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news
Video: Slow-moving driver forces cyclist off the road on Woodhead Pass
A cyclist who was out riding with his partner in the Pennines on Saturday has filmed the moment a motorist pulled up slowly alongside him and tried to force him into the verge at the side of the road.
NB - As mentioned in several comments, there is an issue with the datestamp on the video; for the sake of clarity it was filmed on Saturday 17 October 2020 at approximately 2pm.
The footage shared on YouTube by road.cc reader Karl-Eric, begins with him tapping him on the side of a Kia car as the driver squeezes him towards the verge, the cyclist saying, “You've got to give me more space than that, you can't do that!”
He told road.cc: “I am Belgian. This is relevant as the attitude to cyclists is slightly different there and I have learnt to bike on the road by using 'my space' (aka about an arm length from the gutter). When doing group rides in the UK, I've noticed that the other riders are often closer to the gutter than I would deem safe.
“I am a seasoned cyclist I already rode over 5,000km this year so far. I do a fair bit of off-road biking on my gravel bike – mainly due to the Tiles Explorer aspect of VeloViewer.
“I was with my partner, she has started cycling again about 18 months ago and she has some confidence issues. She should end the year with having ridden over 2,000km.
“The ride in question ... We'd just got a hard to get, off-road Tile, hence we had our CX tyres on. This is relevant as when 'attacked' by the car I knew I could always go in the gutter with no risk.”
Karl-Eric explained that his action camera was turned off for the initial part of the encounter with the Kia driver, but he turned it on as things began to escalate.
“As we were riding back, I noticed that my partner who was behind me was leading a long line of cars,” he said, “the first one being way too close for comfort. She was cycling between the cat’s eyes and the side of the road, uphill. Remember she is a fairly new cyclist and has confidence issues. I decided to let her pass on the inside to 'protect' her from the pressure of the nearest car.
“As I moved into the road (no car there at that time) to let her pass, the driver of the car that was behind her overtook her, came to my side and started to shout at me (I couldn't hear anything as the windows were closed!).
“They were getting very close to me. I was asking them to move away and indicating the same with my right arm. My partner was impressed that I never swore!
“The driver came closer to me – the wing mirror of the car being near my cockpit, so I pushed it in.
“This is the first time the car pushed me out of the road. I tried to 'push him away' by knocking his wing mirror again. The driver stopped, stepped out of the car and was shouting at me.
“I was not going to engage with him so, using my CX tyres, I rode on the side of the road and carried on back on it in front of the vehicle. I also turned on my Cycliq Fly12 camera.”
“He came again and you can see the footage. On the rest of the footage, you can see that car later, on a lay-by, waiting for us. Thank God he moved away before we got to there – I am not sure my partner would have biked past him.
“At the time, my partner was very shaken and only wanted to get out of that road and stop cycling. She felt better after a bit of pootling along the Trans Pennine Trail and a coffee/cake in Penistone.
“I was fuming. I will not let a bully, bully me out of the road! As long as it is safe (and I did think it was given the speed and the usable space to my left – thank God for CX tyres!) I will stand up to bullies.
“Since then I have had restless nights ... trying to get closure. Have I overreacted when I pushed his wing mirror?
“I have contacted the police but apparently, this bit of road is owed between Manchester police, West Yorkshire Police, Derbyshire police and South Yorkshire Police.
“I have got great support from South Yorkshire Police but it is not really their 'responsibility'. I have also contacted the insurance company of the driver to alert them of his dangerous driving.
I want to insist that this driver is not representative of all drivers,” he added. “The next three cars stopped and asked my partner how she felt.
“(When she saw what was happening she stopped cycling). Most cars on that road give you ample space when overtaking you. You just need one to spoil a ride though.”
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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70 comments
As a local to the area and a cyclist you are brave for cycling on that road. I would never take someone who is low on confidence on it unless you like lorries barrelling past you at 60mph around corners.
Aboslute no need for the Kia's actions though.
What are alternative routes like in that area?
hardly any and not much better than Woodhead pass
Trans Pennine Trail - can get a bit muddy for a road bike, but fine on CX tyres. And the B6105 north out of Glossop is a cracking road. You still have to do a bit of the Woodhead Pass, but you miss the worst of it.
I have done the TpT between longdendale and Dunsford Bridget a few times, on my CX bike and it is not easy, even in dry weather. Not really an option.
In any case, I think it is beside the point - as a cyclist I should be completely safe biking on the A628
That bit is definitely Derbyshire. S York's starts near the summit, after the Dunford Bridge turn off. Hideous road to ride but little alternative if you come from Holme Moss and want to ride back to W Yorks/Holmfirth area. But there were many examples of exemplary passes, including massive wagons. It's a wide road with good straight sections and visibility. Police should stop messing him about and get on with it before Mr Kia kills someone.
Let's also focus on this!!
Yes, I think most of us know 99% *of drivers are careful and courteous. But if 1% * are massive tossers like Mr Kia and, as a regular rider, you get passed by 100 cars etc a day, that's 1 near death experience a day. Which is why we end up focusing on the tossers.
