Today in our Near Miss of the Day series we have a video showing one of those adrenaline-inducing moments any cyclist will be familiar with, as a driver pulls out on a rider coming downhill.
It was filmed close to Weybridge Railway Station in Surrey by road.cc reader Laurence, who told us he was riding at around 30kph on the 2 per cent descent.
“Looks like the rider didn’t see my front light blinking,” he added. Or indeed, the rest of him.
> 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 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
75 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 607: Driver pulls out on cyclist going downhill”
Cyclist = slow
Cyclist = slow
Oh shit – better floor it and get away!
100% if they hadn’t seen the
100% if they hadn’t seen the cyclist, they would have pulled out right after the previous car passed them. But they clearly saw the cyclist and just thought it would be fine to pull out in front of them
If the driver had gone after
If the driver had gone after the first car, it would have been a safe manouvre for both. I have seen it mentioned before that blinking lights rather then permanently on ones can actually cause misjudgements of speeds of the cyclist. I suspect the driver initially thought the cyclist was coming faster, then realised he wasn’t, got annoyed and went when it was dangerous because he had wasted precious seconds. (or noticed other cars were coming so waiting might have meant even more seconds wasted on his journey.)
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
I have never fully bought into the Flashing Lght causes misjudgement of speed theory. I suspect it is the result of a laboratory experiment. It may be a real effect if the cyclist is a long way away on a dark road, but in this case he was close to the emerging driver and would have been fully visible without the light.
No excuse – just totally bad drving
Yep agree with that: it’s a
Yep agree with that: it’s a valid point when riding in the dark, as your only point of reference disappears. But when the light is reflecting off signs in the daytime, that’s a bright enough light to see, and the bike is perfectly visible to get a fix on it. No excuse.
Thanks for the explanation –
Thanks for the explanation – No Points of Reference!
A quick search turned up a paper based on the visibility of snow ploughs in New York State
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
That would have been about 3 seconds before they actually went – I doubt the presence of the cyclist had any input in the drivers actions. 3 – 5 seconds is about how long it takes most motorists to set off when the traffic lights turn green – especially the ones that don’t use their handbrake and just sit there rocking back and forth (or inching forward) on the clutch the whole time the lights are red.
What a twunt
What a twunt
Funnily enough that was the
Funnily enough that was the exact word I used to describe the driver of a car who did that to me last week…..
Waiting for a phonecall/email from Northumbria police in response to the camera footage submitted to them. I full well expect the driver to get a Fixed Penalty Notice. But until then I am not allowed to share my footage on social media…..
TriTaxMan wrote:
Good luck on that – get up on teh site when they’ve confirmed.
Waiting for a phonecall/email
Waiting for a phonecall/email from Northumbria police in response to the camera footage submitted to them. I full well expect the driver to get a Fixed Penalty Notice. But until then I am not allowed to share my footage on social media…..
Another glimpse into a paradise almost unimaginable to Lancashire cyclists- you won’t get any phone call, email or any other response here- except one 14 days after the offence to say it’s ‘now too late to process’. They won’t respond to cars crashing through red lights at 50, so footage of some car pulling out just in front of a cyclist would have Lancashire TacOps crying with mirth- if they could be bothered to look at the video. This is Astra ML60 YMP not bothering with any of this red light nonsense
“Looks like the rider didn’t
“Looks like the rider didn’t see my front light blinking,” Surely you meant the DRIVER?
I had a cyclescheme email
I had a cyclescheme email today telling me to use lights front and rear at all times !
I love PPE as the first choice of risk control.
hirsute wrote:
I particularly like being reminded to make myself visible. The number of times I’ve left the house with my cloaking device still engaged…..
Signed
JTK
Captain Badger wrote:
If it’s anywhere like where i ride, you’ll no doubt have seen the occasional cyclist at night, without lights on, and dressed head to toe in black clothing…Organ donors on wheels…
Jenova20 wrote:
Or vulnerable road users (albeit unwisely breaking the HWC and law) who are still visible (or how did you see them?)
