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news
NMotD 884Near Miss of the Day 884: Driver overtakes cyclist on brow of hill towards oncoming car
Update: Thames Valley Police has told road.cc that the incident is still under investigation, and that the complainant will be notified of the outcome once they have reached a conclusion.
*The original article from 5 January 2023 follows*
Despite years of cycling on the road, incidents like this have not become any less frightening for this rider from Buckinghamshire, whose life was endangered by an overtaking driver who chose to close pass him on the brow of a hill, with an oncoming car from the other side, and the presence of a solid white line on the road indicating it's not safe to overtake.
This submission is from Darryl, who was close passed last year in September, as he was cycling towards Pitstone in Buckinghamshire. Although he reported it to Thames Valley Police, he told road.cc that he hasn't heard anything back from them, indicating that the force had probably failed to conclude that a motoring offence has occurred.
"The video shows a typical incident between cyclist and motorist unfortunately," he said. "I was cycling towards Pitstone in Buckinghamshire and even though there was an oncoming car, solid white line and the brow of a hill, I was passed very closely by a vehicle.
"I was lucky that I heard him approaching and instinct caused me to move quickly to the left as the driver would have probably hit me. I know many will suggest that I should have been cycling more in the centre of the road, but after years of cycling sometimes it's difficult to change habits.
"I'm disappointed in the standard of driving generally but also that no action was taken by the police for what I consider to be appalling driving."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted by road.cc for comment.
> 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 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
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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11 comments
"I know many will suggest that I should have been cycling more in the centre of the road, but after years of cycling sometimes it's difficult to change habits."
I think it's much harder to be more when going uphill with the increased speed difference. The rider was far enough out to allow an escape left.
Maybe only with radar could most happily ride more central.
Which is exactly why I ride with my Garmin Varia at all times. If I know a road is a vulnerable point like brows of hills etc I will take primary. I also make my GoPro very obvious to cars behind. I'm not trying to be a cam warrior but just as speed cameras are meant to act as a deterrent so is my cam.
The other thing is that people still overtake in situations like this where its just a roll of the dice so sitting in the middle of the lane would just mean those people overtake anyway and there is even less of a margin for error if something is coming in the other direction. The number of people I have overtake me on blind corners and crests of hills is astonishing. If I was centre of the lane I believe many of them would still do it.
With radar, you can sit in the middle - with a garmin and an app, you can see the speed and distance that they approach. Then you have plenty of room left to escape into, plus time for a wiggle to try and get their attention.
Riding central can require nerves of steel, this is from a couple of years ago:
https://road.cc/content/news/nmotd-737-overtaking-van-driver-beeps-swerves-cyclist-291355
A similar situation, but where I'd taken a central position in the lane to prevent a close pass. I held position as a van raced up behind beeping their horn, the wide angle camera lens doesn't really do their high approach speed and late braking justice. It certainly got the adrenalin surging and I was contemplating having to dive onto the verge. At least the deliberate close pass that ensued was at a lower speed and I had the space to swerve left.
I was disappointed that the driver only received a warning for this. However, I do think Thames Valley Police have got their act together since then and they've recently been doing a much better job of holding aggressive and dangerous drivers to account.
It's good to hear TVP have responded to road.cc and it seems Darryl's case may result in some justice being served.
I've just had a phone call from TVP with some feedback regarding a close pass report I made at the end of June. That driver has been fined and given points (in their absence as they didn't turn up to the court hearing at the end of December).
I think 6 months is the general timescale for these things. Perhaps Darryl's submission is still in the pipeline.
I've got to thank TVP for taking this report through to prosecution. They do seem to be one of the better forces for dealing with dash/bikecam submissions.
Any chance you could get this on NMOTD. I could do with some motivation. I haven't heard anything from Gloucestershire regarding my 20 submissions in the last year.
This is since they started using Opsnap. Before that I used to get immediate feedback on all my reports.
Possibly, although the officer warned that the case might not be over yet. As they were a fail to show at court, sometimes when the letter drops informing them of the points and fine, they contact the courts with an excuse as to why they couldn't attend and put in an appeal.
This is since they started using OpSnap. Before that I used to get immediate feedback on all my reports
That is the intention of OpSnap: to bin as much as possible, with as little tiresome effort and as soon as possible- and to deter by lack of action and feedback. Admittedly, Lancashire has taken this policy to extremes, but even the less radical forces (I'm not using 'radical' in a good way- more the 'Sod them, Bin it' way) seem to be employing delay and lack of feedback as weapons to dispirit the less determined victims
The worst kind of road.
A or B road, national limit, not wide enough for a safe overtake.
And a dangerous, clueless, dozy driver.
With, by the look of it, verge space for a reasonably separate mobility lane.
I admit I don't cycle on things like that.
That one needs at least one step beyond what Wales has done - a steep reduction in national speed limit to perhaps 40mph, and 30mph on narrow roads (but that may not apply here).
And then a basic requirement / assumption that alternative mobility infra be available.
An illustration of how far we have to go.
I've submitted a handful of close pass videos to TVP. Some I've had feedback for, others not. One did result in a prosecution, another a driving course and another potentially going to court. Feedback has tended to be in the form of a letter, some months after the submission.
To be fair to them, they do act on some submissions. But it would be an improvement if some feedback could be given at an earlier stage. An incident like this can be quite traumatic, not hearing anything back leaves you wondering and extends the time taken to get over it.