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news
Near Miss of the Day 451: Driver flirts with head-on collision to get to red light slightly sooner
Today’s near miss seems depressingly typical. Seeing one driver pass a cyclist, a second one follows – despite the fact it means moving into the path of an oncoming vehicle and despite the fact it only means arriving at a red light fractionally sooner.
The incident occurred on Coneygree Road in Tipton.
It doesn’t seem that the first driver could have had much of a view of the road ahead. Perhaps they felt they could see enough to judge that they could pass before any oncoming vehicle rounded the corner.
The second driver seems bent on passing regardless of circumstances though. It’s a manoeuvre that almost smacks of jealousy at seeing another motorist get in front of a cyclist.
The red lights stops them both.
The footage was provided by Martin, who also submitted Near Miss of the Day 449.
He said he would be reporting the incident to the police.
“Nothing will get done unless I start reporting them,” he reasons.
> 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.
Latest Comments
- hawkinspeter 0 sec ago
Your link didn't work for me, so here's one that does https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly0w2xzzd4o
- chrisonabike 3 min ago
Neighbourhood: you can't change anything because we have a disabled resident! Also driving children to schools! People power!...
- mctrials23 25 min 34 sec ago
The drivers are also licensed so they obviously behave themselves as well.
- chrisonabike 54 min 16 sec ago
But... the last is only not the case with drivers on normal roads because driving on the cycle path / footway / rolling a vehicle up there is seen...
- mdavidford 1 hour 32 min ago
I think you're missing an opportunity to pack even more tech into it - add accelerometers that can detect whether they're pedalling or stepping....
- chrisonabike 1 hour 56 min ago
Thanks. I guess the question is "need". If the road is busy, it sounds like it is a desired route between places? In which case (given this an...
- mdavidford 2 hours 4 min ago
Don't know what you mean. I thought my suggestion was entirely practical.
- mdavidford 2 hours 7 min ago
...and a square of faux sheepskin for the back of your saddle.
- Rapha Nadal 2 hours 39 min ago
I'd buy a motorbike fo rthat kind of money!
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30 comments
cars are faster than bikes, just wait behind them if there's only 1 or 2 at a red light, it's what I do as it's safer for me, if there's a queue of more than 1 light sequence roll up the inside a bit (not to the front) and tuck in where you think it's safe, (I pick a van or whatever to get behind gotta get that draft!)
Personally I would not have gone up the inside of them at the lights - having already been close passed once it was a dead cert they would do it again to you after the lights. Whenever I encounter these mindless idiots, I never give them the opportunity to have another shot at accidentally killing me.
You (the rider) were way too far out in to the lane. Were you trying to 'take the lane' or just unaware that cars were behind you wanting to pass?
The drivers could've given you a little toot, you moved over and they passed (more) safely.
The alternative is weaving, which would be incredibly dangerous, as there are parked cars as you can see, and I'd have to keep stopping to let others pass me. Quite sure the highway code doesn't say that a cyclist needs to keep pulling over so that cars can pass and have priority.
If people parked considerately and didn't narrow the roads so much it wouldn't be a problem.
I don't think the rider was too far out at all. There were parked vehicles there and weaving around them would have been more dangerous.
Don't talk to him or her or it, this is a Troll.
Rider was clearly positioned to avoid parked cars ahead.
But that would require a driver to look beyond the end of the bonnet...
I've had a watch of this, and putting myself in the boots of the Police, I'd be saying "blooming cyclists, why are they wastin' my time with this?" The WMP would put this in the WPB.
perhaps this is one of those times where the footage doesn't give.a really clear impression of what happened, so I hope the report came with some explanatory notes.
Am I channeling my inner Socrati, or booboowhatshisface here? Am I turning into Mr Loophole: "let me say to the court by way of mitigation that my client finds his fame stressful and is often worried about the size of his eight figure bank balance; his busy schedule of TV appearances and visiting his three different houses simply did not permit him to wait in for the mobile auto electrician to fit a hands-free. Has he not suffered enough, with his name dragged all over the popular press over this frankly trivial matter..." (are you welling-up yet?)
Am I just getting too inured to MGIF - they could both see the traffic lights, but we're back to processing one piece of road information every 2-3 seconds.
But, I mean, what if someone had pulled out in front of Mr Blue there, had he waited, precious nanoseconds irredeemably lost, the horror, the horror.
