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news
Near Miss of the Day 491: Driver almost hits cyclist head-on – then assaults him (includes swearing)
Today's video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows an absolutely shocking incident in which a van driver towing a trailer almost knocks a cyclist off his bike on a narrow country road – and then got out of his vehicle, ran back and assaulted him.
It happened in June close to Eccleston in Lancashire. The rider, road.cc reader Jon, said in the description to the video on YouTube: “This all happened because an angry man in a white van just couldn’t slow down or give me enough room or time to stop to pull over so we could pass each other easily and safely, and he had just passed a passing point on the corner in the road.
“The reason for my response is that if either of us had got it wrong it would have been me bouncing off the van or worse, hooked by the trailer and dragged back down the lane.
“Just through his demeanour I decided to leave and made a couple remarks for myself and set off, which he obviously took offence to and then chased me and assault me.
“As he was walking away he threatened me again that he did not want to hear anything else about it!
“As he was going back to the van I did call the police and he had a visit from them. I was offered the option of moving forward with the possibility of court prosecution or to do restorative justice.
“With a bit of encouragement I agreed to the later, and he agreed to pay for the damage. This nearly changed as he was taking too long to pay, but he did pay and in that process he admits the assault.”
> 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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34 comments
Someone that easily angered and quick to resort to physical violence has no place driving a motor vehicle. Ever.
this absolutely should have been prosecuted. The cyclist de-escalated the situation by attempting to leave. Even if the language was provocative, that act negates any defence of provocation. It's common assault and should be dealt with as such.
Yes to all of this.
i once got into a fist fight with a man who was angry at me for not using a shared path at 30 mph. I yelled at him'' stop causing congestion and get a job, it's thursday lunchtime!'' serious. Who the hell is driving around abusing cyclists at lunchtime apart from the unemployed or drug dealers.
Ummm...not defending abusing cyclists but yes, maybe he was unemployed; unemployment is a hugely stressful time linked with serious depression and suicide. If I'd lost my job and somebody I was having a traffic argument with started shouting "Get a job" at me I'd get pretty riled.
Some people drive for their jobs. Some people have days off. Come to that, what were you doing riding around on a Thursday lunchtime having arguments? Should we assume you're unemployed or a drug dealer? Deeply silly comment.
Out on a job? Lunchtime break? On leave from the forces? Rich and doesn't need a job? Working flexi hours or nights or on lates? Off sick? Disabled? Retired? Not that it's up to anyone else to make a judgment about what he's doing out on a Thursday lunchtime, and condemn him for it!!! It has nothing to do with your altercation with him. As Mr. Harris said, a deeply silly comment.
As with the majority (all?) of the comments below, i would have pushed for it to go to court. The police and CPS love restorative justice as it goes outside their purview and cuts their paperwork. If this guy had been properly prosecuted he could have been done for dangerous driving and assault, got a very hefty fine, points on his licence, criminal record and would still have to pay Jon damages (and probably aggravated damages covering emotional distress as well). He must be laughing like a drain having just had to pay for a new jacket or whatever and having got no record and no license endorsment. I don't blame Jon at all, the police/CPS should never even have considered allowing restorative justice. Someone who drives like this and then responds like that should have the book thrown at them. A tap on the wrist won't change their behaviour at all, and next time they might well kill someone.
I think the cyclist was lenient in letting the driver off with a 'restorative justice' option. It was assault, which is a criminal offence. If it'd been me, I think I'd probably have taken the driver to court for the assault charge.
Maybe he can take his Go Pro in with him, and we can then all feast our eyes?
This really needs the registration of the van added to the title.
folk should know that this vehicle was being used by an angry, aggressive moron.
interestingly the van plates don't match the trailer - and it doesn't take much google-foo to spot there's an engineering company close to preston that likes to put similar plates on all their vehicles - no wonder he didn't want to hear anything else about it!
Did the police issue a conditional caution as part of the RJ ? Its within their powers to do this.
A caution will have to be declared for insurance and job seeking
With the cars in the run up, I would have been very tempted to cycle down the middle and make them stop if there is no clear passing place. At the very least I would have (on a straight bit!) forced them to slow a bit.
Shame it didn't end like this one
https://youtu.be/eizzq6-LWLs?t=66
Yes totally agree. All vehicles should be prepared to slow or stop on a lane like that.
To allow a pass between a motorist and a cyclist, other than at a passing place, it is safest if the motorist stops completely to let the cyclist edge through.
And a cyclist being more central will avoid any thinking by a motorist that they can nonchalantly sail straight through like the cyclist doesn't exist.
