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Near Miss of the Day 648: Quick-thinking cyclist grabs 4x4’s registration number after driver pulls out on him for second time in a week

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's West Yorkshire...

A quick-thinking cyclist grabbed a vehicle’s registration details after the same driver pulled out on him at the same location for the second time in a week – resulting in the motorist being sent on a driver education course.

On the second occasion the rider, road.cc reader Andy, made sure he turned his handlebars round to follow the vehicle as the motorist drove away, capturing the registration plate in his footage.

The sound of squealing brakes can clearly be heard as Andy slammed the anchors on as the driver pulled out on him in September last year on a country rode close in East Carlton, a village located just to the north of Leeds-Bradford Airport.

He told us: “The driver of this Kia Sportage pulled out on me from the same junction a week earlier and told me to f**k off when I spoke to her. Unfortunately I didn’t get her registration number.

“The second time, a week later, I remembered to turn the camera to get the registration and submitted to West Yorkshire Police online portal.

“The driver received an educational course for driving without consideration for other road users,” he added.

> 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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26 comments

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TriTaxMan | 2 years ago
0 likes

Driver was a complete tool and the outcome could have been a lot different if the cyclist had been a few meters further up the road.

Completely avoidable had the driver looked in the direction that the cyclist approached from. 

If I was to speculate, I'd suggest that the driver looked to the left to check for vehicles approaching then glanced at the back of the other 4x4 that pulled out and when they saw the were not braking (as they would probably have had to do if a car was approaching instead of the cyclist due to the width of the road) then blithely pulled out onto the road assuming it is clear.

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Oldfatgit | 2 years ago
3 likes

Watched the video in the office with the sound off ...

I always read it the registration plate, even though the Fly12 or the Fly 6 will normally have caught it.
Makes it harder to argue with.

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Dicklexic | 2 years ago
9 likes

Nicely done!

This though is the reason that I have my front camera on my helmet, so that I can turn my head and capture things that a bar mounted camera wouldn't always see. It has enabled me to record the number plate of a vehicle on at least two occasions that led to further Police action. 

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swldxer replied to Dicklexic | 2 years ago
1 like

That's why I have a camera in my sunglasses - I don't wear a helmet either.

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rct replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
1 like

Built in?  Been after somthing like that for ages, do you have a link?

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Rendel Harris replied to rct | 2 years ago
1 like

Loads on Amazon, don't know about the quality though - guessing the £24.99 ones aren't so good...

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swldxer replied to rct | 2 years ago
1 like
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Hirsute replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
2 likes

Interesting

Do you have any footage - particularly low light and number plates near the edge of the frame?

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swldxer replied to Hirsute | 2 years ago
0 likes

I had loads of footage from 2007-2013, but lost it all in a house move when I moved out of the Hull telephone area and my website got deleted. It was very good quality and I managed to dob in a few illegal motorbikes and dangerous driving before I retired in 2013. I tried a few of the Chinese copies on e-bay but they didn't last long. The Zetronic ones are very good quality.

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andystow replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
0 likes

I watched their demo video, and pausing then stepping frame by frame could not read a single number plate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5ZGbayAtA&t=88s

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Hirsute replied to andystow | 2 years ago
0 likes

I downloaded it and agree - no plate could be read even at low speed and a parked vehicle.

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dodgy replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
0 likes

They look interesting, especially with the variety of lenses including clear and yellow. Is the video good enough for evidencial stuff? 

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mdavidford replied to swldxer | 2 years ago
5 likes

CYCLING GLASSES

Do you take them off everytime the sun goes in?

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swldxer replied to mdavidford | 2 years ago
0 likes

No - I change the lenses to clear ones.

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hawkinspeter replied to mdavidford | 2 years ago
3 likes
mdavidford wrote:

CYCLING GLASSES

Do you take them off everytime the sun goes in?

That's what photochromic glasses are for

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Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
18 likes

Well played Andy. How long before the usual suspects come on to say you should have anticipated it and castigating you for your lack of courtesy in calling that fucking idiot a fucking idiot?

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TheBillder replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
3 likes
Rendel Harris wrote:

Well played Andy. How long before the usual suspects come on to say you should have anticipated it and castigating you for your lack of courtesy in calling that fucking idiot a fucking idiot?

It'll be their truth. Though nobody else's.

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nicmason replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
3 likes

The point is he did see and brake and avoid the car not crash while saying I have right of way it says so in the Highway Code. That doesnt excuse the poor driving and I'm very happy he was able to report it. 

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Gribs replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
0 likes

The driver was a tool but as a local I know it's impossible to see what's coming from the right without pulling out.  The road width on the following section only allows for one car at a time, the majority turn left, so it's reasonable to assume that there'll be a car in the way across the road irrespective of being on a bike or in a car. As a regular user of the road he should be well aware of that so his speed was inappropriate unless he enjoys the occasional shout at idiotic motorists. As some who commutes into Bradford from Otley I'm aware that it can be occasionally satisfying (and for me makes the rest of the ride quicker) but that it can be easily avoided.

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Rendel Harris replied to Gribs | 2 years ago
4 likes

If the driver had stopped at the give way line and checked for traffic from there instead of rolling straight across they would have had ample time to see the cyclist and cede them their mandatory right of way. If it's "impossible" to see what's coming the driver should come to a complete stop and then slowly move forward; in point of fact at the speed the driver was travelling she had more than enough time from coming into line of sight to identify the cyclist and cede right-of-way, she either didn't look or (as seems more likely given her history of doing the same thing) decided she could bully her way across the path of a more vulnerable road user. The fact that the cyclist was able to brake safely indicates that his speed was perfectly appropriate.

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wycombewheeler replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
2 likes

Indeed.

 

And yet it's amazing the number of comments from others criticising cyclists for not being careful enough or safe enough, despite the fact that in all near miss videos the reactions of the cyclist to really shit driving have avoid collisions. If there had been a collision there might be a case for saying the cyclist hadn't allowed themselves enough time to react. But having avoided a collsiion which would not have been their fault, clearly they were doing everything they needed to.

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TriTaxMan replied to wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
1 like

wycombewheeler wrote:

And yet it's amazing the number of comments from others criticising cyclists for not being careful enough or safe enough, despite the fact that in all near miss videos the reactions of the cyclist to really shit driving have avoid collisions. If there had been a collision there might be a case for saying the cyclist hadn't allowed themselves enough time to react. But having avoided a collsiion which would not have been their fault, clearly they were doing everything they needed to.

Yep, and of late there seem to be an ever growing number of near misses which are down to drivers rolling through give way junctions.

I'm just wondering whether Andy should be making complaints to the roads department to have the junction changed from a Give Way to a Stop.  Gribs has confirmed, as an individual with local knowledge, that the junction has no line of sight to the right which surely warrants a change in the design of a dangerous junction.

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Velophaart_95 replied to TriTaxMan | 2 years ago
1 like

I don't think it'll make any difference to most motorists - as they seem to treat 'Stop'/'Give Way' signs the same.....

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StuInNorway | 2 years ago
10 likes

Hopefully she's learned from her course. If not, not problem, as she can't resit, next time it'll be a fine and points.

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ChasP replied to StuInNorway | 2 years ago
6 likes

Not a problem unless she kills someone...

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cczmark replied to StuInNorway | 2 years ago
0 likes

And you have to pay for the course - £90 - as my wife found out when she got caught for doing 37 in a 30 zone! Alternative was £60 fine and 3 pts.

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