*All quoted figures are 'approximate'
So, I'm a bit confused... who's responsibility is it to identify which force is responsible for this stretch of road? It sounds very much like that responsibility is being offloaded to the victim.
That in itself needs a complaint going in somewhere.
Good luck
There is not much point in having a camera if it is not turned on and most of the action in this incident happened off camera. The driver will simply claim the cyclist deliberately impeded him along with a whole load of other accusations and there is no proof either way without witness statements. The police almost invariably side with the driver in conflicts of this type. There isn't a cat's chance in hell of any prosecution based on this footage although the driver is obviously driving without due care and attention.
I get your point and have often seen the worst incidents when camera out of battery or space
However, whatever went before this video, clearly the drivers actions to a more vulnerable road user are unbelievable!!!
Obvious and not helpful.
I'm sure the victim wishes it was on earlier as well, but since it appears to be a pissy wet evening after an off-road section it's understandable that it wasn't.
So apart from making the victim feel even worse with your comment than he did beforehand what did your comment achieve?
It would be nice if these threads confined themselves to constructive critisms. At least the troll twins have disappeared I guess.
The point I made was that reporting this to the police is a waste of time.
Believe it or not it was about lunch time in glorious Yorkshire (or Derbyshire apparently 🤷♂️) weather!
If someone has a camera they should have it turned on for road riding or what is the point in having it.
I have a Fly6 and the battery lasts for a few of my rides - I really only charge it once a week.
What footage there is should be enough for the cops to act.
Pub test? Without due care and attention despite guilt pleas to avoid more serious charges implies errors of judgement not deliberate and dangerous intimidation...even if the cyclist tried to force kia off the road before the filming started (not?) the actions of the driver are deliberate and repeated and have dangerous intent
Obviously there is no excuse for the driving but the police will not see it that way.
DId you watch the first 10 seconds of the video?
Why do you think the Police will do absolutely nothing ?
I thought I explained that. The police normally require 2 minutes of footage prior to the incident and 2 minutes after. That isn't the case here. I have been using cameras for 8 years and have reported dozens and dozens of drivers. I have also made complaints to the police via my MP and the Police and Crime Commissioner amongst others. Some forces are a lot better than others but most police officers are on the side of the motorist. In this case the cyclist doesn't have the required footage and hadn't even identified the correct police force.
The police normally require 2 minutes of footage prior to the incident and 2 minutes after.
They will normally try this dodge- it's just a number they have made up to be more than they think you have. Don't let them get away with it! It has no basis in law- it's just a standard dodge. You have to keep complaining- the mark of sucess is prosecutions or, at a push, driving courses. Anything less is equivalent to 'no further action'
You are right. The police just make up rules with no basis in law in order to avoid prosecuting motorists but can you refer me to any camera cyclist who has made a successful complaint against the police?
can you refer me to any camera cyclist who has made a successful complaint against the police?
No, but I have forced a change from 'no further action because it was only a momentary loss of concentration' to the joke driving course, and I have about 15 court hearings pending. I have also exposed the futility of complaining to the police about the police when the Detective Sergeant excused the PC for NFA over a gross case of crossing right over the unbroken white line at speed approaching a blind humpback bridge, because there was no confirmatory video from the offending vehicle- my video was Grade A. The police have no shame about giving really stupid excuses, but this notion of insisting the offender confirms the offence is the most shameful so far. I will soon be recounting this ludicrous excuse to my MP, when I can put several ignored cases together.
I once forced a change from Wiltshire Police but never from any other force. If you have 15 court hearings pending I'm guessing you don't live in the Thames Valley or Hampshire. It is a postcode lottery at the moment but there are signs of improvement so I would love to be proved wrong.
Do you recommend I contact my MP?
I think the more complaints the better but don't expect any positive results. My MP agreed with my complaint and suggested the Commissioner was contacted. We had a meeting and the Commissioner said I'll see what I can do but don't expect too much. The police just wrote a completely dismissive letter and the Commissioner was happy with that.
The police just wrote a completely dismissive letter and the Commissioner was happy with that.
PCCs are a waste of space at the best of times, and are essentially a branch of the police. You can tell because Lancashire Constabulary has just hived off the final stage of the 'complaints against the police' from the Chief Constable to the PCC. It's just to engender more delay.
No , not really although you did say that "the driver is obviously driving without due care and attention" In England there are various forces which have different policies int his and in any case, x minutes before/after is not law.
There was at least one other witness to the incident. Also you don't know what other complaints have been previously made about the driver. In Essex, they take account of previously reported incidents that didn't meet the threshold when assessing the current complaint. I'd say it's a bit early to say nfa.
The cars beind the idiot driving like a wanker stopped and asked if the cyclists were OK. They would make great witnesses.
If this video of shocking and deliberately dangerous behaviour is not good enough evidence for a prosecution, then nothing is. There is no way you can ever justify this sort of driving.
Obvously they would make great witnesses but there is nothing to indicate that their details were taken. Of course you can't justify this type of driving but that won't stop police officers from doing so.
If their reg is caught on the footage that might help? I used that to get a witness (well, it was actually a name and number on a van), which got Wiltshire Police, who don't normally take camera footage at all, to act.
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