During lockdown we went on a walk and ended up down this lane. There were a few pedestians around as it was also the w/e.
https://goo.gl/maps/zDbjD8U3tsLXCanH6
Audi driver decided it was best to carry on driving past all pedestrians. The mini driver was a bit more sensible and stopped.
I'm a cyclist and a MINI driver. We know what's up.
This scenario is much like the majority of local roads for me (rural Irish midlands), used by farm vehicles (pronounced vay-hickles), van drivers and on some occasions tipper trucks - far too large for the road... all invariably bombing about >>80kph (limit).
I am met with the same voracious contempt, not one driver slows (OK, maybe one)... and it's like a game of suicidal chicken.
The worst offenders, whilst heading on a collision course, have the audacity to give you a raised hand (or sometimes a finger, not the 'bird') to acknowledge that they have seen you...but that matters not a jot, as their speed/direction is unwavering...
Sometimes in summer months I just happen to be taking a swig from my bidon/gel flask, if I notice a vay-hickle on a collision course, with their window down... amazing what a sticky, gloopy liquid can do to a windscreen, or an unprotected driver...
Does 'Restorative Justice' mean the victim gets to meet the perpetrator for a discussion about their 'feelings'?
There's no way i would have met this ape. He probably can't string together a coherent sentence.
Everyone's got a back story, and everyone can change. restorative justice has a good track record. But this was a direct assault, not a burglary when no one was home.
Was it really appropriate for the police to encourage RJ under the circumstances?
Whilst the OP certainly suggests that he was encouraged to go down the RJ route, it may have been better for him as well; less hassle and it's over and done with.
But yes, a lot less paperwork for the police.
No - sorry, but I think I would have ignored the police's "encouragement" and pushed for prosecution.
And, isn't the police's "encouragement" (ie. it makes their job easier) somehow altering the course of justice?
It's sadly typical that on narrow lanes like this, the majority of drivers think that just slowing down a bit and leaving a couple of feet gap is fine. It's even worse with things like this trailer or a tractor, which you're not going to bounce off.
The safe action is to stop and let the bike squeeze past or back up to a passing place. You're not going to run anyone over if you're stationary. Jon displayed excellent road sharing on the lead up and good road positioning near the middle of the lane, giving a good view around the corners.
At least the driver coughed up some cash for it, but I am surprised the police pushed for a restorative justice option, where it was quite a nasty attack.
There was a 'blink and you'd miss it' forewarning of the oncoming danger with a brief view of the approaching van through a gap in the hedge - if you've ever done any commentary driving, that sort of horizon scanning is taught, but you don't catch it everytime (nor should you have to).
It's just a shame the driver couldn't be buried alive in one of those pipes he's carrying.
The road: why is there so much wasted space at either side?
A: The council just lets the edges get overgrown and damaged. And then doesn't bother to fix it. So the road gets narrower over time.
Fix it and re-tarmac and you'll gain around 2 metres of extra space immediately.
Great, we can add another lane!. Just make sure it's not a bike lane though, cos of the congestion and pollution they cause...
My wife has persuaded me that, strictly speaking, it is against the law to bury this guy in one of the pipes he is hauling. Oh, but it's tempting.
You could offer him some restorative justice afterwards?
I know this lane well, I cycle it fairly regularly. What the camera doesn't show is the verges at the edge of the lane are very deep. There are small streams along the side in the verges. If a car went onto it, on most of the lane the car would end up on its side, below the road surface. It is also more narrow than the camera angle shows.
The lane is a cut through from Wigan road to Eccleston. Eccleston is a small village with a hell of a lot of expensive houses. Most of the dickheads who use this lane are the usual suspects, BMW and Audi drivers.
p.s. Bradley Wiggins used to live at the end of this lane, before he moved to a larger house at the other end of the village.
By paying for the damages has he actually admitted the assault? If so, does he now have a police record?
Restorative justice does have a better record of success than prosecution, but it takes a lot of faith to go down that path when prosecution and the prospect of vengeance is luring you on, so well done for going for that. Hopefully he's learned his lesson.
Sounds like he got a conditional caution. That would be considered "spent" after 3 months, so wouldn't need to be declared for most job applications but would still show up on a DBS check.
I very much doubt that he has. He's probably still bitching about the incident to all and sundry, and taking out his anger on every cyclist he passes.
In a case I took a couple of years ago. The situation was far less aggressive, though the guy used his van as a weapon, but never hit me. The cops under their own violition after an eye witness account from the driver behind, looked for CCTV footage (as I didn't have a camera. With that they pressed for dangerous driving, it ended up carless and £200 and 6 points. This fella was mugged by the cops! Should have had him prosecuted. Idiots like that van driver will think they have got away with it.
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