Close passes made by a driver behind the wheel of any vehicle can be frightening, but ones made by drivers of lorries are particularly noticeable because of the large size and wheelbase. The driver of this lorry decided to pass so fast and so close to the cyclist that she was forced off the road, however having the truck registered in a different country turned out to be a cheat code as the police “couldn’t do anything”.
Holly was riding her bike on the A388 in Hatt, just a few miles north-west of Plymouth when she passed by the driver in the articulated lorry. The driver even uses a little horn right when they are passing the cyclist, making the already risky close-pass even more frightening.
Despite dangerously wobbling, she managed to steady herself, but not before having been completely forced off the white line marking the road. She told road.cc that she was travelling at approximately 20mph, the visibility was good and she was also wearing hi-vis clothing.
She went on to report the incident on the same day that it happened, including the name of the haulier firm, the company’s email address, and also its physical address in the Netherlands.
After a couple of weeks, she received a call from the police force, but it turned out to be regarding a different close pass case. In the call, she brought up the issue, mentioning that no action had been taken so far on the lorry driver’s close pass, to which they replied that they would contact the company and try to “clearly see who the vehicle belonged to”.
She was later informed that the police would be unable to do anything as the truck was registered in the Netherlands. She said: “It blows my mind that foreign drivers can risk people’s lives and have no repercussions.
“I ended up contacting the company myself and apparently they have ‘spoken to the driver’.”
> 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 Twitter or 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
74 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 883: Lorry driver shoves cyclist off the road, but police cannot do anything as the truck is registered in the Netherlands”
Pathetic nonsense from our
Pathetic nonsense from our finest. Inept and lazy spring to mind.
Unfortunately not, in many EU
Unfortunately not, in many EU countries the car owner is held responsible, in the UK the driver is responsible and the overseas vehicle owner can’t be forced to disclose the driver details. Hence, fines can only be enforced if the driver is stopped by the police not if they are caught on camera. This includes speed cameras etc. Having said all that I thought that sorting this inconsistency was one of the sunny uplands of Brexit, but guess what?
Stop it at the port until
Stop it at the port until satisfactory information is produced.
Brexit kiboshed information
Brexit kiboshed information sharing of driver records between the UK and EU.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/13/speeding-british-drivers-evade-fines-europe-brexit/
No – I think it’s a
No – I think it’s a difference in UK policy on who is fined.
The Daily Mail was whining in 2019 about UK drivers fined on the continent, and the reverse not happening.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-7361213/UK-authorities-chase-foreign-drivers-offences-committed-roads.html
Its because UK officals were
Its because UK officals were acting like a$$hats. They wanted to clone databases and leach info from the EU for free without reciprocating back. Typical British false sense of specialness & superiority.
HoarseMann wrote:
It was the same prior to brexit. The UK has always done fk all about identifying foreign drivers. Its just too much trouble for our lazy authorities.
That’s correct, and there is
That’s correct, and there is no reason why the owner could not be jointly liable – they choose to let the perp drive the vehicle.
In the UK we do punish owners for failing to reveal the identity of the driver – that is what the athlete Bianca Williams did, and got herself a driving ban.
I see no reason why that can’t be extended to owners abroad.
Current enforcement policies are a political decision.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67613292
She now has 29 points on her license. I would say a permanenet ban is justifed. Criminal driver FFS.
IanMK wrote:
But IIUC they can do so voluntarily if you ask nicely. I imagine many private owners wouldn’t do this but larger companies may do so. I don’t know if the police ever try.
To hopefully head off comments, this disclouse would be allowed under GDPR (legitimate interest) and can go from the EU to the UK due to the adequacy decision. Though I don’t know if the NL has further restrictions.
NL does not provide driver or
NL does not provide driver or vehicle info of any kind to the UK because the UK often do not provide same info in kind. Thanks Brexit.
I drive a NL car in London occasionally and I can ignore all the ULEZ, the congestion charging, speed cams and parking fines all I like. No letters, no contact, nothing.
