Near Miss of the Day 217: Driver towing horsebox makes VERY close overtake

panda wrote:

Hello everyone, first post from me.

I showed this to a friend of mine in the pub on Friday.  His instinct (and his wife owns horses) was that the horse-box was probably stolen.  Apparently thieves target them (who knew?). 

My instinct whenever cyclists people on bikes spook horses is that the bikes were probably nicked too.

In fact the horses might also have been nicked.

It's all the scallies, innit.

Glen C wrote:

I’m a member of the WLRCC although I wasn’t on the ride featured in the film.  My sympathies are entirely with the rider - however, I don’t think that anyone should be concluding that the behaviour of this particular driver can be generalised to that of all horse riders, or all drivers towing horse boxes, as some comments seem to be suggesting.

The idiot in charge of this car was responsible for their own actions and I hope they receive appropriate censure and reflect on how things might have turned out differently and consider what impact that could have had for their own life and, especially, for everyone else involved.

 

Well said. If we start saying that all horse riders drive like this then of course the same logic could be applied to say all cyclists go through reds, which we know not to be the case.

Boopop wrote:

Glen C wrote:

I’m a member of the WLRCC although I wasn’t on the ride featured in the film.  My sympathies are entirely with the rider - however, I don’t think that anyone should be concluding that the behaviour of this particular driver can be generalised to that of all horse riders, or all drivers towing horse boxes, as some comments seem to be suggesting.

The idiot in charge of this car was responsible for their own actions and I hope they receive appropriate censure and reflect on how things might have turned out differently and consider what impact that could have had for their own life and, especially, for everyone else involved.

 

Well said. If we start saying that all horse riders drive like this then of course the same logic could be applied to say all cyclists go through reds, which we know not to be the case.

The attitude is driven by the way the BHS and horse riders reacted to the incident a few months ago. In isolation it probably would not be the case, but a few people’s noses were put out of joint by the horse riding communities refusal to see cyclists as fellow vulnerable road users.

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I think the challenge here will be identifying the vehicle and, should the original footage provide a clear enough image of the number plate to do so, identifying who was driving at the time.

Hopefully someone in the group got the number. 

In the twitter feed it has

"Details sent over, also the original footage is a little clearer and a clear shot of the reg plate is clear..... so that’s great news"

StuInNorway wrote:

And from just a month back https://road.cc/content/feature/249845-how-pass-horse-riders-safely-your...

Ah, yes, who can forget such sage advice as

BHS saying “There is room for everyone to enjoy riding out. Equestrians and cyclists are vulnerable road users. We share similar risks when riding on the road.”

and

... reinforces the need to give horses a lot of room when overtaking them – and to do so on the right.

“Most horses are used to traffic passing them on the right so pass them as you would anyone else; don’t cut inside, and allow plenty of room in case the horse is surprised or startled,” the BHS says.

“Riders may need to ride two abreast for safety, particularly when escorting a young or inexperienced horse or rider – please give them a chance to sort themselves out before you go by.”

Maybe that driver wasn't a member of the BHS?

cyclesteffer wrote:

If they don't get done for dangerous driving then the law is an arse

A horse's arse.

Mungecrundle wrote:

I know that what feels like a close pass out on the road often doesn't look so bad when you review the camera footage. This looks incredibly bad, I can barely comprehend how shit scaringly close that must have actually felt. Hope this gets some airing on the Horse and Rider sites, and also that the Police follow up with some appropriate action to bring the driver to account.

Exactly. I had one recently where on the footage, it doesn't look that close. However, I know the car couldn't have been more than about 75cm away - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hit the rear passenger window with on its way past with my hand... 

This should be relatively easy for Inspector Knacker to prove as dangerous driving:

    a. Measure the width of the road at that pinch point. 

    b. Measure the size of that trailer.

    c. Finally, measure the width of a bike. 

I'm guessing b+c pretty much equals a. 

Oh hang on, you need to add a bit extra to a. for the extra space created by the twonk driving over the traffic island. There goes the dangerous driving charge

JohnnyRemo wrote:

Utterly unbelievable. How the feck did he/she manage to keep that upright...

If it had a horse on board, it was standing on teh right hand side . .  and now has sore hooves from that jolt.
Even just watching the video I nearly needed to change underwear.