to the cyclist's point of view even less accept they might be wrong. I was sort of expecting a much nastier follow up pass once the cyclist headed off and because of the initial cuss word from the cyclist, even though he was polite after that, it might well be enough for plod to dismiss any further unpleasantness that might have occured.

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crazy-legs | 4 years ago
2 likes

Overtake, ram the cyclist into the kerb and he's in stationary traffic. I'd have had his wing mirror off, through the windscreen and disappeared on the cycle lane he's so keen for you to use.

Although I appreciate that if it's a regular commute there's a chance you'll encounter him again so yeah, discretion can be the better part of valour. In that case I wouldn't even have engaged with him.

I've had a couple of people try and block my passage like that in the past and it's just been a jump the kerb or swerve onto the offside and go down the right.

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visionset replied to crazy-legs | 4 years ago
4 likes

Yes almost hilarious when drivers try and out manouvre cyclists. What amuses me is the compromise they fight with - not damaging their preciuous box whilst attempting to obstruct filtering.

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rjfrussell replied to crazy-legs | 4 years ago
1 like

crazy-legs wrote:

 I'd have had his wing mirror off, through the windscreen and disappeared on the cycle lane he's so keen for you to use.

I'm sure your joking (aren't you?), but the trouble is when any cyclist, however severely provoked, responds to an agressive idiot like this, all the idiot, in his state of self-righteous indignation, sees is one of the loathed tribe behaving badly, and it is other members of the tribe who are likely to suffer. 

 

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bikeman01 replied to rjfrussell | 4 years ago
1 like

I'm not convinced that not retaliating is the answer. Angry old men just need to be taken down a peg or two and maybe they'll think twice next time they feel like road raging. 

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ChrisB200SX replied to crazy-legs | 4 years ago
1 like

crazy-legs wrote:

Overtake, ram the cyclist into the kerb and he's in stationary traffic. I'd have had his wing mirror off, through the windscreen and disappeared on the cycle lane he's so keen for you to use.

Would have been a shame if that driver's manueovre forced a cyclist into scraping their handlebar down the side of his car, wouldn't it.

Another example of someone not sane enough to be worthy of the privilege of driving on our roads.

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ktache | 4 years ago
4 likes

Even with a shared use cycle route running along side the road there were ASL "bike boxes" at the traffic lights.

Though I'm guessing logic is not one of this idiots strong points.

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hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
3 likes

What a nasty piece of work he is - no point trying to have a discussion with people like that.

A rear camera is useful for those scenarios - I'd have cycled off in primary position right in front of his car and both captured his plate and annoyed the hell out of him.

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PRSboy | 4 years ago
1 like

I love the way his wife chips in too...

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