Our latest Near Miss of the Day video shows, not for the first time, a BMW driver making a very close and very fast pass on a cyclist – the vehicle in question having apparently changed hands just last month.
It happened last Saturday in Warwickshire and was sent in by road.cc reader Joel, who told us: “The BMW’s last logbook change was in late September.
“I’m guessing that someone got a kick out of blasting past a cyclist with centimetres to spare on their new wheels.
“As often i didn’t feel it was necessarily obvious from the footage just how close this guy came – so I added a couple of on-screen notes to highlight my position in the road in relation to this driver.”
He added: “I only submitted this yesterday, but since I already know that Warwickshire Police don’t bother responding to any of these reports I think I can be fairly confident of the outcome again.”
> 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">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
46 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 482: BMW driver in high-speed close pass”
Ah that looks like the A426..
Ah that looks like the A426.. that’s one of those roads I try and avoid where possible, last time I was on it, we were almost taken out by a bloke towing a boat, beeping and being impatient, then intimidating close behind, only to overtake and swing in early so we had to take evasive action to avoid being pushed off the road by the boat trailer.. only to go about 500 yards up the road and pull into Draycote Water and sit in a queue of other cars & boats. We did have some angry words with him.
Good for you – how did it go?
Good for you – how did it go? (One day I’m going to find or at least hear about a motorists who actually says “oh, I’m really sorry mate…”)
Years ago an old woman turned
Years ago an old woman turned right in front of me into a side road. I yelled at her – she stopped and apologised having not thought I was going as fast as I was.
This morning I got hooted at
This morning I got hooted at by the driver of a Tesco HGV.
I never actually saw the back of the lorry, but I imagine it had a “don’t pass this vehicle on the inside” sticker.
Here’s the thing: he overtook me. Specifically, he passed me without looking far enough ahead to see the pedestrian refuge and the queue of cars. So, he slowly went past me then had to stop before he’d finished passing me. I kept going, hoping he was going to look before moving toward the kerb.
Luckily, he did, noiced me level with the side of his cab, and hooted his horn, presumably thinking that’d slipped up his inside like a Bl00dy Cyclist…
(I wonder if he had even noticed that I was there when he’d started passing me…).
Suprisingly not a long wait
Suprisingly not a long wait then! I did the same to a trailer tower, few months back, old guy towing a HUGE caravan and very wide. After a chat about the inches pass he gave me, I & he realised that he had no idea, was very apologetic and agreed he wasn’t used to pulling it. I can count chats like that on the fingers of one hand though.
It is indeed. I’m not on it
It is indeed. I’m not on it all that often – and in this case only to hop between the road out of Grandborough and the one into Leamington Hastings.
I do enjoy the occasional blast down from Dunchurch up to Draycote – can get a very decent speed up down that hill, and/or a good leg-stretch doing it the other way. But on the whole if I’m heading past that way I’ll go round Draycote itself – there’s a way in from Coventry Road that avoids the A426 altogether, and it’s such a beautiful place to cycle round it’s even worth adding to the journey to do so (spotted five herons going round it last week ..)
To be honest when I have gone on it, I haven’t had much trouble usually … unlike if I go out the other way and hit the A5 …
Crossing a solid line as well
Crossing a solid line as well…..
However, I did smile at the fact that the friendly hand gesture was also caught on camera.
I’d be disappointed if the
I’d be disappointed if the police didn’t follow it up for the white line infringement. The HC couldn’t be clearer on that and in one short clip 4 clear breaches, more importantly the drivers are happy to cross the white line without any hesitation. It’s almost like they are totally unfamiliar with the regulation.
But, but, but,
But, but, but,
They are licenced, which to obtain they have passed a tesdt, and therefore have knowledge of the Highway Code.
And having insurance and licence plates they abide by every rule within.
I actually find roads with solid white line to be far scarier than those without, the solid white line makes them do weird things.
