Near Miss of the Day 575: Cyclist gets three close passes in one hour

I'm not sure what they are guilty of. Unfortunately, at present, passing within 1.5m is not illegal and I suspect that the police would find it difficult to prosecute any of these drivers. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd be delighted. That does not mean that nothing can be done. After many submissions I've now had 2 that have had visits from a PC. I count this as a result as I am convinced many drivers are not aware of the guidance and I am grateful to the police for the time they have taken to do it. Coincidentally this is in Cheltenham where, apparently, the police are putting up signs asking motorists to give cyclists 1.5m. I take this as a positive sign and I will continue to submit footage in the, perhaps forlorn, hope that things will get better in the long run. I, for one, am not prepared to accept that nothing can be done.

I'm not sure what they are guilty of

There's a job awaiting you in Lancashire Constabulary! They would love to see a petition from a load of cyclists demending that nothing significant be done about close passing. Makes you wonder what the point of NMoTD is supposed to be: navel-gazing, hoping that there's more blood on the road so that something can be done? Unheeded 1.5m signs by the road, words of advice, visits from the police and the joke driving course are worthless. Convictions and points on the licence are the only worthwhile measures.

"not sure what they are guilty of" - well, apart from driving without due care & consideraton.

2 days ago I spent the morning in court as a witness to close pass after I uploaded video evidence to the met Police. The twat driver pleaded not guilty, his reason "I was going too fast to move over to give enough room " He was found guilty 3 points and £200 fine. So sometimes you get a result. Hopefuly this coviction will change his driving. 

What seems amazing is that such a person, after months of time for quiet reflection, repeats that excuse to themselves and still considers it a cast iron extenuating circumstance that will hold up in court and result in their acquital.

repeats that excuse to themselves and still considers it a cast iron extenuating circumstance that will hold up in court and result in their acquittal

I think it depends on the reputation of the police. If the defending shyster lawyer thinks that the local police can't be bothered and will try to dodge or thwart the case to 'save time and effort', they advise the offender to tough it out and hope for some failure of the procedure- such as the witness continually being told of a change of court date at the last minute to make it as difficult for him as possible, or just putting the case on zero priority and exploiting the Covid excuse to put it off for ever. 

Very well done for getting a result! It was only through your determination to attend court. It's only 3 points, but still better than I have achieved so far. On the other hand, I have the cyclist-hating Lancashire Constabulary to contend with, so the motorists don't plead guilty because they're fairly sure that LC will try to thwart the case if they can. Actually, LC hates the Highway Code and the Law of the Land too- no prosecution and no response to this- I think F2 YNY has friends or commercial partners in Lancashire Constabulary, because he was considerably further back when the lights turned red and travelling very fast. It was 4.4 seconds after the lights turned amber and 1.4 seconds after they turned red that he shot over the stop line on the northbound A6.

"I'm not sure what they are guilty of" - Highway Code Rule 163 "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car" - not sure any of these three complied with that. The 1.5m is not in law but I'm fairly sure not one of those drivers would overtake a car or other motor vehicle as close as they passed me...

That's a "should" not a "must" which seems to make all the difference. My understanding is that if there were to be a collision the motorist is at fault but if no incident occurs then no law has been broken. I may be wrong, and would be delighted if I am, but blaming the police for the inadequacies of the legal system they operate within is not helpful in my opinion.

As the videos are submitted via the Nextbase portal, there is no feedback. I did try following up with an email address I used recently on a previous submission (see NMOTD 572) that I had used to report some time ago & got feedback that the driver of 572 was being sent on an education course. Unfortunately, WM Police did not respond to me on the three submissions.

As the videos are submitted via the Nextbase portal, there is no feedback

This is just a standard police dodge- the general principle is that if they won't tell you what they've done, they haven't done anything. This applies in Lancashire.

got feedback that the driver of 572 was being sent on an education course

Unfortunately, due to the Gloucestershire case, we now know that the police are prone to lying about this and claiming that the offender attended the joke course when they only received the terrifying 'words of advice'. I think, for various reasons, Lancashire did that to me as well and I'm waiting to make a complaint about that when my present complaint about them refusing to prosecute red light crashing drivers has run its weary course.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/stroud-pc-dismissed-after-admitting-5064271

My claim to fame is three left hooks in 10 minutes on my cycle home from work one Saturday afternoon. The worst was the last one who was behind me at some lights (I was in ASL box) who revved and roared past me to turn left as soon as they changed. 