As in your area this is a regular occurrence, drivers will no doubt be driving to the prevailing road conditions, and taking account of this likely situation.
A bit like I take account for (example) kids darting across the road unexpectedly (I’d not want to refer to such a child as a donor on foot). Ideally should they do it? No, but I know that they do, therefore I’d be negligent if I didn’t take account for it.
Captain Badger wrote:
I wish I could claim this was me but it was actually another rider I was behind recently, dressed in head to toe black Castelli (bright sunny day 4pm), being berated by a cabbie (in all all-black London cab, ironically): “You’re farking invisible you are, why da fark you wearin’ all black, you’re farkin’ invisible, I literally can’t see ya!”
“If I’m invisible, who are you talking to?”
Was the cabbie wearing a NZ
Was the cabbie wearing a NZ rugby shirt ?
Remember Rendel, there are a
Remember Rendel, there are a number of motorists and pedestrians that no matter what you wear, what lights you have on etc they will still have a go I’ve had the following said to me at various times in the last 5 years or so:-
These complaints have come from pedestrians (on shared use paths) and drivers who have stopped to remonstrate with me for their inability to use their fecking eyes
https://road.cc/content/news
https://road.cc/content/news/hi-vis-jacket-blended-trees-277019
‘hi-viz blended in’
Oh I agree.
Oh I agree.
Hi-Viz at night time especially Hi-Viz Yellow and Hi-Viz Oorange had a tendency to blend in under sodium street lights in urban areas. That was particularly why I chose black with reflective trims as opposed to Hi-Viz colours for night time riding
It’s almost like the only time you can ever been seen on the road is if you are safely cocooned in your 1.5 tonne plus metal box
I did laugh at the 2 proviz
I did laugh at the 2 proviz references
I have taken to wearing pink or orange in the summer (but no lights)
Rear Red Reflectors, Amber
Rear Red Reflectors, Amber reflective Pedals, Front and Rear Lights (not pointing directly into Drivers Pupils if possible), a Hi Vis can still be important on a bright Summers Day as the Sun is bright and creates more darkness (mostly in Mirrors, I may never be able to explain that in detail, also a flash of bright colours in the bulky Frame of a Windscreen in some Cars etc), Flashing Lights were illegal a decade or two ago before being decriminalised (lol), these are just my opinions apart from roughly the first 3 which are in the Highway Code. Traffic Free Cycle Routes are better as you can verbally communicate with Pedestrians, having to raise the voice over Car Engines can be more easily misconstrued as confrontational
NewBob wrote:
Does your browser have a RandOM Capital LeTTers mode?
NewBob wrote:
the first three are expressly required by the highway code only when riding at night, reflectors would make no difference in this situation as they require vehicle lights hitting them, clearly the drivers lights would not have hit them.
In very bright sunshine,
In very bright sunshine, everything looks black so not sure what hi viz would do. Contrast is more important.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Ah: brilliant!
Rendel Harris wrote:
I can never come up with snappy comebacks off the cuff (no, it’s true everyone….). However, as most anti cyclists aren’t that original, it’s always worthwhile coming up with a response to use in future.
For example, teh other day I couldn’t think of anything off the cuff to “there’s LITERALLY a cycle path just there” (said frothing driver pointing to a footpath with peds on it) as we’re going 20-25 in a 30. Next time I shall jauntily quip “well get a bike and LITERALLY use it”
Probably. Either that or swear like a meths drinker….
“Literally” seems to be a
“Literally” seems to be a word commonly misused or misunderstood, nowadays…
brooksby wrote:
It is too often used as an emphatic, quite literally….
Literally, yes.
Literally, yes.
brooksby wrote:
I think you’re literally spot on with that assessment.
You are a badger. When
You are a badger. When cornered you should simply bite them in the face, give them TB and run away.
But what if he’s one of the
But what if he’s one of the 85%+ of badgers tested who do not carry TB?
markieteeee wrote:
Did they test for TB with a lateral flow or a PCB test?
brooksby wrote:
Is that the banned coolant, or an electronics component? And how do you test for TB with it?
markieteeee wrote:
As Willy WobbleDagger said “TB or not TB, that is the question.”
markieteeee wrote:
Oh I always carry a vial or two in my back pocket. Never know when you’re going to come across a dairy herd that wants infecting.
