A very close pass on Bristol city centre features in our Near Miss of the Day series – although the cyclist hasn’t reported it to police in case he himself gets fined, with the footage also showing him mounting the pavement following the incident.
Matt, the road.cc reader who sent in the clip, told us: “I’ve started my own channel as I’m getting so many of these!
“I was cycling through Bristol city centre at about 20mph in a 20 zone when this driver overtook me at ridiculously, terrifyingly close proximity, literally within inches.
“Reviewing the footage, it looks like he pulled over to avoid the oncoming caravan – but it was still a stupid place to overtake; he could have waited a matter of seconds until I got into the safety of the bus lane further on.”
He added: “I haven’t reported this to the police as, after the incident and within the two-minutes-either-side video requirement, I think I may have (completely safely) mounted the pavement and didn’t want to get fined, as in this case.
> 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
Oh, and by the way – we get so many submissions these days that it would help us (and you) if rather than putting “near miss” or “close pass” in the email header, you give it a more descriptive title.
28 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 610: Very close pass in Bristol city centre”
No video
No video
Looks like this one https:/
Looks like this one https://youtu.be/6Pr8ywApgSE
All the footways along there,
All the footways along there, on that side of the road, are shared use.
That said, I’d say that driver is pretty typical for central Bristol.
Was he speeding as well?.
Was he speeding as well?. 20mph speed limit there and the cyclist was going at a fair lick but the car caught up to him reasonably quickly in the distance shown.
That’s what I thought
That’s what I thought
and it’s MOTORHOME
Is the 2 minute rule, really
Is the 2 minute rule, really a “thing”?
When I’ve submitted footage, its never been rejected because I trimmed the video.
Just something various forces
Just something various forces state no doubt to dissuade people from submitting.
I tried one on holiday at 560MB but the upload speed was pathetic and I think it timed out – so that could be another – can’t adjudicate on something which can’t be sent !
0-0 wrote:
It seems it is to the 5-O: https://www.cambs.police.uk/report/Report-Shared/Report-anti-social-driving-with-video-evidence
I’ve never found a specific piece of regulation that enforces it, but I believe they are trying to avoid a Freeman-style excuse of, “you should have seen the travesty against humanity that the cyclist committed beforehand that negates this teeny-weeny indiscretion; or what the cyclist did after that caused my client to do this thing earlier due to some temporal shift thing.”
Each copshop makes up their
Each copshop makes up their own rules..
0-0 wrote:
I suspect that it’s a catch all for all circumstances, and it really will depend case by case. It’s easier to put one instruction for uploads rather than go back. I guess that if you submitted a vid that cut in or out during a prolonged interaction with the driver they’d want to know more, whereas an isolated close pass at speed might be accepted on its merits.
I say this as having reasonable experience with Herts. This is notwithstanding other folk’s poor experiences with their own force
Northumbria I think it is 2
Northumbria I think it is 2 and a half minutes before and after.
My guess there may be an element of checking your riding in the run up to the incident, but possibly more realistically checkin whether there were any factors in your riding that may have been a contributory factor, which may indeed result in a warning.
I do get a feeling that the OP should definitely send their video to the police, bearing in mind the current guidance from the ACPO which says that a reasonable view should be taken in relation to pavement cycling as long as the OP is riding with consideration to any other users on the footway.
I had a chat with Thames
I had a chat with Thames Valley last time they called me with an update, and this was one thing we discussed (not that I’ve ever had a problem). The ‘rules’ about editing and 2 minutes either side are not a strict thing for TVP.
The important point regarding two minutes is context; there’s invariably no need to show 2 minutes of complete nothing prior to a cycling close pass – unlike dashcam footage where cutting someone up 2 minutes earlier could be a contributory factor. As long as the context is there, it’s fine.
Editing is likewise contextual. Cutting bits out is a no-no. Editing to put pic-in-pic is actually welcomed (certainly by my ‘contact’) as it helps with context of the incident.
Ultimately, he said, if they need original/more footage in order to take further action, they will ask for it.
I’d go for reporting it. The
I’d go for reporting it. The police are unlikely to be bothered about sensible cycling on footways and at most they’ll probably just warn you against doing it, whereas that driver needs to recognise that cyclists need room.
Edit: I submitted some footage to A&S a week ago that also featured me riding on the footway for a few seconds near the beginning of the footage and it didn’t get mentioned at all.
The x-minutes of video before
The x-minutes of video before and after is a really stupid ‘rule’ dreamed up by the police in order to make it impossible for you to submit the video because of their file size limitations. Just show them you’re not going to stand for it, and they stop trying it on.
I haven’t had trouble with
I haven’t had trouble with the file size limitations for A&S and that’s usually submitting both front and rear at 1080p (30/60 FPS).
It’s also often an impossible
It’s also often an impossible rule to follow. I’ve been close passed by twats within two minutes of starting and finishing a ride. Just tick the box and send the cropped file. A&S certainly don’t enforce that rule.
Just tick the box and send
Just tick the box and send the cropped file. A&S certainly don’t enforce that rule.
Neither does Lancashire…now. They tried it on with me originally- insisting on 2 1/2 minutes before and after the ‘incident’. This was obviously a doomed requirement, as many of the close passing and white line crossing incidents occurred within a minute of home
It’s a slow pass-this case is
It’s a slow pass-this case is going nowhere.
Slow passes can be just as
Slow passes can be just as bad, since the danger is present for longer. The speed of the pass in itself has no bearing on the merits of a case.
No they aren’t, and yes it
Slow passes can be just as bad, since the danger is present for longer. The speed of the pass in itself has no bearing on the merits of a case
No they aren’t, and yes it does.
Please report it, no point in
Please report it, no point in having your own channel, police will nor warch it and drivers won’t get educated
Definitely report. A & SP are
Definitely report. A & SP are very good. This was super close. I guarantee within 2 days the driver will have at least a warning letter, or points or a driving course.
A & SP are very good. This
A & SP are very good. This was super close. I guarantee within 2 days the driver will have at least a warning letter, or points or a driving course
Lancashire Constabulary is now operating on 17+ days before an incident like this (Citroen van is doing at least 45, and the close pass is much more serious than this Bristol case) is even allocated a log incident number and, theoretically, nobody has even considered the case before then- alternatively, that could just be a dodge to allow them to state ‘case too late to process’ and not have to do anything about it
Do report the dangerous
Do report the dangerous scrote for veering into you that close and not leaving any room for error or for hazzard avoidance >when they had the option of passing you safely and legally just meters ahead >or simply, braking and backing off the overtake attempt on clearly seeing the motor home approacing ☡☢☠
As mentoined by Brooksby, the
As mentoined by Brooksby, the pavements here are shared use (although the signs are tiny) – deffo worth submittng this footage to the police.
mr_pickles2 wrote:
It also seems reasonable to expect the police to not fine him for going on the pavement briefly after that, since they’re supposed to only fine inconsiderate cyclists, and not the ones cycling on the pavement to protect themselves.
To capture close passes etc
To capture close passes etc before you’ve had your cam running for 2 minutes, why not start the cam 5 minutes before you get on you bike ? Likewise at the end of your ride, leave it running for 5 minutes.
Bristol Bullet wrote:
You forgot to add ‘#LifeHacks’.