Why do i not pay them? Its impossible to pay for CC and ULEZ etc (my car is compliant anyway). The website just will not process a foreign number plate. COmputer says no. So I gave up. Same with the Dartmouth crossing toll.
joe9090 wrote:
I didn’t mean from governmental sources. The victim has managed to speak directly with the company involved. It seems unlikely the police couldn’t have managed the same.
Thats not how they work! That
Thats not how they work! That would take detective work. Not a police trait really these days. Also they have no jurisdiction in the Netherlands. None.
And… no goverment agency or council or any other official body in the UK is allowed to make international calls. Generally.
IanMK wrote:
I’m pretty sure that local laws apply even to foreigners, so the vehicle owner could be asked to name the driver and be fined for not doing so, like it is for UK registered vehicles. But its just easier to do fk all.
https://youtu.be/20j-3Mlldkc
https://youtu.be/20j-3Mlldkc?si=_u4h8pTE1qXJNASC
Had something similar from a Dutch lorry. Didn’t bother reporting it because I assumed that nothing would be done. I did contact the company and got an apology from the MD though, so hopefully words were had with the driver.
I’m sorry to inform you 3
I’m sorry to inform you 3 members of your family were killed by a truck running them over. And sorry we can’t do anything as it’s registered in Holland.
doubt this would ever occur
Brexit dividends!
Brexit dividends!
Nothing to do with Brexit, I
Nothing to do with Brexit, I used to work for a distribution company 2008-2013 where Dutch trucks used to drop to us, their transport managers had boxes full of speeding tickets and parking tickets as if they were keeping score
Watching the video, I wonder
Watching the video, I wonder if the HGV driver was trying to “encourage” the cyclist to ride on the other side of the white line: did they think that the white line marked the outside edge of some sort of painted cycle lane (edited)?
Unfortunately too many
Unfortunately too many British motorists believe that this white line is a de facto cycle lane rather than the boundary of the carriageway. Had a full scale barney with someone who was convinced that cyclists should be to the left of this line even if there was only three inches of tarmac.
I think that may be the case
I think that may be the case in France but I’m not sure. That may explain the lorry drivers use of the horn.
giff77 wrote:
Whilst this may be true, in good news, it did not work out well for this driver. TVP took it to court and the prosecutor got him 5 points and nearly £500 of costs and fines.
https://youtu.be/uoz60f-laCs
It’s an odd one that A509.
It’s an odd one that A509. The no-overtaking signs technically mean you shouldn’t even overtake a cyclist, but the road is very wide there and a safe pass is perfectly possible.
TVP seem to have got better at tackling this sort of poor driving. I was talking to someone a while ago who had been phoned up by the police because their driving had been reported by a cyclist. I said, ooh, that might have been me – was the offence in May? They said no, it was June. Actually, it might be the same person! I’ll give ’em some stick if it is when I next see them!!
In this case I know that the
The police prosecutor phoned me up to thank me for reporting and to tell me the outcome. He also said that he knew he would get the prosecution when he showed the video and the court colectively gasped.
Ok, that could be him then.
Ok, that could be him then. He’s a very decent chap and I think this is a case of not really knowing what is acceptable in terms of passing distance (he’s not a cyclist!) and not malicious at all. I think you can be assured that this will result in him driving more carefully around cyclists in the future.
Maybe you would consider editing your post to remove the surname (and maybe the registration on youtube if possible). I know that might sound a bit hypocritical of me, as I’m usually all for name-and-shame. But since justice has already been served, there’s perhaps no need for further social shaming, just the video showing the pass and the points/fine would be enough to act as a deterrent to other motorists.
If he’d had an unusual name I
If he’d had an unusual name I wouldn’t have posted it at all. Regardless happy to remove it.
IanMK wrote:
Appreciate it. In return I will lecture him on all matters cycling next time I see him!
HoarseMann wrote:
While I can appreciate that the driver will change how he drives after this, it really doesn’t seem like the most efficient way of educating drivers. If only there could be some kind of well publicised rule for how much space to give a cyclist or even, as a last resort, several other drivers in front of him to give guidance on how much space to give.
