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news
Near Miss of the Day 686: National Express driver almost squashes cyclist against parked cars
None of the videos featured in our Near Miss of the Day series make for pleasant watching, but now and again we see some particularly shocking examples of dangerous driving – this being a case in point as a National Express coach driver almost squashes a cyclist into parked cars, with the rider reflecting afterwards that “I genuinely thought my wife was going to be a widow.”
Wayne, the road.cc reader who filmed the frightening incident, told us: “It occurred back in Nov, but the response from National Express, though expected and acknowledging the poor standard of driving: didn’t instil confidence that they give a crap!
“The consequence is that I now struggle to ride at night. This is due to my thought that despite me having reflective strips on both ankles and arms, two rear lights and a light on my seat tube shining down to the road giving off an illuminated presence on the road, the ‘Professional’ driver decided it was okay to squash me at a pinch point on the road.
“It was less than a few inches’ gap,” he continued. “I genuinely thought my wife was going to be a widow.
“I caught up with him and let him know how displeased I was at his decision. From the footage just as it got desperate I do agree I could have stopped and avoided the really serious closeness of the pass. I was not aware of the space as by then I had seen red and was kicking the coach with my right foot.
“Happy New Year and please keep up the content,” Wayne added. “Scary and slightly fear inducing it is a necessary evil to show these close pass events as a reflection on what we have to face every day.”
> 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.
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16 comments
National Express will never tell you what action they take, but I've been told by a friend who worked for them that they do tend to sack drivers who are reckless around cyclists. Personally, I'd rather they did a bit of re-training, so you get someone who drives safely round all vulnerable road users, rather than a sacked former bus driver zooming around in his car and resenting cyclists for losing him his job.
No indication of the obvious offence being reported to the police. Without that, we get nowhere and NMoTD 1000 will arrive with no improvement. It's a waste of time reporting to the employer- they talk the talk, but in reality do nothing. Of course, the police do nothing either, but you have a record of informing them.
Utterly crass driving, and it would be interesting to hear what the company said; did they say he would be re-trained, that he had been re-assigned to desk work, that they'd fired him, or what? At the very least it should have been a final written warning, so that repetition would be instant dismissal.
Anyone driving like that in a 'professional' capacity should have their licence revoked indefinitely.
That was shockingly bad, but no more than I have come to expect fron National Express staff, who genuinely seem to think they can drive with wild abandon.
Another one for the traffic commissioners, as well as the Police.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/traffic-commissioners
Another one for the traffic commissioners, as well as the Police
The Traffic Commissioners would just ignore it
What do you say this?
More likely to act than the police is, judging by cases I've seen
And how does this claimed 'action' get onto his legal driving record? It doesn't!
It may not go on the individual driver license, but it does go on the employer record.
Complaints against professional drivers are also complaints against the employer and will count when it's time to renew the Operators License.
If the TCO is made aware of the complaint, and if there are sufficient complaints, they will investigate the company ... And if the company is found lacking, they have the power to remove the licence and shut them down.
In most industry, this kind of near-miss would be a RIDDOR; but because it's on the road its not. Reporting to the TCO can have the same effect as a RIDDOR.
Sadly, you may be right, but the more complaints the TC's get, the more they may become aware of their duties and of the scale of the problems faced by vulnerable road users. (I know...should they even be in the job if they 're not.)
The driving was awful and the driver needs to be retrained.
Cyclist seemed to be in the door zone before the coach appeared - cycling out of the zone would have helped deter an overtake.
I agree wholeheartedly. When there are traffic islands, ride right of central to prevent anyone from squeezing you from the lane.
Yup. Traffic islands are the absolute worst. And a road full of intermittent traffic islands is a complete nightmare - you essentially have the choice of EITHER being safe and being (perceived as, by drivers) an arse, OR being 'helpful' and taking your life in your hands - 'cos for certain some idiot will try and squeeze through a gap that doesn't exist!
Perfect example (wtjs will no doubt agree), the A6 north of Broughton up to Garstang. Horrible!
There's a traffic island on a road near my house which is the scene of many a terrible overtake. Drivers seem to panic and accelerate to get ahead the cut across you going into it if you're riding primary, and if you're in the gutter then they just ignore that you're there.
I reported this driver (happened to have my phone out), who accelerated to pass this adult and child and ended up squeezing them into the kerb. The picture doesn't quite show it but he was incredibly close to them, to the point that i thought he was going to hit them.
Looks like everyone's headed for the Chapel, some via the Railway Station , and some via the undertakers.