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

My claim to fame is three left hooks in 10 minutes on my cycle home from work one Saturday afternoon. The worst was the last one who was behind me at some lights (I was in ASL box) who revved and roared past me to turn left as soon as they changed. 

That's quite bad. Did you report them?

I suffered two dangerous passes by the same bus twice in 2 days a few months back, with the bus company even responding to say it was being investigated:

• https://youtu.be/zI47ttpurpM
• https://youtu.be/TA7gRyAIjVY

At the time we didn't have the dashcam footage portal and I assumed at the time that only collisions would be processed so didn't bother. 

The first one looks like the A5127 up towards Lichfield from the A5/A38/M6T.  That's a busy, narrow straight road with a kerb at one side for a lot of it and I've never ridden on it because I know what it's like to drive along.  

In short, the infrastructure puts cyclists in conflict with drivers who have just come off a major trunk road.  I've never seen anyone use the footpath, so it might make sense to convert that.  The opportunity to widen the road just passed as there is now a housing development at the north end.

I'm *not*, repeat *not* excusing the driver, but if you are behind a cyclist along there (which is rare, because local cyclists use the road through Wall instead if heading in/out of Lichfield to the south) then you can be there for a while if you wait for there to be no oncoming traffic.  

I don't mind waiting (and, of course, scrutinising the rider's saddle height, choice of gearing, kit etc like any true cycling snob), but a lot of drivers do mind.  If you take primary, you're just going to make someone angry and get a punishment pass.  I worry when there's a queue behind me that after I pass safely, someone behind is going to take out their frustration at getting home 15 seconds later than usual on the cyclist.
 

Aaah, knew I had been along there before but didn't realise as I assumed from the other two clips he was going to Sutton and not away from it. I've been along it a few times when first getting back into cycling and my first 30 miler was down to Lichfield and then back to Brum along the canal.

panda wrote:

The first one looks like the A5127 up towards Lichfield from the A5/A38/M6T.  That's a busy, narrow straight road with a kerb at one side for a lot of it and I've never ridden on it because I know what it's like to drive along.  

In short, the infrastructure puts cyclists in conflict with drivers who have just come off a major trunk road.  I've never seen anyone use the footpath, so it might make sense to convert that.  The opportunity to widen the road just passed as there is now a housing development at the north end.

I'm *not*, repeat *not* excusing the driver, but if you are behind a cyclist along there (which is rare, because local cyclists use the road through Wall instead if heading in/out of Lichfield to the south) then you can be there for a while if you wait for there to be no oncoming traffic.  

I don't mind waiting (and, of course, scrutinising the rider's saddle height, choice of gearing, kit etc like any true cycling snob), but a lot of drivers do mind.  If you take primary, you're just going to make someone angry and get a punishment pass.  I worry when there's a queue behind me that after I pass safely, someone behind is going to take out their frustration at getting home 15 seconds later than usual on the cyclist.
 

The road through Wall is closed ATM for 19 weeks. No idea what for & that would be my regular route. With the closure, it forces you onto the A5127 so I turn down Shortbutts Lane to minimise my time on this section.

That is the worst kind of road to cycle on, narrow busy A-roads with fast moving traffic, I'd even be tempted to cycle on that crappy looking pavement (if there was no alternative route) and explain why I'm doing it to the police, if they challenged me.

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

I hadn't read the descriptor but thought the second clip looked just like the climb up from Streetly Gate and the third the section between Banners and Boldmere. If you don't have close passes along those roads you are doing well. 

Yes, just up from Streetly Gate,  Monmouth Drive between Banners Gate & Boldmere Gate. The other was on Birmingham Road heading to Lichfield just before the junction with Shortbutts Lane. well spotted!

Streetly Gate:- I normally now drop up Foley Road and along Middleton rather then cycle up that hill. Partly because when the bushes grow outwards the spaces are smaller and partly to increase distance cycled on my routes. Downside is making it across the traffic by the shops can be just as dangerous with then MGIF's around. 

Monmouth is always a weird one as it is quite a wide road really but all the drivers seem to edge towards the centre on both sides which means no room for overtakes. Doesn't help that the road is 40mph as well which seems to be the norm around most of Sutton Park. 

The drivers are particularly crap along there (might be something to do with the golfers getting their own pelical crossing, preventing the drivers killing a few of them just to let off some steam).  Added to which there are a couple of vicious potholes that have appeared between the roundabout of Streetly Lane/Thornhill Road and the Streetly village shops.

The hole next to the drain has been there for years, or at least feels like it. I also assumed some of the speed is because they are late to tee times as I suspect those drivers are a member at Streetly or somewhere even posher.