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Near Miss of the Day 523: Tipper truck driver pulls out in front of lorry and cyclist

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

It's a nasty one in our Near Miss of the Day series today, as a tipper truck driver takes the oppotunity of a right-turning driver to not only put a cyclist in danger, but also a lorry driver coming from the other direction to slow down to avoid a collision.

Jeff, the road.cc reader who sent us the footage, said:  “I do believe the driver saw me, he was high in his cab, I was wearing bright orange hi viz, white helmet, fixed and flashing light front and rear,” Jeff told us.

“I believe that I took all reasonable steps to make myself visible, I was shaken by how close the HGV , a professional driver came to having a incident, particularly with the oncoming HGV, he saw a gap and bullied his way out without thinking or caring or the consequences,” he said.

“I didn’t report it to the police, I couldn’t clearly make out the registration number,” he added.

“However, I spoke with the director of the company who viewed the footage and was going to take internal action.”

> 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

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Seagull2 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Attached story has nothing to do with bikes, but it  is an example of lenient court / justice system  with regard to road safety and drivers transgressions - at least in this instance the state prosecutor is appealing the leniency of the original sentence - https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40214051.html .

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IanMK | 3 years ago
3 likes

The car makes the first mistake and everything else follow. The HC is clear "DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example approaching or at a road junction on either side of the road". The car overtakes after the sign warning about the approaching junction knowing that they want to turn right. The conflict that arises is literally predicted.

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Perrym | 3 years ago
2 likes

If you view the footage, it seems clear to me you that the black car driver who overtook the cyclist slowed and left sufficient room for the lorry to come out, might have even flashed the lorry , the fault lies with the car driver not the lorry driver , whilst yes the lorry driver did pull out and shouldn't have done, it was instigated by the car , I bet that driver has not been repremanded.

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Bungle_52 | 3 years ago
3 likes

I can't believe the "no one got hurt so it's all OK" comments. Large vehicles need to be stopped using their size to bully their way past other road users. If they continue to get away with not obeying the highway code without any negative feedback it is very likely they will kill someone eventually. Very unlikely they will be hurt as they won't pick on something their own size.

The HGV was wrong to pull out and needs to know. End of story.

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wtjs replied to Bungle_52 | 3 years ago
1 like

I can't believe the "no one got hurt so it's all OK" comments. Large vehicles need to be stopped using their size to bully their way past other road users. If they continue to get away with not obeying the highway code without any negative feedback it is very likely they will kill someone eventually.

Unfortunately, the police encourage this because they can't be bothered to challenge large vehicles and their drivers, and spend their time thinking up excuses to get out of doing anything. I have recently reposted a photo of a large tipper truck thundering at 50-60 mph across a light which had turned red long before- no response from Lancashire Constabulary. With the offence below, they claimed the NIP 'was sent to the wrong address'. Previously, they excused themselves from action against red-light crashers because 'it is too late to send out NIPs', even though the immaculate report was filed online the day after the offences. This lax police attitude is a major factor contributing to traffic incidents and injuries.

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Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

I think if you are going to filter by undertaking, you are accepting an increased risk. The rider clearly mitigated the risk by braking and awareness.

Not sure that I 100% blame the truck driver as this type of scenario conjures up something along the lines of 'could have reasonably be expected to see someone filtering'

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hawkinspeter replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
12 likes

But is it considered filtering if a vehicle is turning right? As I understand it, undertaking a right-turning vehicle is considered normal and correct for cars whereas it's frowned upon for cars to filter.

In this instance, I would consider that the cyclist is normal traffic proceeding along the carriageway and the truck driver turning into that carriageway has the onus to ensure that it is safe to do so. The car driver wasn't strictly at fault although it's bad form to encourage a vehicle to pull out when you've just overtaken a vulnerable road user (especially when you then positon your vehicle to block visibility of that road user).

