Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Near Miss of the Day 633: Motorist impatient with cyclist waiting at red light decides to go through it himself

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Somerset...

Everyone knows that all cyclists jump red lights – or at least, you could be forgiven for reaching that conclusion if your experience was limited to reading replies to Jeremy Vine’s social media threads, or the comments beneath local newspaper stories about people on bikes.

So here’s hoping (most likely in vain) that the latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series comes to the attention of people who post such generalised claptrap online.

We’ll let road.cc reader Andrew, who sent us the video, take up the story: “Not quite a near miss, but whilst out for a morning ride in Wells, Somerset, I stopped at a red light,” he said.

“This van came up behind me and the driver hooted at me because I didn't go through the obviously red traffic light.

“I turned and pointed out the obvious. He then decided to overtake me, going through an adjacent red traffic light settling once and for all the age-old debate over who really goes through red traffic lights.”

> 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

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Latest Comments