Mungecrundle wrote:
FTFY! 😉
Mungecrundle wrote:
I would do, but covid, social distancing and all that…..
If you can hug a loved one
If you can hug a loved one (which might come as a surprise to Jenny Agutter should our paths ever cross) I’m sure it would be OK to bite someone on the face.
Although social distancing no
Although social distancing no longer needs to be adhered to, the conditions of any restraining orders do still apply.
Mungecrundle wrote:
Ewyuch! No way, don’t know what I’d catch….
Captain Badger wrote:
Me neither, though I was quite pleased with my surreal effort a couple of months ago: a Beemer driver decided, unprompted, to start berating me for having attached a spare red flashing light to the back of my helmet; he was convinced, for reasons best known to himself, that this was against the law, ending his peculiar rant, “What do you think you are, a bloody police car or summink?” To which I replied, “No, I’m a fire engine but it’s my day off.”
Rendel Harris wrote:
That’s too good.
I can’t see why people get so wound this shit. Even if it was illegal by letter of law (wasn’t the law clarified to say that a flashing light could be considered to be constant light source a while back?), in practical terms it’s crap. Why do they care?
Don’t talk to the offenders,
Don’t talk to the offenders, or reply to moron drivers who try to talk to you! Film them, report them, follow up the report with a complaint when the police ignore the offence, follow up the response to the complaint. Keep going- it’s the only way to defeat the Enemy!
Rendel Harris wrote:
Had a driver kick off at some riding behind me, about wearing black.
We were descending into a town when this guy starts to pull out then stops. he gestures I give a despair gesture rather than an obscene gensture, didn’t see/hear what the other rider did that upset him but they had a row.
When he caught me at the lights I asked what it was all about, apparently a complaint we were wearing black. Seems it is OK to drive a black car with no lights, but no ok to wear black clothes and no lights. On a bright sunny afternoon, not in shadow.
The real reason he didn’t see is is because the sun was behind us, and he did a quick glance and didn’t give time for his eyes to adjust, could have been wearing hi vis, but with the sun behind us it wouldn’t have helped (also not riding centrally in the lane may hve been a facotr)
I do, but that wasn’t what I
I do, but that wasn’t what I was objecting about.
I see more cars than bikes
I see more cars than bikes with defective or insufficient lights at night.
Jenova20 wrote:
You might want to re-read that, Jenova…
brooksby wrote:
I stand by that statement. It’s a semi-regular occurrence. They’ll get themselves injured, or possibly even killed, and all for a lack of £10 of lights.
Jenova20 wrote:
And yet you always see them…
brooksby wrote:
I didn’t claim they weren’t visible. They are breaking the law and putting themselves in danger though.
Jenova20 wrote:
I SEE them all the time – and a lot of motorists in comment threads seem to complain about SEEING them too.
Although I suspect most
Although I suspect most sighting are of them coming the other way and only being picked up a few seconds distant.
Jenova20 wrote:
— Jenova20The funny thing is, the number of drivers who will tell you that so many cyclists don’t have lights and wear black, making them invisible; they saw dozens of them last night.
Even funnier is that they can’t see a cyclist dressed head to toe in fluourescent yellow lit up like a christmas tree.
eburtthebike wrote:
In the winter months I usually see a a couple of idiots a week driving around without their headlights on. They must realise their lights aren’t on – it’s just stupidity.
Routine behaviour around here
Routine behaviour around here- therefore not very worrying because I expect it and have cable discs! Even I don’t bother sending these in.
Happened twice to me
Happened twice to me yesterday going down hills, even caught up with the second one about three miles along the road at traffic lights. Arsehole knew they had done wrong as they tried to climb inside their ashtray to avoid me passing by whilst shaking my head at them, I saw them in the wing mirror.