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EK Spinner replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
6 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

But is it considered filtering if a vehicle is turning right? As I understand it, undertaking a right-turning vehicle is considered normal and correct for cars whereas it's frowned upon for cars to filter.

and hence why the priority for the 2 motor vehicles here is first for the one turning right INTO the junction, and the last priority is the one turning right OUT of the junction. The whole situation was simply made dangerous by the "politeness" of the the car driver towards the tipper driver. The roads have rules and guidance for a good reason, stick to them would be my advice to the drivers here

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OnYerBike replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
6 likes

Aside from the fact that the car driver had literally only just got in front of the bike then slammed on the brakes, passing on the left when another vehicle is turning right seems to be accepted practice:

Rule 163: only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so

Rule 179: [When turning right] leave room for other vehicles to pass on the left, if possible.

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Hirsute replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
0 likes

I used 'filtering' here as I didn't think there was enough room for a car to fit.

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S1mWa1k replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

The highway code doesn't menation 'car' it just says 'if there is room'. Clearly it depends on what your mode of transport is as to whether that will be the case.

 The cyclist is just behaving exactly as they should be expected to in the situation of another vehicle turning right, leaving plenty of room for them to continue onwards. I agree with most others that the car is largely at fault, but that doesn't excuse the lorry driver for not doing their own check that the road is clear.

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S1mWa1k replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
5 likes

The highway code specifically mentions overtaking (it doesn't call it undertaking) vehicles turning right. It says:

Highway code 163 says: "only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so"

Clearly this was the case here so the cyclist was doing nothing wrong by continuing on in a straight line

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Hirsute replied to S1mWa1k | 3 years ago
0 likes

I didn't address the question of right or wrong but mentioned increased risk.

The cyclist was attentative to the risk.

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nicmason | 3 years ago
3 likes

Heres the unwelcome POV.

Car flashes the tipper truck to pull out partly to make it easier for the car turning right .

If I was coming up behind that in a car I'd be slowing the minute I saw the truck coming out to let him/her complete their turn and tbh I wouldnt be posting a video about it. it'd be filed under no big deal.  So you're on a bike you're traffic so do the same.

And its not up to the car to manage a bicycle thats well behind them.

certainly if the truck squashed the cyclist the truck would be at fault. The cyclist had "right of way" . But thats small consolation when your in the ICU.

 

 

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alexls replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
6 likes

nicmason wrote:

Heres the unwelcome POV.

Car flashes the tipper truck to pull out partly to make it easier for the car turning right .

If I was coming up behind that in a car I'd be slowing the minute I saw the truck coming out to let him/her complete their turn and tbh I wouldnt be posting a video about it. it'd be filed under no big deal.  So you're on a bike you're traffic so do the same.

And its not up to the car to manage a bicycle thats well behind them.

certainly if the truck squashed the cyclist the truck would be at fault. The cyclist had "right of way" . But thats small consolation when your in the ICU.

1. Car flashes the truck, which *legally* means only "I'm here".  In context, it means "I'm going to let you go before I turn".  It *does not* mean "It's safe for you to pull out" - it's always the signal recipient's responsibility to check that for themselves.

2. The truck wasn't coming out until the bike was past the car; no idea what that last sentence in the paragraph means.

3. Why would the car be managing the bike, and who suggested they should?  The car is welcome to flash their lights.  The truck should ignore that in the face of the actual traffic on the road; especially true for LGV drivers.  Thanks to the car's positioning, there was plenty of room for a cycle, motorbike, or even a car to pass on the left - just because it's a bike seems to imply it's fine to ignore their presence.

4. No.  Everyone had right of way - it's a public highway.  The bike had priority.

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nicmason replied to alexls | 3 years ago
2 likes

Rising and surviving on the road is about protecting yourself. Not waving a copy of the higway code as something crushes you.

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alansmurphy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
8 likes

As a cyclist, yes protect yourself. But the mantra 'would you rather be right or dead' is so fucking tiresome as it is basically suggesting that it's fine for the biggest vehicle to bully and take no responsibility.

 

Would you turn up at cyclists funerals and suggest they should have been more careful?

 

Also, if you take it back right to the start, no motor vehicle or bike should be on the road - pedestrian vs pedestrian killing statistics are so low why take the risk?

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Mungecrundle replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
6 likes

Just to point out that the cyclist did take enough evasive action, by slowing down, to avoid a collision.

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nicmason replied to Mungecrundle | 3 years ago
0 likes

Yes I agree he did. 

