Near Miss of the Day 570: Van driver Must Get In Front of group of cyclists

We’ve used the acronym ‘MGIF’ to describe the behaviour of some drivers in videos featured in our Near Miss of the Day series before – it’s shorthand for those drivers who feel that they ‘Must Get In Front’ of cyclists, in this case at a mini-roundabout in Buckinghamshire.

The clip was sent in by road.cc reader Lyndon, who said: “Our group of five set off this morning and within five minutes had a very close overtake by a T Brown company vehicle.

“I have already forwarded the footage to the company and reported to Thames Valley Police.

“Just another example of the typical MGIF attitude, hopefully the company or police will do something,” he added.

In a comment to the YouTube video, user Uphillfreewheeler – a past contributor to this feature – said: “I rang the number on the van and alerted the company to your video. They didn't know anything about it.

“The company is T Brown Group who are a gas services group, nothing to do with property management. I suggested they have a word with the driver for overtaking far too closely on a mini roundabout.

“As I said to them I don't think the driver was being deliberately aggressive. The driver may well complain you were cycling two abreast, which is of course perfectly legal.”

On that final point, many motorists still seem to believe that it is illegal for cyclists to ride two abreast, although the Highway Code states: “You should … never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.”

> Why do cyclists ride two abreast?

Cycling side by side when in a group can in fact make it safer for everyone when motorists overtake cyclists since it improves visibility and also means that the distance needed to pass the group is much shorter than it would be if they were in single file.

There’s a full explanation in this video from cycling journalist and author Carlton Reid, which features British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman and advanced driving instructor Blaine Walsh.

> 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