HoldingOn wrote:
I was having this exact conversation with an officer at TVP. It’s so bad, that almost every ride results in a dodgy pass, sometimes more than one. It’s not efficient for me to report every single one. Educating a driver one at a time via an extremely lengthy and expensive process is not the answer.
What they need to do is prosecute a few drivers, then do a publicity campaign, showing how to pass safely and the consequences of getting it wrong. There should have been a lot more educational content rolled out from the DoT when the highway code updates were introduced. They left it to the media, who made a right hash of it and probably made things worse!
There are a lot of drivers out there who think it’s ok to skim past a cyclist at 60mph. I had to tell my Dad a while back that his overtake of a cyclist was way too close! There are even some cyclists who think a close pass is ok. At my last place of work, there was a chap who used to cycle the 1 mile from the village, in the gutter, at 6mph, who stated on the company notice board in a discussion about passing cyclists, that he preferred drivers to ‘just get past quickly’, ‘it’s the idiots who don’t keep to 60mph who cause problems as it takes too long to pass’. Quite unbelievable really.
HoarseMann wrote:
My preference would be for a short driving ban (3 months?) to be given out to close passers so that the drivers can then explain why they’re not driving to everyone that they know. That would also have the benefit of reducing road congestion and possible improving air quality.
The down side would be the time taken for paperwork and possibly court time which is why I think the police should be allowed to hand out short bans without having to jump through lots of hoops. The drivers should be allowed to contest the ban if they think they’ve got a strong case, but a disincentive could be to quadruple the ban time if the police decision is upheld which should be fairly obvious if there’s video evidence.
hawkinspeter wrote:
plus they have to rent a bicycle for that period and complete Bikeability before they get the driving licence back!
I ride on this type of road
I ride on this type of road all the time and do everything I can to stay to the left of the line when it i do pick up extra punctures. Yes it marks the road boundary and we should all be able to ride safely on the road but my self preservation trumps any need I might feel to ride on the other side of the line just because we can. Life is precious and I’m safer out the way. I don’t see the point of standing up for our rights if it’s going to get me injured or killed. We all need to use the roads so if I can give heavy vehicles more room I will. As for the punctures, getting home each day makes 5 minute repairs seem very worthwhile.
Probably yes, the driver
Probably yes, the driver probably tried to instruct to use the space behind the white line.
To be honest, I would try to squeeze myself in that space, but I don’t know whether the road narrowed down later as in carlosdsanchez video where he got an very intimitading close pass with no other options left.
Every big vehicle driver should face some close passes from big vehicles under controled conditions before taking driving license
Hate to say it but I saw no
Hate to say it but I saw no malicious intent there in the video… sure it must’ve been nerve wrecking but it is when one rides on an expressway with big trucks and busses…
I don’t see the relevence of
I don’t see the relevence of your comment, malicious intent or not, it still hurts when being driven into by a truck.
What I see is a national speed limit single carriageway road with good visibility, with oncoming traffic. no attempt to adjust the speed of the lorry and wait for a suitable break in traffic to make a safe overtake. the late use of the horn is posssibly a late observation of the rider, or possibly a delinberate attempt to intimidate.
Summary : the cyclists life was in danger because of poor /selfish driving and the politics need to be sorted so that loopholes to enforcment are closed
Careless or reckess driving
Careless or reckess driving do not require intent to exist.
Blackthorne wrote:
Did you miss the bit where the truck driver couldnt be arsed to wait for the opposite carraigeway to be clear before attempting an overtake on a vunerable road user? If not malicious certainly selfish. Also clearly careless driving.