Your account has been hacked by Socrati or NZ cucumber rider. I fail to understand how anyone could not see the clear hazard caused by a dangerous overtake which resulted in zero time saved.
well Id file it in the it was very annoying category, but dangerous ? Ive seen worse of that type fwiw, like when the car overtakes and oncoming car has to emergency stop to avoid a collision,or the oncoming traffic has to veer into a bus lane to avoid the collision (got the driver prosecuted on that one) or had one the other week where the oncoming car remonstrated with the overtaking car, and then had a go at me for good measure like it was my fault as well ,there was actually enough room to complete the overtake for a start in this one, wing...sorry door...mirrors barely close to hitting. But maybe Im too inured to MGIF as well
For anyone wondering, the exchange at the traffic lights was: "Well done, got that on camera."
I appreciate this has nothing to do with the close pass (which looked bad), but as someone who finds ASMR videos almost unbearable, does anyone else find the bike noises from these videos also unbearable? Or is it just me? This one is particularly bad.
Bad enough for me to mute!
Sounded like it could be an ebike, rather like my Bosch equipped Cube.
It's an electric folding Coyote Connect bike. They're not expensive and it creaks a little, but it's really not the noticable to me. Must be because the camera is mounted close to the hinge on the handle bars.
Hope you nabbed a £50 gov bike voucher recently? That bike sounds like it needs a good looking at.
Why was that BMW trying to own both lanes at the end?
Avoiding the dooring zone? Unsure which lane is marked for going ahead? Leaving space for the cyclist to filter through if they had to stop?
I'd like to think the BMW driver was making sure there was enough room for the cyclist to safely pass the car that was parked with two wheels on the kerb. Or am I dreaming! I know there are careful and considerate drivers out there. Even BMW drivers!
It's a folding bike and the roads are a special kind of potholed in most of the West Midlands.
It sounded very much like my eMTB with a Bosch bottom bracket motor.
Seemed to be close passed again by the same car after the lights !
Indiscretions as I see them..
Close passed by Red car (although Borderline) and not a great place to pass anyway.
Definitely close passed by blue car who almost crashed.
Red car well over stop line at red and no reason to be as they had changed well before he got there.
Close passed by Blue again.
Reminds me of that idiot lawyer who thinks that cyclists should be tested and registered with numbered tabard so that they will never commit traffic offences again; it sure worked for drivers.
Well done for reporting it Martin and let's hope that driver loses their licence.
Although not before the first one has crossed a car length over the stop line. And then the other one throws in another close pass for good measure!
Well done for reporting it Martin and let's hope that driver loses their licence.
Not a chance. The police won't even pretend to do anything about this. Low speed close pass.
I've reported it to West Midlands Police, but in my experience nothing will happen. Police Academy was based on the WMP in my experience.
Unfortunately I have the same experience. WMP used to be the stand out with OP Close pass and Hudson and Hodson pioneering enforcement and getting it taken upo around the country. The WMP Road Harm Reduction Team twitter account was great keeping track and publicising the fact they do great work around the city, (including a few on roads I commute-cycle on. )
Now unfortunately I believe Steve Hudson developed cancer and either died or had to leave through ill health, (hopefully the latter) and the remanants of the team seems to have been swallowed up and disappeared. No news on close pass, no pics of Mark doing great work. Barely anything.
The dashcam processing department might as well be a black hole for video footage unless every serious close pass I have experienced have all involved guilty pleas, I have never been updated once. I envy the people who get response from chase ups that are more then "Sorry, we don't have the staffing to give updates. If it goes to court you will hear from us".
I actually got close passed when I took up cycling (again in Tipton) so close that a driver broke their mirror on my arm. The police turned up to my home and even with the car reg asked me to sign away any chance of them investigating as "they'd never catch the person". This was within an hour of me reporting it on the same day.
First, I'm amazed they came to visit me so quickly about this.
Secondly, they asked me to sign something claiming that I had no injuries, despite blood down my arm, as they wanted to talk me out of pushing them into investigating something they clearly didn't want to look into.
Got hit by a car that cut me up and destroyed my bike a few years back and they never even called me back or investigated, despite me calling, despite multiple witnesses, and despite being assaulted by the driver after, with multiple witnesses. Again in Tipton.
I'm anticipating an email any day saying that they don't intend to do anything about this current incident because West Midlands Police don't bother investigating crimes, and haven't for years.
Well don't expect an email either for or against. However I think if recieving an injury either call them then and there or report in Police Station AFTER going to A and E (even if apparently minor) as both are then recorded and you have details if and when needed.
I was taken out on a roundabout near Aston in a hit and run. Luckily nothing more serious then cracked or bruised ribs and a slightly bent front quick release. I had my webcam and the lorry who witnessed it for evidence. As I reported it in the station I had a crime number so something to feed back on and get progress.
After several months of toing a froing (It took them 2 months before they requested the footage from the lorry driver) I was informed he had received a 4 points and a 96 fine for Due Care and Attention and Failure to stop.