Today’s Near Miss of the Day submission comes from across the Irish Sea and landed the motorist a €300 fine and a day in court for careless driving.
Righttobikeit recalls the van driver had been using his horn to try to pressure the driver of the black car, which waited for an appropriate gap in oncoming traffic, to pass before pushing through “aggressively” even with oncoming traffic.
> Near Miss of the Day 833: Oncoming driver forces cyclist to swerve
Moments later when confronted the driver denied ever being on the road, a defence which did not stand up in court…
Court today. Careless driving & €300 fine. He’d been blowing his horn pressuring the patient driver in black car to overtake. Black car took advantage of break in oncoming traffic. He pushed through after aggressively with oncoming. 5 mins later denied he was even on that road pic.twitter.com/9aQosY7vqc
— Righttobikeit❤️Ukraine (@righttobikeit) November 9, 2022
“Mitigating, his solicitor tried to suggest that I was an experienced cyclist and shouldn’t be on that road during rush hour. Judge had none of it,” Righttobikeit explained.
No. He was suggesting that being experienced I should have known to stay off that road. In so many words
— Righttobikeit❤️Ukraine (@righttobikeit) November 9, 2022
> 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
35 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 834: Punishment pass on cyclist lands driver in court”
Not one of that lawyers most
Not one of that lawyer’s most honourable moments, suggesting that a perfectly legitimate road user shouldn’t be on the road because his client is incapable of driving safely. Well done that judge, and if you’re ever in the Forest of Dean, pop into the Nags and I’ll buy you a pint.
Not necessarily, it’s usually
Not necessarily, it’s usually just the advocate putting forward what the client wants the Court to hear. I’ve been there and you can tell your client it’s a bad idea, you can tell them that it’s not gonna fly and is likely to be counter productive but at the end of the day it’s up to the client. And on far too many occasions they are their own worst enemy as seems to have been the case in this matter.
Maybe it’s best that when in
Maybe it’s best that when in court for cases like this, all drivers should represent themselves. What could possibly go wrong? Although I’m sure Martin73 will utilise his superior knowledge of road craft to knock any judge or jury into shape…and give them a jolly good tongue lashing whilst he’s about it.
…but think of the income
…but think of the income you’d be denying the lawyers.
KDee wrote:
As the old saying goes “Someone who represents themself has a fool for a client.” Despite the fact he had a solicitor, it didn’t stop him being a fool.
That is BS, I represented
That is BS. I represented myself in court and got off a $469 fine. A lawyer would have cost more.
As sais below, 95% of the
As said below, 95% of the time this is the sollicitor following an express instruction from his client, against the better judgment of the former.
If a client puts forward a strategy and you advise them that it is your professional opinion that following that track will result in disaster but they are absolutely adamant then the only options open are to either document that you will follow their cue against your better judgment and bill them for the cringe moment in court or to tell them that you will not represent them if they wish to pursue that strategy. Walking away is not always a realistic option either.
At the end of the day, it’s their money and they do what they do at their peril. It’s not the sollicitor who risks his license or freedom.
If I ever need a solicitor in
If I ever need a solicitor in Ireland I now know who not to use.
Let’s call a punishment pass
Let’s call a punishment pass what it is…a cowards pass…I’d live with “cowards pass AKA punishment pass” if helps transition away from a phrase that is dangerous both as an action and as a justification
Let’s call a punishment pass
Let’s call a punishment pass what it is…a cowards pass…I’d live with “cowards pass AKA punishment pass” if helps transition away from a phrase that is dangerous both as an action and as a justification
antigee wrote:
Good, but perhaps “Bully’s Pass” might be slightly more apposite? Given that bullies are cowards with some power.
Think those drivers that
Think those drivers that intimate cyclists like these might be OK to be called bully’s but being called out for what they are cowards changes th we narrative
not sure I get the point you
not sure I get the point you’re trying to make.
its a punishment pass, because the driver is intentionally passing you closely to “punish” you, for daring to cycle in what they consider to be their way, yes its cowardly, but its still being meted out as a punishment.
so how is it dangerous to describe it as such ?
Awavey wrote:
Using ‘punishment’ can be interpreted (by carbrains) as meaning that it is in retalliation for the cyclist’s behaviour although we know that most of the time it’s due to the driver being aggressive and not actually understanding the rules of the road. There’s also a hint of the driver policing the road and simply delivering justice when we know that’s not the case.
“Coward’s pass” doesn’t carry any connotation of blaming the cyclist and also de-glorifies the driver’s actions.
Exactly
Exactly
.
.
Good points.
.
You’ve convinced me.
.
Flintshire Boy wrote:
Happy to hear it although at the back of my mind is a little voice suggesting that you’re being sarcastic – I’d best ignore it.
Because it implies to some
Because it implies to some people that the punishment was “earned”
I’m agnostic to it personally but can see the point.
Punishment makes it an
Punishment makes it an entitled action ..cowardly describes it for what it is.
I can see the probem but not
I can see the probem but not sure about coward’s pass.
How about deliberate dangerous pass, unnecessarily close pass or intimidatory pass.
Not really sure I’m up there
Not really sure I’m up there with ‘cowards pass’ either.
In todays aggressive society, it could be taken that the driver was a coward for not getting out and lumping the cyclist.
I can think of several names for it, but I’m assuming press and publishable names are preferred.
“Overtaking like a cunt” or a variation of would get a vote from me.
Oldfatgit wrote:
I would much prefer it if aggressive motorists decided to not use their vehicle as a weapon and instead got out to try to inflict harm. There’s a helluva difference between getting a couple of bruises from some flabby motorist versus broken bones from their tonnes of speeding death metal.
Yep … but then we’re back
Yep … but then we’re back in the Utopia where everyone drives with care and consideration.
Unfortunately… that will never, ever happen.
Oldfatgit wrote:
Careful on the language, OFG – there are certain individuals on here who get very het up about the use of the c-word. It’s like saying “wing mirror” or “Beetlejuice”.
brooksby wrote:
I knew I’d find a use for this one day
hawkinspeter wrote:
I’m not sorry for the
I’m not sorry for the language.
It is a word that seems to be particularly unpleasant to many people on an almost subconscious level.
It’s almost as unpleasant as being passed with inches to spare by an arrogant fecker who thinks that their life is more important than yours.*
If it makes people think – and act – correctly, then I’m all for it.
Except around here in the Central Belt of Scotland. Here, it’s pretty much a term of endearment and used as punctuation.
How about calling it
How about calling it “dangerous driving” and prosecuting it as such?
Such a tiny fine for risking
Such a tiny fine for risking someone’s life. Also, why is it ‘careless driving’ when it’s clearly intentional?
Im always amazed anyone needs
Im always amazed anyone needs to overtake this fella, he absolutely flies!
I’d put a rear facing camera
I’d put a rear facing camera behind the rider..
What’s the point of that? It
What’s the point of that? It still doesn’t stop the vehicle from passing too close. My horizontal flag stops people coming too close.
He means the person who took
He means the person who took the vid should put his camara behind the rider so the camera is not being blocked by the rider Also if the car hits your flag then what happens it also make your bike wider so you also have a chance of hitting someone too
My flag is retractable so I
My flag is retractable so I can lane filter and use bike paths. I have never hit anyone. The camera is completely useless in any direction because it doesn’t stop the vehicle from being close in the first place but my flag does.
I have a horizontal flag
I have a horizontal flag which extends 50cm beyond the tip of my handlebar. This gives me extra space so this type of thing never happens to me.