Did you miss the bit where
Did you miss the bit where the truck driver couldnt be arsed to wait…
There are at least 2 bogus posters on this topic, each with a single simple obviously-ridiculous ‘button push’ statement designed to incite outraged response. They’re easy to identify and ignore
Blackthorne wrote:
It’s not an expressway, this isn’t America, it’s a two-lane highway with fairly narrow lanes at that. If you mean by “no malicious intent” that the driver didn’t actually intend to kill the cyclist, well isn’t that good of them! An HGV driver will know exactly the effect driving at high speed close to a bicycle like that will have; sounding the horn as they did demonstrates that they felt the cyclist shouldn’t be there, so we have a situation where someone deliberately close passed a cyclist in a highly dangerous manner, signalling to them that they should get the hell out of the way as they did so. That seems fairly malicious to me.
To be fair to the OP,
To be fair to the OP, Expressway is is a term used in Devon too. although I have no idea if this road is considered one.
Isn’t the M6 toll road called
Isn’t the M6 toll road called the Midlands Expressway?
True! And I have now learned
True! And I have now learned 1) There are loads of expressways. 2) There is a special wiki site dedicated to the UK road network. My work productivity is going to suffer.
Expressway may be a
Expressway may be a description of a roads purpose and design, but it does not designate it differently from any other road where drivers have a responisibility for the safety of vulnerable road users
Not the worst close pass you
Not the worst close pass you’ll ever see… but that whole road looks a bit sketchy to be riding on, I’d certainly try and give it a miss.
It’s the part were they don’t
It’s the part were they don’t slow down, wait till there’s no oncoming traffic, then go into the oncoming lane for the overtake.
A bit difficult to say
A bit difficult to say definitively they didn’t slow down as the closing speed is hard to judge. The driver position, being on the left may also have played a part in the close pass in estimating the room. Not a good pass I agree, but not the worst.
Sometimes there isn’t a
Sometimes there isn’t a choice, unfortunately.
Goes to show that there is no
Goes to show that there is no cultural difference enabling NL’s transport paradise, just good infrastructure. Take away the infra and you take away the safety.
In NL the vast majority of
In NL the vast majority of places where lorries are allowed cycling isn’t (much better alternatives are provided). So Dutch lorry drivers might not be much better in this respect than those in the UK. Of course, in NL the few places where they might interact would be very clearly marked…
Well, trucks are exactly
Well, trucks aren’t exactly banned from all but motorways over here. I can think of plenty examples at home and near work where all that separates me from a truck is a dashed white line.
Indeed (and some of those
Indeed (and some of those cycle lanes there – not paths – offer just as little protection and indeed provoke as little consideration from drivers as they do in the UK).
I was referring to things there being a couple of jumps ahead of the UK. It’s not just “add in some separate cycle lanes on busy roads” (the UK hasn’t got there yet – and don’t ask us about junctions – which is normally where people die under trucks…). It’s ideas like hooftdnetten and “unbundling” / “unravelling” – not just “oh, we have to squeeze in some separate space wherever the cars go now?”
Obviously that is not everywhere – NL is still evolving of course [1] [2]…
In the UK it’s not uncommon to see large trucks all over the place.
Exactly. Queue the many Dutch
Exactly. Queue the many Dutch tourists confronted with cyclists on France’s rural roads for example.
Here in Canada the police can
Here in Canada the police can ticket the owner of a vehicle for any infraction the vehicle is involved in. That’s how photo radar and red light cam tickets are issued.
I’d guess there’s some provision under the UK traffic act to do the same.
Now getting the ticket paid is a potential issue due to jurisdiction, Brexit probably made that more of an issue, but just mailing the ticket to the company sends a message. If they take safety seriously it might actually be addressed with the driver.
Seems like a cop-out (unintentional pun there!).
Cyclist should have kept
Cyclist should have kept their position, instead of letting the lorry eat into it. No need to move into the gutter.
There’s no way I’d be cycling
There’s no way I’d be cycling on that road – it’s just asking for trouble. Just cos we’ve got the right doesn’t make it right; better to go the long way round on quieter roads.
