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Near Miss of the Day 377: Yet another close, quick overtake despite oncoming traffic

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country and beyond – today it's Warwickshire...

Today’s near miss is the archetypal overtake that ignores the presence of oncoming traffic. It’s a straight road, the oncoming car is clearly visible and there’s not enough space to pass safely, but the driver clearly has no interest in slowing down and so overtakes anyway.

The footage was shot by Brendon during his commute on Wednesday.

The pass occurred on the Stoneleigh to Warwick Road, the B4115. “Most drivers on that road are considerate,” he said. “Most drivers use the parallel A46 so I don’t see too many in a rush.”

Brendon has reported the overtake to police via the NextBase National Dash Cam Safety Portal.

Update: Brendon has since heard that an advice letter is going out to the driver. "Hopefully it’s enough for him/her to change their driving style," he said.

> 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

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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6 comments

Avatar
HoarseMann | 4 years ago
5 likes

Give it 7 days Brendon, then call 101 and get confirmation that a NIP has been issued. If you can, get the shoulder number of the officer dealing with it and press them to take action.

That was a nasty overtake that any competent motorist would have avoided by just waiting for that oncoming car to pass.

Avatar
Milkfloat replied to HoarseMann | 4 years ago
1 like

Good luck even getting an acknowledgment from Warwickshire Police, I have reported far worse and got nothing back at all.

Avatar
HoarseMann replied to Milkfloat | 4 years ago
2 likes

I agree that justice can be a bit hit-and-miss, not just for incidents like these.

But what is clear from my experience is the police are stretched, and unless the victim is vocal enough, incidents will be overlooked.

It was interesting watching CycleGaz's recent review of the year video. He did get quite a few results. Yes, some were dropped by the police, but the point is, there is still a very real chance that the police will act and the motorist will get a penalty.

That perceived probability of getting caught, and the harshness of the penalty, are the things that will influence driver behaviour on our roads.

It's only going to happen if these incidents are reported and justice is sought by the victim.

Avatar
Awavey replied to HoarseMann | 4 years ago
1 like

I dont disagree in principle, but I mentioned this on CycleGaz's video that the only ones that perceive a probability of getting caught are those who the police issue a NIP to, the rest (who are the vast majority IMO) dont care or notice at all, and remember a close pass thing is a subjective prosecution anyway, its not a binary youve clearly & demonstrably broken the limit therefore have a speeding ticket, its usualy crikey thats way too close & dangerous have a NIP, so half those getting a letter probably dont think they did anything wrong anyway and its just us "entitled meddling cyclists persecuting them have we got anything better else to do etc etc", so what do they even learn from it ?

I reported several close passes last year,the police dealt with them all fine as far as I was concerned, but it hasnt stopped or lessened the amount of close passes for me, it didnt stop the 3 people this week who couldnt have been very far off knocking me off my bike, one 20min ride there were at least 5-6 Id qualify as reportable,just in one ride.

Norfolk & Suffolk police have run 3 close pass ops in the last month, with 41 drivers receiving education or NIPs, in one 2hr stint they got 17 drivers.

So what impact is any of it even having ? it feels like we are just taking a drop at a time of a very very big ocean.

Avatar
HoarseMann replied to Awavey | 4 years ago
1 like

I think the way forward is to focus on the more serious offences and ensuring justice is done. In this one for instance, the oncoming motorist sounds their horn and flashes their lights. That is a contributing factor that will make prosecution more likely.

The challenge will be getting enough mainstream media coverage out there so that the general motorist's perception of the risk of getting caught is raised.

If every driver thinks that every cyclist is packing cameras and that every misdemeanour will result in prosecution, then these issues should be less likely to occur. It's all about the perceived risk, whether that cyclist has a camera (or a diligent police force) or not.

Avatar
zero_trooper replied to HoarseMann | 4 years ago
1 like

Nasty?

Downright dangerous driving!
Get them off the road!

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