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
4 likes

Are you ignoring the fact he didn't just pull out in front of the cyclist but also the other lorry who was not happy either and alerted him to that fact. And as others have mentioned, the cyclist did brake and slow as soon as he saw the truck moving but it was still a close run thing.

Forcing any traffic to slow down that much is an indication of bad driving. The next time the bad driver might not be as lucky for him or others on the road so why not post the video. These videos can also actually help cyclists to show that assumptions on right of ways are just that assumptions and to expect the unexpected. 

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Jimmy Ray Will replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
0 likes

I'm siding mainly with Nic on this one. 

Both the car and the tipper truck drove poorly, undoubtedly, and the cyclist is right to feel proper mugged off. Their life however was never put in danger... merely inconvenienced.

On balance, the car was the biggest culprit... it shouldn't have overtaken the cyclist where it did... for no other reason than its signalling would have been confusing for all road users.

What follows after is unfortunate and very predicatable. The lorry driver - who could have pulled out earlier just fine if the car had not overtaken the cyclist - was frustrated, and then pressured, by the cars action / presence, so more likely to make a poor decision.

No one died however, and to be blunt no one was ever in danger of doing so. The sheer slow motion of the whole thing, I appreciate, will have made it all the more annoying for the cyclist. 

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grumpyoldcyclist replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
1 like

nicmason wrote:

Heres the unwelcome POV.

Car flashes the tipper truck to pull out partly to make it easier for the car turning right .

I've heard of a phtase like that 'flash for cash' I think it is, where naughty drivers try to tempt people into accident situations to claim compensation. I can't see the headlights of the car in question, but if they did flash it has no place in any rule book and basically means nothing. The driver pulling out is entirely responsible for their own actions, nobody else.

 

 

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EK Spinner | 3 years ago
8 likes

so many things wrong here from the driver of the wee black car then compounded by the tipper diver just generally being crap.

1. MGIF, if they had simply waited a few seconds (which made no difference to thier journey) then the rider would have been much more visible to the tipper driver

2. This strange belief that politeness (light flashing?) should be prioiritised over the rules/priorities of the road. Or the strange belief that it is difficult to turn a small vehicle into a junction while remaining on the correct side of the road (bizarrly this seems to have increased over the years in  proportion to the provision of power steering on small cars)

3. just a little bit of forward planning would have helped to not create this situation. the lack of this is evidenced by the heavy braking after the MGIF pass as they make the decision to wait further back from the junction.

4. Do they actually believe that "might is right" therefore they get priority over the rider, but should just sit and wait while the tipper driver gets on with his day

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to EK Spinner | 3 years ago
7 likes

I would also argue the Tipper would have been out and on his way if the black car has held back well before the cyclist arrived. 

It is one of those of two drivers not thinking ahead, getting in each others way and then being courteous to each other to the point of being dangerous. 

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alansmurphy replied to EK Spinner | 3 years ago
3 likes

The fact that they gave up their gain from overtaking the cyclist to stop and let a lorry out is ridiculous!

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AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
3 likes

I'm sure if you sent the Police the truck details bar the reg, (and if they wanted to), they could have gone to the company and demanded the driver details.

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0-0 | 3 years ago
4 likes

It seems the more wheels you have, the more fuctwittery you display on the roads.

I noticed the truck driver coming the other way wasn't happy either.

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HoarseMann | 3 years ago
14 likes

That black Kia Picanto came to almost a complete stop before the lorry pulled out - I reckon they flashed their headlights to let them out, of course completely forgetting about the bicycle they'd just passed.

A classic example of 'courtesy causes confusion, causes crashes', although thankfully no crash in this case.

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Richard D replied to HoarseMann | 3 years ago
10 likes

Yup, that was my conclusion too.  And it's a classic example of why the HWC says that drivers should NOT flash their headlights to invite another road user to make a manoeuvre like this.

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brooksby replied to HoarseMann | 3 years ago
4 likes

I read it as the car driver wanting to turn into that road/entrance and thinking they'd be considerate to another road user by letting them come out first.

Except, as you say, they'd forgotten about the cyclist that they'd overtaken just a few seconds before...

Notwithstanding the above, isn't it still on the HGV driver to check there's no oncoming traffic and that its safe to make the manoeuvre?

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