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news
Near Miss of the Day 787: “It’s a cycle lane, innit?” Driver punishment passes cyclist for not riding on notorious Priory Road bike lane
“Why don’t you use the cycle lane?” That question, usually uttered by an impatient motorist as they drive by (sometimes even when there isn’t a bike path for miles), is one every cyclist will have heard at least once, or maybe twice, on the roads.
Today’s close call – a punishment pass featuring a verbal volley from the overtaking van driver and a rather funky soundtrack – took place on the Priory Road in south-west London, a popular haunt for local cyclists as it leads to Richmond Park.
However, the Priory Road – and in particular its shared pedestrian/cycle path – is also notorious for creating friction between motorists and cyclists who prefer to stay on the road due to, as the road.cc reader who sent us this clip, Tim, explains, the path’s plethora of “bumps, debris, junctions and potential for punctures that even mountain bikes would struggle with”.
> Road rage meltdown driver who threatened to kill cyclist fined for public order offence
In 2015 we reported that a local coffee shop owner was fined for committing a public order offence after launching into an expletive-laden rant against a cyclist riding on the road (and not, to paraphrase the driver, “the effin’ cycle lane”).
There was noticeably less swearing this time around, though the wise-cracking van driver was still issued a notice of intended prosecution by the Met.
> 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
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
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43 comments
Had this happen to me on this exact road on Sunday, an old guy in a Range Rover overtaking me across a roundabout while I was doing 20mph telling me to get into the cycle lane. Hilarious
Priory lane needs a filterjust after the Bank Lane junction (just before this video starts). All this traffic is just rat-running to avoid Roehampton lane to the east.
It just has to much motor vehicle traffic on a very narrow road (with two schools on it). Best just to stop through traffic.
Agreed. Of course if Richmond Park instituted a 100% ban on through traffic and also enforced its current ban on trade vehicles (which might well be where this charmer came from) that would help a lot too.
That would help certainly. But there is a fair amount of traffic which turns off Roehampton lane southbound down onto Clarence lane and then south on Priory lane, mainly a google maps shows this as a shortcut.
The problem is the existense of a curb in the bikeway that is not tall enough to prevent motor vehicles, but tall enough to prevent cyclists to get on it between junctions, thus preventing of motor traffic queues happening behind them.
KERB.
Cyclisto might be a 'Merican.
Oh yes - "bikeway".
Kerb.
Are you asking swldxer to kerb their enthusiasm?
Given that the cyclist was going at a fair lick, wouldn't it be illegal for him to be using the cycle lane with the cycle lane being on the pavement and effectively a shared space with pedestrians?
No - there's no speed limit for shared paths. Various people/bodies have suggested that you shouldn't use them over certain speeds, but there's no legal ground to those suggestions.
Although as most are shit surfaced like that one, it would be dangerous to the cyclist to be doing 20 or so down it.
I don't think it's illegal to use a shared use path at any speed on a cycle. but it's advised that you shouldn't be on one if you're doing 18mph or more.
Yep, If I was walking down that pavement and a cyclist went past me on that shared path at 20mph+ I woudn't me too happy. I'd defintely stick to the road. That driver needs reporting and educating "innit"
The path has the added bonus of the fact that although it's marked as bidirectional it's impossible for two normal sized cyclists to pass each other without one going on the pavement; additionally the presence of various street furniture means that anyone pushing a large buggy has to go into the cycle lane to go forward. It's absolutely useless for anything except as an excuse for angry drivers to try to bully people off the road.
It is bi-directional, just not at the same time
If you were going as slowly as is clearly intended you'd have time to dismount, carry your bikes around each other and resume without significantly delaying your journey.
Always amazes me how drivers of liveried vans don't think that their behaviour is going to be reported to their employer or judged in the court of social media.
It's called IQ. it's (a very small) part of the mindset that comes with driving like a b*st*rd,
An ambassador for the company!
The driver will get a nasty surprise in the post in the shape of a NIP I hope. And complaints to the employer will further ram home the message.
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'In 2015 we reported that a local coffee shop owner was fined for committing a public order offence after launching into an expletive-laden rant against a cyclist riding on the road'
.
How much more measured, reasonable, and sensible Road.cc's wide variety of commenters were in those days, eh? Now it's mostly a small clique of bike-fascists on here who rant and swear.
.
Pity.
.
Can't exactly say that things have moved forward, can you?
.
Did you forget to add "For Coffee" or one of those other ways you like to swear without writing the actual words. Oh yes, it was so you can have ago at other people on here for swearing.
You OK hun?
This dangerous driver nearly hits onoming traffic that has to take evasive action while simultaneously endangering the cyclist and verbally abusing them for no reason... and you decide to go on a rant about a perceived "small clique of bike-fascists on here who rant and swear".
What even is a "bike-fascist"?
Somewhat ironically, FB is probably the closest we have to one on here - assuming s/he ever rides a bike, I can't recall them ever actually commenting on cycling.
Someone who demands unquestioning adherence to The Rules.
(Particularly the ones about clothing being black.)
'...swanking about in footer bags!'
"Did you ever see a more perfect perisher in all your puff?"
Hah, amazing. I was close passed by the same van a few days ago near Kingston. Not going to post a pic/video here as I've reported him to the Met.
No cycle lane, just close passed me with an oncoming car. Driver then sped off in a 20 zone.
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