You’re right of course. There
You’re right of course. There are a couple of extended stretches near me, actually on a B road, where I feel, and am happier, that safe overtaking is possible. If a driver does hangs back, follows the HC and waits until it’s safe to overtake then I’m holding my breath waiting for the idiots behind him that won’t show the same level of patience and competance and will immediately close pass me. I’m sure we’ve all had that experience it’s like a damn bursting as a stream of drivers rush to keep up with the convoy regardless of what might be coming in the other direction.
I feel exactly the same, some
I feel exactly the same, some of the worst stretches of road for close passes near me are double whites.
It’s got to the point that I just don’t ride some of them unless it’s a weekend (Or a lockdown).
IanMK wrote:
Well…You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less. (Rule 129) It’s hard to tell what speed the rider is doing but as he’s building up momentum and going uphill it doesn’t look far off 10 mph, so the first driver could certainly claim justification. I’d far sooner drivers used that law than close pass me in the way that Beemer did, which is, obviously, inexcusable.
True and I’m not familiar
True and I’m not familiar with the road. However, most of the drivers that overtook him barley lifted the accelerator so they equally have no idea what speed he was going. I think that I was merely suggesting given the potential multiple infractions, specifically in the close pass, that the Police should really take it seriously.
it would be interesting to
it would be interesting to see the front facing view for the last 2 that crossed the white line, the visibility over the brow of the hill must have been pretty limited
Rule 129 is another stupid
Rule 129 is another stupid rule where an arbitary speed has been added. A bit like the ‘leave as much room as you would when passing a car’ – the HYC is not fit for purpose.
I think we all know that whether the cyclist was doing more or less than 16km/h is irrelevent. Close passes are done those who dislike cyclists and/or a few who think they aren’t allowed to cross the solid white lines at all. A careful driver pass safely, end of.
I had a look – it’s not
I had a look – it’s not actually the brow of a hill ahead – in that the road doesn’t dip when you get to the top of the rise – it turns a fairly gentle left hand bend.
Certainly the last overtaker would have had a good view of the road ahead including beyond the bend, especially once they’d pulled out.
The last but one maybe less so, but I think probably still pretty safe to pass me. But probably not if e.g. instead of me it was a car doing 40-50mph, which would have taken longer to pass and would have been nearer the bend by the time they were passing it.
Whether or not the rider was
Whether or not the rider was doing 10mph or more, the driver of the blue Subaru did at least hang back and passed at a reasonable distance. The rider was likely doing more than 10mph when the driver of the white car at the end of the clip overtook, but this person also gave plenty of space. But the BMW driver just didn’t give a shit. It’d be a real pity if the cops didn’t take action against the BMW driver.
Fully agree. Also, looking
Fully agree. Also, looking at the wording of Rule 129, it is not beyond argument that the 10mph relates only to the road maintenace vehicle – and that could make sense given that they are by far the largest of the list and therefore if they are moving at, say, 20mph then it is less likely to be feasible to get round, past and in again safely on the type of road that is marked in this way.
Caveat – I haven’t looked at the actual legislation, which may be clearer.
I would also note that, certainly at the beginning of this section of road, I see no reason that it would not be safe to pass a cyclist or horse-rider well over the line if the road ahead is clear.
Velo-drone wrote:
I had a look and it is clearer. Also includes a horse being *led* at more than 10mph – can’t imagine that’s a frequent occurrence!
I’d be worried about the road
I’d be worried about the road maintenance vehicle moving at 10mph while not in use. I certainly wouldn’t want to risk trying to pass it.
I assume Joel was going more
I assume Joel was going more than 10mph.
Anyway, the main question
Anyway, the main question from that clip was did he get the play list from the forum post about cycling music the other day?
Good question. But nope. I
Good question. But nope. I have a long-standing cycling playlist that used to power me through the commute in London – but is now more in use to prevent me missing the start of the directions from Komoot, which tend to get dropped if I don’t have something playing to provide a constant Bluetooth signal to the speaker.
I doubt that you’ll get much
I doubt that you’ll get much interest from the police for drivers going over the solid white lines. My interpretation is that the solid white line rule is for the benefit of oncoming traffic so it’s not particularly relevant when vehicles overtake you and cross over it. I’ve had more interest from the police when I’ve submitted a close pass where the driver didn’t cross over the solid white line.
