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Near Miss of the Day 436: "Jerk in a Jaguar" overtakes cyclist into oncoming traffic

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

A "jerk in a Jag" is the description given to the driver of this SUV by the cyclist he overtook despite another car approaching from the opposite direction, making it a particularly dangerous overtake.

It happened on Saturday in Penkridge, Staffordshire, and road.cc reader Matt, who sent in the footage, said he reported it to police yesterday,

Hopefully justice will be dispensed quickly.

> 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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16 comments

Avatar
Mat Haste | 3 years ago
2 likes

It was me in the video I was pointed out the manhole to the rider behind me

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Shades | 3 years ago
0 likes

I've got bored taking this sort of stuff off my cameras; almost something from every ride.

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David9694 | 3 years ago
5 likes

With so many of us cyclists out at the moment, I start to fear oncoming bikes, when either one of us has a car behind us. Theirs or mine may attempt a crap overtake  - this is by the drivers who process one piece of information every 2-3 seconds - just dangerous enough to to decide to overtake without checking or knowing it's clear.

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wtjs replied to David9694 | 3 years ago
1 like

David9694 wrote:

With so many of us cyclists out at the moment, I start to fear oncoming bikes, when either one of us has a car behind us. 

Agreed!

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Hirsute replied to wtjs | 3 years ago
0 likes

I did have a slightly comical moment in lockdown when both of us cyclists had a driver behind who chose to overtake at the same time. As they gave plenty of room, they both ended up driving on the wrong side towards both of us but managed to complete in time before it got too hairy !

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bikeman01 | 3 years ago
1 like

Seems to swear at the first perfectly acceptable pass. Has he got tourettes?

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lukei1 replied to bikeman01 | 3 years ago
1 like

Probably commenting on the fact that the driver is fully in the other lane (good) while there is traffic oncoming in the distance (Bad)

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Hirsute replied to lukei1 | 3 years ago
2 likes

A long way in the distance. the car only appears in the distance when overtaker is about level with cyclist - good overtake in the other lane.

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quiff replied to bikeman01 | 3 years ago
2 likes

It's not clear, but I thought he said "bad". Possibly a warning to a rider behind about the upcoming drain cover on the left which he then swerves to avoid, rather than commenting on the first (good) overtake.

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longassballs replied to quiff | 3 years ago
1 like

Yeah I think it must be in reference to the grid

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Mat Haste replied to longassballs | 3 years ago
0 likes

Oh yes

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Mat Haste replied to bikeman01 | 3 years ago
0 likes

If you ride a road bike much you will see the manhole I'm pointing out to the other riders so no one hits it

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wtjs | 3 years ago
1 like

Looks convincing. Do you manage to get the registration with a bike mounted camera? Is the indistinctness of the plate the camera or is it a reprehensible blanking of the plate by road.cc? My view is that a better estimate of the closeness is obtained with a headcam. 

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cqexbesd replied to wtjs | 3 years ago
3 likes

wtjs wrote:

Is the indistinctness of the plate the camera or is it a reprehensible blanking of the plate by road.cc?

I don't think its road.cc. It may however be Youtube and the settings used by the uploader - the original footage might be clearer. One thing I have learnt from this series is there are some cameras with really good quality footage available.

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Awavey replied to cqexbesd | 3 years ago
0 likes

Cycliq cameras shoot minimum 720p HD, thats only a 360p so the image quality has been "downgraded" for or by youtube, for sure the raw footage would look better.

and ime 90% of the time youll get a full plate match, its only in certain nightime light conditions or if the car is one complete lane away from you or if the car is travelling upwards of 50mph faster than you,that you will struggle,but the position of the camera makes no difference to that imo.

the only time a head cam vs handle bar cam would have made a difference in near misses Ive had is when a car tried to pull out on me whilst I was on a roundabout,and because my handlebars were pointed at the exit which is where I was heading to go, and the cars approach angle put them near basically going to be a side on leg crushing impact to me, of course my handlebar camera even with its wide angle lens didnt pick up a darn thing thing not even the car approaching from the side, they stopped in time fortunately.

and second example, which has happened more often to me, car tries to bully their way past in a traffic queue, or through a pinchpoint and might even get partly along side ,but unless they get ahead of you, and more often than not they actually dont of course, then you dont get the rear plate as the money shot so to speak.

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Mat Haste replied to wtjs | 3 years ago
3 likes

I've got a fly12 camera got the reg clearly

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