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news
Near Miss of the Day 553: Driver on wrong side of the road on rat-run route nearly hits cyclist head-on
The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a driver on a road known for rat-running almost hitting a cyclist head-on – with the motorist subsequently sent on an awareness course by the Metropolitan Police.
The footage was shot on St Andrew’s Road, just off Orpington High Street in the London Borough of Bromley, by road.cc reader Tim, as he commuted to work at 8.40am on 5 October – a time when there was a lot of school run traffic in the area.
“It is a residential back road which is used as a rat run by motorists to miss one set of traffic lights,” he told us. “There are a lot of parked cars and a lot of potholes in the road.
“I had tried to position myself to be as visible as possible to vehicles coming the other way. Despite this, the car steered towards me and came round the bend on completely the wrong side of the road.
“It was only when I looked at the rear footage that I realised just how close the car came to my back wheel. The car made no effort to brake or swerve to avoid me. I reported it to the Met Police with this footage.
“I followed it up last week and was told the driver had been offered a ‘driver awareness course’. I was very surprised by this, given that the car was on completely the wrong side of the road and the driver was not looking where they were going.”
With Tim highlighting how the road in question is used by rat-running drivers, the video also highlights a key benefit of low-traffic neighbourhoods, which are now becoming widespread in a number of boroughs in the capital – but not Bromley.
One striking example from elsewhere in south London of how filters to stop motorists seeking shortcuts can make a huge difference to levels of traffic – and, as a result, the safety of vulnerable road users – can be found in the latest YouTube video from Jon Stone’s London cycle Routes channel, showcasing a ride through quiet back streets from Loughborough Junction to Streatham Hill.
NEW: The best way to cycle to Streatham Hill from Loughborough Junction. You can do this all on low-traffic streets and it takes about 15 minutes https://t.co/NW6MTQiREL
— Jon Stone (@joncstone) March 7, 2021
> 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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43 comments
I am always left wondering if the driver really did get sent on a course. Seems like it would be an easy thing to fob the victim off with.
Great question! The OP was told that the offending driver had been offered a 'driver awareness course'. So what was the alternative? Have they accepted the offer and 'attended' the course? (I say 'attended' as someone I know had their speed awareness course cancelled during the first lockdown and eventually did a Zoom style one)
If the offender declined to accept the offer or failed to attend, what then? This is what the OP should be getting told, in writing.
Driver is guilty, and the joke course is totally inadequate punishment. Unlike others, I was instantly sure on the head-on view, possibly because I was hit by a Freelander on the wrong side of the road. The first Lancashire Constabulary response was that it 'was only a momentary loss of concentration on the part of the driver' so NFA. I was stationary and correctly positioned when I was hit- only inches from the vehicle hitting my front wheel and smashing the bike back into my pelvis. I had to fight all the way to even get him sent on the joke course, and now I don't know if even that was just a standard police 'con':
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/stroud-pc-dismissed-after-admitting-5064271
The police wonder why people become highly motivated police haters!
Could it be because there's plenty of people like you spouting anti police bile.
Also I note the officer in the report you tagged was sacked with no notice and has been barred from ever working as a police officer again.
I wonder what the penalty is if you f__ck up at work. Cup of tea, a biscuit and a stern word.
If I stooped to that level of dishonesty at work, I'd be sacked and prosecuted.
You really shouldn't try to defend a policeman who disgraces the fine work of other police.
How was the officer found out?
According to the article, he admitted it during a public misconduct hearing.
How am I defending him ?
I'm pointing out that police who are found to have broken the rules are dealt with.
I know that doesn't suit the roadcc anti police group think.
Maybe I misread your post - it sounded like you were saying that his treatment was too harsh. You did start your post mentioning "anti-police bile" so that kinda sets the tone for the rest of your post, so apologies for my misinterpretation.
By the way, just because people reach a consensus of opinion doesn't make it necessarily "group think". There's plenty of varied opinions around here and there's at least one inspector (although self-declared, but I see no reason to doubt him) so you'd be better off addressing actual misconceptions rather than using vague labels.
As we have commenters like wtjs who is very disillusioned by the Lancashire police and then uses that to tarnish other forces, it's good that you're putting the opposite view, though sometimes I think you get carried away with your defense.
Actually in some cases I do think they are dealt with too harshly. But its too easy to get swept along. I know a lot of football fans have issues with West Midlands police. probably beacuse a few isolated incidents have taken on a life of their own.
Actually I do have some sympathy with wtjs, Lancashire Police are a disgrace, they have zero interest in pursuing drivers who have driven dangerously towards cyclists, they always spout the same bile, not in the public interest blah, blah, blah. Even when presented with HQ video footage with sound of a woman driving dangerously whilst texting, and admitting it on camera before becoming threatening, the officer still couldn't be bothered doing anything as 'she had better things to do' and 'it is not like she is texting at 70mph on the M6'. I kid you not, even when I complained to the PSD, they couldn't be arsed following it up. Hopefully other forces fare better, but Lancs Plod are an absolute shower.
I can sympathise with wtjs too.
It's short-sighted of Lancashire Police to not act on video footage, but is most likely due to priorities, resources etc. They've got a member of the public providing them with ready-made evidence and all they have to do is just process it correctly and they'd have made an ally out of him, whereas now they're really pissing him off and haven't made the roads safer.