Yup, the white line thing is
Yup, the white line thing is one where the police could legitimately classify you as a witness – and file it in the “witness” box.
but its a slam dunk
but its a slam dunk prosecution for them,they just have to fill in the paper work, its not a subjective assessment like a close pass, its a factual evidence based assessment, its not like they even have to go down the rabbit hole of motor racing track limits and tie themselves up in knots about how far over the white line actually counts.
around my way, solid white line sections of roads are there to prevent people from overtaking on roads where you cant see ahead far enough to judge a safe overtake, so the benefit for oncoming traffic is they dont end up in near head on collisions with someone too impatient to wait for their sightlines to improve, which seems quite an important road safety statement.
part of me always dreads riding on roads like that, not because Ill be overtaken/close passed, thats just a given, but because one of these days the next oncoming vehicle will be just that few seconds closer on the road and Ill be in the box seat to watch a completely unnecessary collision with a combined impact speed of at least 80mph, which will likely result in serious injuries to the occupants of those vehicles.
Not a slam dunk if the driver
Not a slam dunk if the driver can argue they didn’t know the cyclist’s speed – didn’t that crop up in a nmotd or a wtjs comment ?
Your last para – I worry I am going to get caught up in the crash as colateral.
I’d argue that if the car
I’d argue that if the car driver did not establish the speed of the cyclist before overtaking, that equates to proof that they were in the wrong.
I see the ‘do not cross a double white line to overtake unless overtaking something travelling under 10mph’, as a way to provide a sense of reasonability around a pretty objective rule. i.e. this enables people to avoid getting stuck for excessively long periods behind a very slow moving vehicle.
So, in the instance where a car has overtaken without at least first slowing to the speed of the vehicle they need to overtake, they have not been held up at all, so therefore should not have overtaken across the double white lines.
The right conduct should be…. double white lines, slow to wait behind slower moving vehicle until either the double white lines end, or you establish that the vehicle is travelling below 10mph. In this case you can look at opportunities to safely overtake.
Now without filmed evidence, none of the above is provable, however when there is coverage of a vehicle overtaking without slowing, that could, and IMO should, be classed as a slam dunk.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
So I guess they could ask the cyclist, except the cyclist is not required to know.
The law is an ass if it requires motorists to know the speed of a cyclist, whilst accepting that the cyclist does not.
Well it isn’t in reality that
Well it isn’t in reality that hard – you slow down until you are keeping pace with the cycle/horse-rider/maintenance vehicle. Then you look at your speedometer.
But I do think that aspect of the rule is more relevant to other motor vehicles than to cyclists/horse riders.
Velo-drone wrote:
Do you know how much it costs a BMW driver in wear and tear on his/her brakes, clutch and engine to slow down to the cyclists speed and then accelerate to his/her imaginary speed limit?<sarcasm off>
Sriracha wrote:
Is it an ass though? Why is the cyclists legal obligation (or not) to know their speed any relevance at all to this scenario? I’m saying from a video evidence perspective, if the driver does not slow down to the speed of the vehicle, they can not have assessed whether a pass was legal. The actual speed of the vehicle they are coming up behind is irrelevant in this situation.
Sriracha wrote:
But the car is obliged to have a speedometer fitted…
It’s the driver’s
It’s the driver’s responsibility to obey the law. It is not permissible to overtake another road user that is going in excess of 10mph.
And that’s it.
Whether the rider is aware of their own speed is hardly pertinent – after all, it’s not like the driver is going to ask them…..
If in doubt, do nowt….
Captain Badger wrote:
It’s the driver’s responsibility to obey the law. It is not permissible to overtake another road user that is going in excess of 10mph.
And that’s it.
Whether the rider is aware of their own speed is hardly pertinent – after all, it’s not like the driver is going to ask them…..
