Our latest Near Miss of the Day video, submitted by a reader in West Yorkshire, shows the moment an impatient van driver earned the self-inflicted double whammy of damaging their vehicle while trying to squeeze past a cyclist on a narrow country lane, before then receiving a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) through the door from the county’s police force…
On the plus side, from the motorist’s perspective, West Yorkshire Police opted to let this person take a place on a Safe and Considerate Driving (SCD) course, rather than something more punishing to wallet or driving licence.
*Please note: Video contains strong language*
“The driver of this Peugeot Partner van close passed me on Stairfoot Lane, Adel, Leeds back in August 2023,” road.cc reader Bikery, who also uploads videos to their YouTube channel, recalled.
“In doing so he hit a large rock in the banking on the right hand side of the road damaging his wheel or tyre, and probably the bodywork. The sound of the impact scared the shit out of me and for a split second I thought the van was going to roll into me off the banking.
“I submitted the video to West Yorkshire Police who sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution to the owner/driver and from checking on the West Yorkshire Police OpSnap website I believe the driver was offered a Safe and Considerate Driving (SCD) course by West Yorkshire Police for the offence RT88576 Driving Without Consideration to Other Road Users.
“The West Yorkshire Police OpSnap team do an excellent job prosecuting drivers who close pass cyclists in the area.”
> 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
24 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 893: Impatient driver damages van while trying to squeeze past cyclist on narrow country lane”
I couldn’t agree more with
I couldn’t agree more with the cyclist’s sentiments. Spot on! The driver is a pillock and will regret his impatience.
ymm wrote:
I would wager that the driver’s version of the story, told down the pub, is how a bl00dy cyclist “made” him damage his van
No part of bike visible in
No part of bike visible in video so not a close pass according to Thames Valley Police!!
Instant karma, with second
Instant karma, with second helpings too.
Love how he just carries on,
Love how he just carries on, no drama, leaving van driver to stew in their own juice.
Top class commentary
Top class commentary
“The Gutter Sucker” so apt!
“The Gutter Sucker” so apt!
Perhaps they’ll now understand why cyclists don’t like riding in the gutter.
Quote:
I think they might have been better offering the driver a Looking Out for Rocks while Driving (LORD) course.
(I tried to backronym a course name for ROFL, but couldn’t get one).
Road Observation For
Road Observation For Lunkheads?
The ‘L’ could be improved on but close
Losers, Loons?
Losers, Loons?
So lucky the van was not
So lucky the van was not caused to diviate into the cyclist by hitting the rock.
Not certain this qualifies as
Not certain this qualifies as a close pass. Seems like the van was trying to make a wide pass and in doing so, ran over something. Foolish? Certainly. Dangerous? Well, we all know plenty of drivers would choose protecting their vehicle over protecting a cyclist, so the fact he hit a rock RATHER than the biker at least puts them above some. Hope he (I am going to go ahead and assume the driver is male) takes the right lesson from this.
The test of a close pass is
The test of a close pass is whether or not it was close – and this one was.
Squidfish wrote:
A Peugeot Partner van is a minimum of 180 cm wide and judging by the screenshot below the road certainly couldn’t fit two of them abreast, the road must be 3 m wide maximum. The cyclist will be 30 cm or so out from the edge and will be about 50 cm wide, so even with the van going off road on the right hand side when overtaking, there can’t be more than 50 cm between the van and cyclist as they pass, ergo it is definitely a close pass.
I agree with all that, and
I agree with all that, and you can even add a bit for width of the cyclist.
LTN 1/20 (para 5.2.1) says it is 0.8m at the shoulders, and the dynamic kinetic envelope of a moving cyclist is 1m.
Squidfish wrote:
You see this is the issue, a close pass is a close pass. There is no caveat. If you can’t overtake and give someone enough space then its not a safe pass and shouldn’t be attempted.
In this case they could easily have been bumped back into the road by the rock or generally swerved as a result. They should have waited the 20s to pass safely and didn’t.
But but this was a hill, so
But but this was a hill, so the cyclist was going even slower than normal. So the driver had to pass (otherwise they’d undershoot the minimum speed limit and someone would drive into them, or the clutch would burn out, or they’d be 30 seconds late, or in some other way the world would end).
Snark aside we shouldn’t ever
Snark aside we shouldn’t ever be surprised. Everything from training* through road design (tend to be straight, wide, sweeping turns etc) to social pressure** is reinforcing the feeling that you definitely should not stop on the road and not going at the indicated limit at all times is wrong also.
* I recall my extremely thorough and pedantic driving instructor impressing on me the need to “make progress” where safe to do so.
** “Don’t hold people up” or “get in their way” (cyclists! We always are!) – and you’ll get very quick notice e.g. horn used if others feel you’re doing so.
I recall it was quite
I recall it was quite possible to fail your driving test if you didn’t drive to the limit when possible.
.
.
And – after waiting, and then finally overtaking the cyclist – they would not be able to put their foot down for – what? – five seconds, and so gain back the massive amount of time that they had lost whilst being ‘held up’.
.
How does a NIP turn into an
How does a NIP turn into an SCD course?
I thought they were mutually exclusive. Has WY police found a way?
If I have understood it
If I have understood it correctly the police have to issue a NIP within a certain amount of time for the registered keeper to identify the driver. If they fail to do this the driver cannot be prosecuted.
For speeding the police will then decide whether to issue a FPN or offer a speed awareness course for speeds below 10% + 9mph otherwise its court. A speed awareness course can only be offered if you have not been caught speeding for 3 years.
I assume it’s a similar system for a SCD course but with a range of offences rather than speeds.
These are only guidelines as far as I can make out and some forces (mentioning no names) may just take no further action even after a NIP has been issued. Not in the public interest seems to be one reason given.
I have seen it claimed that the police prefer courses as the revenue goes to them rather than the government. The cost to the offender is broadly similar but you don’t get the points.
mattw wrote:
An NIP is only a Notice of Intended Prosecution, prosecution (i.e. going to court) may not occur if the police decide to make the driver a conditional offer of FPN or Safety Awareness Course (and they accept). The only outcome that the issuing of an NIP precludes is a warning letter.
I’ve watched this video two
I’ve watched this video two days running. It warms the cockles of my heart.