Never pull out until you see
Never pull out until you see the whites of their eyes
Just the other day a car
Just the other day a car waiting to cross in front of me waited untill i got nearer then moved, and stopped again positioned right across my ride line in the middle of the lane, i swerved wildly to avoid going over the front of the car…
Pedestrians often do
Pedestrians often do something similar at Traffic Lights in City Centre’s, they’ll wait until the Lights turn to Amber and then Green before beginning to cross. I’m sure it’s completely accidental and it’s their right of way regardless
“Bicycle=Slow”, innit?
“Bicycle=Slow”, innit?
https://road.cc/content/news
https://road.cc/content/news/11085-ctc-rejects-calls-back-minimum-passing-distance-what-do-you-think
This link shows how long people like us have been on this site droning on about close-passing, people pulling out immediately in front of cyclists etc., to a complete lack of effect. We’re making the same complaints, the police are still refusing to accept the existence of these offences against cyclists (Lancashire, anyway), there are still joke penalties for killing cyclists with vehicles, we still have really stupid hyper-junk press campaigns against us. We’re not obviously not taking effective action as ‘the collective body of cyclists’.
Yep – Just to save other
Yep – Just to save other readers checking out the link it’s dated 2009!
At every cafe stop you get cyclists moaning into their lattes about being on the wrong end of bad driving.
No one apart from the cycling bodies thinks there is a problem, and they have been pretty ineffectual.
Any Ideas?
Join cycling UK. At least
Join cycling UK. At least they are trying and I’ve had positive dialogues with Keir Gallagher. They also have the cyclists defence fund which appealed the removal of the Shoreham bicyle lane.
Did you use the link I posted earlier to write to your MP. Here is the link again :
https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/document/2021/06/2106_cyclinguk_five-flaws-failing-laws_final_1.pdf
Carry on submitting footage. Write to your PCC. Write to your councillors.
Or you could just take the easy option and carry on moaning.
Written to my MP, Local Paper
Written to my MP, Local Paper, Village magazine, Complained to police, Parish councillors. I do Speedwatch in the village and have campaigned for a local 20mph speed limit.
None of it made any difference
I think it’s just got me labelled as the local nutter
I left Cycling UK for British Cycling when they removed the senior discount.
I’m entitled to be a miserable old git
Cycloid wrote:
None of it made any difference
I think it’s just got me labelled as the local nutter
I left Cycling UK for British Cycling when they removed the senior discount.
I’m entitled to be a miserable old git
— CycloidI can see why the actions in your first paragraph would make people think you’re a nutter, and you remove all doubt in the penultimate sentence.
So what have you done that
So what have you done that HAS made a difference?
I think you should share it with us so that we can follow your lead
OK then. Fair enough. One
OK then. Fair enough. One last idea then : encourage road.cc to contact police for comment following NMOTDs which have been submitted, should have had some reaction from the police but have had no further action.
They have contacted forces for comment on previous occasions, the most recent being NMOTD 602 and they got a response when the individual didn’t.
I think your experience tells us that acting alone will probably not achieve the desired result and if you don’t believe Cycling UK is the correct body to stand up for us then may be road.cc could step in with some encouragement from us.
Good Points
Good Points
Cycloid wrote:
It will only change if new drivers are required to cycle on the roads for experience before being allowed to drive cars. But of course sucha system is clearly to dangerous to implement.
Classic A pillar blocked view
Classic A pillar blocked view situation.. I always presume the driver doesn’t see me, ease off and cover the brake levers; some drivers don’t even see cars in their blind spots, so what hope with cyclists?
grOg wrote:
Don’t think so. Rider had a clear view into the car to drivers seat, and therefore obverse is true too. This is smidsy or mgif
Edit: not that A-pillar is any excuse, still driver responsibility
We can’t know what the driver
We can’t know what the driver saw/didn’t see, but my interpretation – based on the delay between the van passing and the driver pulling out, and the line the driver took whilst pulling out – is that the driver saw the cyclist, had a brief mental debate, then decided there was no way they wanted to be stuck behind a cyclist and so pulled out in front (whilst taking a slightly tighter line than normal so as to “give the cyclist space”).