Remember our story from a couple of days ago about a planned change in the law in Spain, which would require drivers to slow down when passing cyclists?
We mentioned in that piece that the country also has a 1.5 metre minimum passing distance, and that motorists are also required to ensure that the road ahead is clear when overtaking someone on a bike.
And we also made the point that sometimes, we see all three of those factors come together in our Near Miss of the Day videos from the UK – so, yeah, a very slow handclap please for this driver in Pembrokeshire who achieved the hat-trick.
The video was shot by road.cc reader Marcus, who in the description on YouTube says: “Dangerously close pass by a driver, who chose to pass me and cross over the solid white line, just before the blind brow of a hill despite not being able to see that there was traffic approaching in the opposite direction.
“Oncoming vehicles had to stop to avoid a collision, and he passed so close that I had to thump the side of his car to try and prevent him from coming any closer to me!
“Incident was reported to the Police but I have heard nothing since, other than the usual email confirming my submission.”
> 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@road.cc">info@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
27 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 531: Spain vs the UK – close pass, at speed, into oncoming traffic”
What exactly is the point of
What exactly is the point of this regular feature? Serious question.
We’re frequently asked in the
We’re frequently asked in the comments on Near Miss of The Day videos what’s the point of running them?
The point is to make a point about driving standards and the lack of consideration for vulnerable road users on UK roads. It’s also to show solidarity with our fellow cyclists because as beezus fufoon pointed out commenting on NMoTD 31 real life through a lens doesn’t always look as scary as it actually is. In our view it’s worth acknowledging that for the person on the receiving end of a near miss or close pass it was a damn scary experience and one pretty any regular UK cyclist can empathise with.
We’re not trying to put anyone off cycling – we love it and it hasn’t put us off, you all clearly love it too and it hasn’t put you off. And yes, at the moment close passes and near misses are a fact of life of UK roads – but that doesn’t make them right. Pretending they don’t happen isn’t going to help anyone – it’s certainly not going to help solve the problem.
We recognise that changing attitudes to less vulnerable road users amongst all road users – including cyclists – is something of a water on stone exercise and that NMoTD is more than likely going to run to a big number, but it’s not something that is happening in isolation – attitudes are changing, particularly police attitudes – led by the trail blazing work of the West Midlands Police and Cycling UK’s great Close Pass Mats initiative.
Incidents highlighted in NMoTD are already regularly picked up by local news outlets and regional television and radio news and they’ve been the starting point for discussions on local radio stations and newspaper websites about how road users treat each other – so the water is starting to make a mark on the stone.
Thanks for taking the time to
Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed response, and there are some good points, well made. I’m a regular cyclist and I totally agree that poor driving/close passes, and having been on the end of plenty, I also agree it can be very scary indeed.
That said, there is a tendency for each thread to devolve along a similar line.
I wonder if it might be productive for each NMOTD to be submitted to the local police force in question as a matter of course, with a request that it’s followed up? The article could then include the police response. Actually getting the police as a whole (not just a couple of forces) to take this seriously, and treat this as a formal offence of careless driving, and issuing tickets for it, will quickly start to change behaviours.
Not sure how you expect this
Not sure how you expect this to get a response. I reported two incidents to Cambridge Police, with clear video. The first was deliberately forcing me off the road, using a double decker bus (admitted by the driver), the second a ludicrously close pass by a taxi driver immediately recognized by the officer I reported it to. Both sat there, with no action for months, despite repeated chasing. I made professional standards complaints, which were upheld, with “clear grounds to take disciplinary action”…..which was not done. Clearly Cambridge Police were concerned by the findings of thier Professional Standards unit, and acted to make sure they could not happen again………by refusing to provide feedback to the reporter, thereby preventing a Professional Standards complaint. They do not give a sh*t.
I think some benefit may be
I think some benefit may be gained if along with Cycling UK the body of NMOTD (or suitable examples) should be forwarded with explanantion to the Police Chief Constables Association and the home secretary. Then the same happens every quarter or half year asking for an update on progress to combat such dangerous behaviour, even better if replies or any findings could be distributed and publised by national newspaper(s) ? Individual police forces are going to be influenced by likes of the Police and Crime Commisioner and Chief constable which is geared towards what they perceive is in the interest of the local community not always the same as what creates harm or danger, along with limited resources.
Fifth Gear wrote:
What’s a big number? Is 531 not already big?
Recoveryride wrote:
To promote discussion, raise awareness of dangerous driving and to show just how lackidaisical the authorities are about the way our lives are put in danger virtually every time we go out for a ride? Put it this way, if one group -any group – of people was regularly being aggressed every time they leave the house, why wouldn’t advocates for said group wish to raise awareness of it? I’ve occasionally shown some of these videos to driver friends who have a “cyclists are always moaning about nothing” attitude and they’ve often found them thought provoking and even said that they’ll think more about their behaviour around cyclists as a result. I think Road.cc is doing good work showcasing these videos.