You’re joking right? Unless
You’re joking right? Unless it’s a bridal path there’s very few “quiet” roads and the so called quiet roads are usually used as speed runs for local drivers whom often claim they might as well own the road. Best way to deal with foreign logistics is to charge said offending company more every time they enter the country based on every time they commit an offense….let’s see how long they want to send their known worst delivery drivers over when a company could be pre charged for being a known danger to ALL native road users (as in born here never known other traffic laws). I was closed passed by a Finnish articulated lorry recently (farm delivery on coming so no space for anyone to move out the way safely) and to my surprise they had a sorry sign the driver lit up after they had little choice to pass me and they didn’t speed past either. My response a thumbs up for the courtesy of the cautious pass and the signage…..See it don’t always have to descend into a scene from uk mad max!
This must be the worst
This must be the worst website on the internet.
Gosh. Even worse than
Gosh. Even worse than trollingforbeginners.com?
Is this a technical appraisal
Is this a technical appraisal?
Always ride as far left as
Always ride as far left as practicle. Human mentality is my cock is bigger than yours syndrome. Life of a cyclist is on the line daily. Dealing with this problem for over 50 years. Lost many friends from hit behind. Use a radar light now due to electric Tesla passed me doing fast speed did not hear it at all till it passed me.
There’s plenty of room on the
There’s plenty of room on the left – use it and keep out of the way of faster traffic. Use your mirror to see overtaking traffic and act responsibly; for your own benefit at least.
I do wish road.cc would get
I do wish road.cc would get the comment count back so that it’s easier to distinguish between somebody who is actually a regular user of the website saying something stupid and a one-post-wonder troll.
Have the highway code ever ?
Have you read the highway code ever ?
Spot on.
On a clearly very busy road like this I would be riding next to the white line while watching my mirror to see the approach of large vehicles and reacting to the developing situation.
However, due to the obvious vulnerability of a cyclist on such a busy road I would do my utmost to avoid being on it in the first place.
I’m all too aware that “being in the right” according to the highway code will not stop me being seriously injured or killed.
Utter moron. Cyclists have
Utter moron. Cyclists have the right to be in the middle of the lane, as they should be. Other road users (we’re talking cars here) have the duty to take care not to hit more vulnerable road users, such as cyclists.
Not your best option at all.
Not your best option at all.
You do need to be central at times to increase visibility and deter stupid overtaking. Also this gives you an area on the left to escape into.
The radar gives you enough warning that you can move around the road a bit whilst seeing if they are slowing. Others have commented that a wobbly cyclist is often given more room or time.
Funnily enough if you get a
Funnily enough if you get a speeding ticket etc in any european country you will get a fine sent to you in the UK.
Amazing punishment works one way but not the other.
Because our UK authorities are incompetent?
I m not taking sides here but
I m not taking sides here but why do some cyclists ride in the middle of the road?
Coolkitty wrote:
Why would you be asking that when this cyclist clearly has not ridden in the middle of the lane (not the road, that would involve riding down the white line), even though they have a legal right to do so, but is riding a maximum of 50 cm off the white line delineating the edge of the carriageway?
Coolkitty wrote:
The usual reason for cyclists riding in the middle of the road is that they are about to make a right turn, more often they will ride in the middle of the lane in order to deter motorists from attempting a dangerous overtake.
At a pinch point, where the
At a pinch point, where the road narrows, in a blind bend, to avoid a pothole, to avoid being doored, to deter a senseless or careless overtake, the road splits in L1 and L2 and they want L2.
Also it’s the middle of the *lane*
It’s now explained in the
It’s now explained in the Highway Code. Perhaps you’ve not read it for a while?
This topic is one focus of a
This topic is one focus of a concerted Denial of Sense attack on the site by obvious malicious accounts. Fortunately, most of them seem likely to disappear after 1 or 2 entries
Some appalling trolling
Some appalling trolling comments on this thread. Might take a bit of implimenting, but a way of voting down comments might be a good way to stop this tiresome trolling (why don’t they f*ck back off to Twitter, or whatever Elon calls it now?). A few down votes and the post dissapears and If a user gets too many downvotes, they can’t post.