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Near Miss of the Day 431: High speed close pass by driver of Polish-registered lorry

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

A recurring theme of our Near Miss of the Day feature is that footage rarely gets across just how close and terrifying an overtake actually was. We’d argue this one is an exception.

The incident occurred on Thursday at around 7:15am.

Joel said: “I was on a regular pre-work cycle ride – my wife and I each go out every other day to make sure we get some exercise each day. This route took me a short distance along the A5 between otherwise mostly quiet country roads.

“While the majority of drivers passed very considerately, this was a particularly grievous exception. As can be seen, there is plenty of time on the approach to adjust speed – and to pass safely after the black car on the other side of the road was out of the way. But instead he or she opted to thunder past without slowing and leaving barely a few centimetres gap.”

Joel said he had a higher resolution camera on the seatpost, but opted to share this footage from a camera mounted on the right-hand side of his helmet as he felt it gave a better sense of just how close the lorry came.

“I have often felt that seatpost-mounted cameras actually give a misleading (and overly flattering to the driver) sense of the distance from a passing vehicle because there's a good amount of body and bicycle extending beyond what the seatpost camera view might imply. When I compared the footage from the two cameras, it definitely confirmed my suspicion.”

Joel has submitted the footage to Warwickshire Police. He said he received a swift response when he asked whether they would follow up a report on a Polish-registered vehicle and they confirmed that they would.

However, the force also said it would not provide any updates on the outcome of its investigation, due to the volume received.

“I can't think of any other offence where it would be seen as acceptable for the police to simply state that they won't even bother to tell the victim if they're going to do anything about it or not,” said Joel.

Yesterday we reported how several forces effectively treat close passes of cyclists as a “victimless crime” by regarding those on the receiving end as merely witnesses.

Joel has sent the footage to his local Police and Crime Commissioner and MP asking them whether they feel an incident such as this is a victimless offence.

> 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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9 comments

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Bungle_52 | 4 years ago
0 likes

I wrote to my mp recently. Here is the reply ....

"The Government wants people to remain fit and active at all times. The Chief Medical Officer is clear that being physically active is very important to long-term health and crucial for keeping people healthy during the ongoing pandemic. Evidence suggests that regular physical activity can promote good physical health and help manage stress and anxiety.
 
In November 2018 we published the Government response to the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Safety Review which committed to update The Highway Code to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. One of the proposals under consideration is the inclusion of safe passing distances which would also benefit cyclists on rural roads.

In July 2019, the Government published the Road Safety Statement 2019: a lifetime of road safety. This includes a two-year action plan to address a range of road safety issues which will improve safety for all road users including cyclists, including establishing a working group to address road safety issues.
 
The Government remains committed to delivering the aims and ambitions set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy and progress to date is set out in the first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Report to Parliament published in February 2020.
 
On the 9th May, the Government announced a £2 billion package of funding for cycling and walking over the next five years. Later this summer, the Government will say more about plans to update the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to build on the new opportunities that this funding provides."

They obviously feel the situation is in hand.

 

Avatar
handlebarcam | 4 years ago
2 likes

Polish-registered? I'm surprised that video has been online for a day already and there are, as yet, no comments underneath saying, "Hi, I work for the Mail Online's social media research team. Would you mind if we use your video and give you credit. Regards, B. L. Zeebub (Miss)".

Avatar
Velo-drone replied to handlebarcam | 4 years ago
3 likes

I'd rather stick a spoke up my nose than.have any dealing with that bike-hating scum rag.

If I did get any such comment, I'd delete it immediately. And then wash my hands.

Avatar
Sriracha | 4 years ago
6 likes

That is scary. Suppose you had to crunch through a pot hole that affected your steering, or the side draught had destabilised you. You'd have been straight under the axles.
I saw a clip on YouTube, some South American country, trainee PSV drivers were made to sit on a line of static bikes whilst a coach was driven at speed with not much room to spare alongside. Total H&S fail in the UK; but you could see that no trainee was left unmoved by the experience. One even bottled it and lept from his steed, running for cover.

Avatar
Rome73 replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
3 likes

I think that is Bolivia you are referring to. I used to deliver Driver Awareness Training to HGV / PSV / van drivers. Part of it involved cycling with them. It was amazing how many of these guys (it was always men) full of banter, bravado and BS in the classroom would whine and tremble when it was time to cycle on road. And that was with two instructors to 'guard' them. 

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dassie | 4 years ago
5 likes

So dangerous, like the cyclist wasn't there.  And the following white van didn't even cross the centre line either.  Anyone see oncoming vehicles, mirror/shoulder check HGV approaching from behind, and take the lane?

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
5 likes

Left hand drive so driver thought it was ok ?

Sort of thing that puts new cyclists off for life.

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Awavey replied to Hirsute | 4 years ago
2 likes

Sort of thing that puts old cyclists off too, blimey that was close, and of course you think so why didnt the truck move over more,like even put just one wheel over the white line,because you can then see there was an oncoming car in the way and the lorry driver chose not to wait and went for an overtake that probably made the car driver a bit nervous too

Avatar
Hirsute replied to Awavey | 4 years ago
0 likes

I can only think 'lh drive, I can line this up easily. What do you mean, cyclists wobble?'

Or as we say in Polish

Lh, mogę to łatwo wyrównać. Co masz na myśli mówiąc, że rowerzyści się chwieją?
 

(probably translates back as "your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries")

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