I got knocked off my bike
I got knocked off my bike early on in my return to cycling 4 years ago. It was because even though I had driven for 30 odd years, I still expected drivers to honour rules of the road. That experience taught me better and enabled me to anticipate and avoid worse accidents over the years. Now instead of having to be knocked off to get those insights, these videos can help (and hopefully not scare cyclists off the road.) And on the rare odd occaison, can also show me what not to do as a cyclist to be save where they have been culpable to some extent as well.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
They’ve also helped me to adjust my road behaviour to prevent accidents. I definitely get more aggressive driving and dangerous driving now though. Seems like it’s getting worse on the roads really quickly.
So posters can explain
So posters can explain exactly what the cyclist did wrong and what they would have done to avoid it.
Well, sometimes.
It does throw out some random events though where I have gone ‘didn’t expect that’. Then there is ‘what happens next’ which is a handy hazard test.
I think also it helps with your own submissions and the phrasing of them to maximize a result. Shows also which forces are better than others.
These videos can be highly
These videos can be highly informative as they offer a chance to learn from our own mistakes as well as drivers . Sometimes just a change of road position can be enough to prevent a dangerous pass and by reviewing these incidents collectively we can maken our rides just a little bit safer , even of it’s just a case of submitting a video and hoping for a positive response.
Recoveryride wrote:
So we can identify the car, hack the DVLC computer system, trace the driver and teach them how to drive better; or encourage them to stop driving entirely otherwise we might treat their lives with the same respect they give us.
Its to create ill will and
Its to create ill will and internet pile ons by the virtuous armchair warriors. It doesnt help anyone and also make our roads appear more dangerous than they are.
They should put hundreds of “not much happened went for a cycle” videos with an occasional nasty. But that wouldnt get clicks.
nicmason wrote:
WRONG!! Come on lads, let’s get ‘im!
You can go for a wonderful
You can go for a wonderful all day ride, 10s of miles enjoying the wonderful countryside, but it was the utterly pointless risk that some person in a big metal box takes with your life, health and well being that can really mess with that.
Id love that to be the case,
Id love that to be the case, Id love to able to feel I could go for a ride on my bike and not have to video any of it at all, its boring and a hassle quite frankly.
but I cant, every flipping ride even in a pandemic, even when theres supposed to be less traffic on the road, someone driving in a metal box,or occasionally riding a motorised bike, puts me at risk of serious injury from their actions around me, purely from their impatience or inability to competently control their vehicle and emotions.
Submitted 3 from a week ago 2
Submitted 3 from a week ago 2 of them course or conditional offer. The third was nfa although it was the same as the other 2.
Depressing that even now, not enough drivers will slow and give you room.
Recoveryride wrote:
It poses the serious question regarding how the human race has managed to become the dominant species on the planet considering there are so many arseholes around.
And these pondlife examples of humans being need to be highlighted as frequently as possible.
Some people still believe in
Some people still believe in survival of the fittest, rather than helping their fellow man.
Wow! Even worse than this one
Wow! Even worse than this one from September 2019, shared by Cycliq today.
That one allegedly got results six months later:
Driver prosecuted for Careless Driving, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates Court, March 2020. Driving license endorsed with 5 points. Fined £190 plus £85 costs and £32 victim surcharge.
andystow wrote:
Well, as that was my NMoTD – I beg to disagree!
It was the excess speed that was really bad about that one (>75mph).
Incidentally, I spotted the Audi again a couple of weeks ago and it was being driven sensibly and looked to be within the speed limit. So there’s hope that points and a fine do lead to a change in behaviour (if it was the same driver!).
Good to hear that?…driver
Good to hear that?…driver effectively reformed, but still a long way to go for ALL authorities and their members to reform as effectively and quitting their anti-cylist bias enough to take action against all danger drivers and their willful threat to vulnerable groups.
Still a long way to go for
Still a long way to go for this particular authority too – I had an absolute battle to get them to do something about it.
Watching the video through to
Watching the video through to the end, had that happened a few seconds later the driver would have been liable for the cost of paying a vet to surgically remove handlebars from a sheep?
Actually that was one of the
Actually that was one of the things that annoyed me even more (it’s my video btw) about this particular experience. After quite happily putting my life at risk, he did then actually slow down for the sheep and gave it plenty of room. Just goes to show where cyclists rank in the minds of some folk!
What an odd number plate to
What an odd number plate to have on a 2011 Skoda Octavia. E-plates were 1985/86, and it doesn’t appear to spell anything.
Driven like a total nobend too, not a surprise.
E190 UCY – is it like a
E190 UCY – is it like a countdown conundrum?
EGO LUCY?