Ultimately, there doesn't need to be aggravation between police and (most) cyclists as they've got a common goal - safer roads.
For a fuck up. For not doing my job and then lying and fobbing people off I would be in disciplinary at the least. No long leave and early retirement for the likes of badgers!
The misinformation to the victim could have been polished off with an apology "Sorry our officer made a mistake ..." and the officer would have got a disciplinary.
Folowing through the story, I suspect keeping up the falshood with the Traffic Evidential Review Officer is what took it over the bar of gross misconduct.
I've never heard of the "Traffic Evidential Review Officer" before - I wonder if they look at all cases or just a random selection - does anyone know? For those cases that the victim thinks there's been a wrong outcome, can the Traffic Evidential Review Officer be prompted to take a look?
yes I'd agree. Bad mistake to try and cover up the original. should have spoken to people and got some decent advice.
Would a Police Officer not know from basic training the implications (both personal and wider) of lying and fabricating records?
I can't remember what 'Evidential Review Officers' were called in my old force, but they were Detective Sergeants who reviewed criminal cases. A sort of filter between the investigating officer's supervisor and CPS.
Presumably TEROs deal exclusively with road traffic matters.
You can't really carry on as a police officer if you've been caught telling falsehoods. A lot of people are convicted at magistrates courts on the say-so of an officer with no other supporting evidence. If magistrates start having doubts about the integrity of police officers, convictions will become a lot harder to obtain. Talking about football fans, let's not forget how South Yorkshire police stuck to their lies for more than 25 years before the truth finally came out.
Could it be because there's plenty of people like you spouting anti police bile
A rather inept comment! I gave a well established reason, nothing to do with me but notified to me by another site user, why police cannot be trusted to tell the truth even about a simple thing like an offending driver being sent on the joke driving course. What I recount is not 'bile' but facts about the way Lancashire Constabulary automatically bins complaints from cyclists. I have all the videos of, for instance, dangerous transgression of the unbroken white line and the police letter in which the unbelievable dodge is stated by LC: we need confirmatory video from the offending vehicle! Your comment 'plenty of people like you [me]' should have caused you to pause... maybe you think we're all making it up! The good bit is that, in my present complaint to LC Professional Standards about the failure to take any action about a gross red light passing offence, the 'investigating' Detective Sergeant is the same one who came up with the 'confirmatory video' dodge referred to above. His 'report' should be entertaining!
To be honest I can't be arsed to report drivers to Lancs Plod any more, they are an absolute shower. Lazy, overpaid and workshy.
Sadly a growing section of the police are lazy, power hungry tosspots. They should not expect respect, they have to earn it. I have little time for the police these days. And I have never been in trouble with them, I used to devote a hell of a lot of my spare time to them in my capacity as a police volunteer. Never again would I consider helping them again.
And there we go. My case rests. Are you sure you arent a parody account ?
My case rests
You can't 'rest' a case when you haven't made a case. You had a go at me for accurately quoting police failures, now you're discounting others complaining about the police. The police are, mostly, guilty as charged.
Nicmason, are you a member of the constabulary, you seem to be following the party line in defending bad behaviour by police officers who, when sworn in for their warrent card are required to state that they will act without fear or favour. You seem to get very irate when people criticise police for not following this oath.
Nope. Just somone who doesnt want to follow the roadcc party line.
Would that be the party line of making roads safer and calling out poor and dangerous driving?
How does this series of videos make road safer . Its dog whistle stuff.
If every week they had a video of someone in swindon driving badly eventually everyone will be thinking Whats up with those swindon drivers ? Why are people from Swindon so nasty ?
its just lazy clickbait journalism
By drawing attention to poor driving and the hazards that are caused.
There's also been the occasional one where police initially said that they would not deal with it, but then as more attention is drawn to it, they re-examine the evidence and decide to actually deal with it (via letter, course, NIP etc).
Opinions differ on whether NMOTD is a good or bad thing (and it is in a sense lazy journalism as the video and story are supplied for them), but it's clear what Road.cc's intentions are.
I don't think that I'd class NMOTD as clickbait - it'd be different if it had titles such as "You won't believe what happened next..." whereas the titles tend to be simply descriptive.
So, what do you think the Road.cc party line is?
By the way, your use of the phrase "dog whistle" - which are the coded phrases that you think are being used to signal to the readers? I think you're just ranting unless you can be specific.
"suggestive language" endless videos of motorists an or police doing the wrong thing or making mistakes .
Drawing whose attention ?
I'm not following you - what suggestive language are you referring to?
Obviously, the NMOTD feature is going to be videos of motorists making mistakes, but whether or not police feature in them is entirely in their own hands. Road.cc have also run features on police initiatives that aim to crack down on poor driving and especially near misses, so I don't think that they are biased or have any particular agenda to push (except that cyclists have every right to cycle on roads and not feel threatened).
I meant drawing cyclists' attention to hazards caused by poor driving. In some of the cases, there's disagreement about the interpretation of the Highway Code and relevant legislation, so that can be enlightening although probably not as important as knowing how and when we can be avoiding issues. (e.g. the case with the police officer and the swearing cyclist highlights that swearing in reaction to a close pass is not a good idea if you help it - let the camera do the talking for you).
I suspect that you've already made up your mind on this issue, so we're probably not going to reach any consensus.
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