If in doubt, do nowt….— Sriracha
I think the law states something slightly different. It is not permissble to cross the solid white lines to overtake another road user doing more than 10mph. Personally I would rather they crossed the line if I was doing 15-20, than tried to pass me without crossing the line.
they can argue, but its their
they can argue, but its their obligation to be compliant with that rule, so its down to them to prove they checked properly. if not thats driving without due care & attention 🙂
look we all know with a number of rules in the highway code that motorists arent judging whether they should or shouldnt overtake a cyclist based on the the rules they should be following, they just see cyclist and go got to overtake now, but that doesnt mean we should just accept that situation, or not push back against it.
and if we arent prepared to do that, whats even the point of submitting a close pass?
I wish I could find the post
I wish I could find the post/topic, but I thought the police response in that one was the driver couldn’t know the cyclist’s speed.
Or would it turn out to be another one where if you submit a foi, they say “we have no such policy”.
The law says the pedal cycle
The law says the pedal cycle has to be travelling more than 10mph. They have a witness for that namely the cyclist. Slam Dunk ?
Awavey wrote:
Not a slam dunk in the slightest, unfortunately. There’s no proof of what speed the cyclist was doing and if it was 10 mph the drivers are allowed to cross the white line to overtake under Rule 129. The BMW should be done for, ironically, not going far enough over the white line, though a good brief can make all sorts of play with perspective etc. However if the police can be bothered they could easily get him/her by measuring the width of the lane and the width of the car to show how much space the cyclist really had.
To be clear, I reported this
To be clear, I reported this only for the close pass. I don’t care in the least that the driver crossed the solid white line. I wish (s)he had gone further across – the road opposite was clear for a some distance ahead with good visibility – and he would have been driving considerably less dangerously by putting another metre between us than if (s)he’d stayed inside the line (in which case he’d probably have killed me).
I was indeed travelling over 10mph – probably around 20mph – and no doubt I could provide evidence of such from my GPX file (edit: quick check – speed between 20kph & 28kph on this section).
But I don’t think it’s reasonable actually that every car coming along that road should stay behind me at that speed until the solid line is gone. I do think it is reasonable that if they are going to pass, they should do so without putting my or others lives at risk.
Would I prefer drivers like that to think that they’re more likely to be in trouble for crossing the white line than for tickling me with their wing mirror? Not in the least.
Absolutely, as I said – or
Absolutely, as I said – or have said elsewhere on this thread at least – the close pass was absolutely heinous and the f**ker should have the book thrown at them. I’m on your side 100%. I was just answering those who seemed to think that crossing a solid white line is an offence per se in any circumstances.
Ethical dilemmas:
Ethical dilemmas:
Can we ignore the law if we feel that law is unreasonable?
Should the Police be allowed to decide which laws they enforce?
Awavey wrote:
Personally the thing that winds me up most is when overtaking drivers are more comfortable endangering human beings than crossing painted lines on the road. So pushing for prosecution of drivers for doing so is likely to lead to more unsafe overtakes, rather than fewer.
The white lines are generally used when there is insufficient view ahead to safely overtake a motor vehicle likely travelling at 40-50mph, the distance required to safely pass a cyclist is a lot less, so in many cases it is possible to move out half across the white line, pass the cyclist and return where it would definitely not be safe to move out fully into the other lane and pass a car.
however
I suspect that it is more likely the car will knock you off the road to avoid such a collision, but that even if it occured, the resultant vehicle positions would be unpredictable and you could well be in the fallout zone. The vehicles are unlikely to head dead on, but offside front corner to offside front corner, leading to rotation of the vehicles if the centre of mass is not aligned with the point of impact.
BMW, yet again. Why is it
BMW, yet again. Why is it that twattish driving shown on here, the culprits are almost always driving a BMW?
Confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias.
Drove out this way at the
Drove out this way at the weekend. Spent 10mins plus on the same stretch behind a massive crop-sprayer moving at 20-30mph max. None of the sections where it would have been legal to pass was it safe to do so, could barely see round the thing … so just toddled along behind until he turned off at the Leamington Hastings road.
None of the cars behind me tooted, tried to jump in front of me or otherwise tried to blast past in unsafe fashion. So it is possible!