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news
Near Miss of the Day 513: Taxi driver in “terrifying” undertake on cyclist
A road.cc reader who experienced a “terrifying” close pass by a taxi driver, which left him “sandwiched between their undertake and an oncoming car" submitted the footage to police, the first time he had ever done so - but five days later he has yet to hear back from the force.
PJ, who was commuting home from work when the incident happened, said: “If anyone recognises this taxi from around Oxford, longshot I know, then I hope Thames Valley Police would be interested in hearing about it!”
When he subitted the video to the force last week, PJ said in his covering note: “There is a row of parked cars along this road which starts almost immediately after the turn from [the side] road, and it is not possible for drivers to overtake safely without moving out into the oncoming traffic lane.
“There was a car coming towards me (westwards, correctly in the opposite lane) I was in the centre of my lane (‘primary position’ as per national Bikeability recommendations) as I did not expect any overtaking attempts and it would be unsafe to me for anyone to attempt to do so here without crossing the centre line).
“Incredibly I then saw this taxi in my rearview coming at speed towards me on my LEFT and UNDERTAKING me just as the oncoming car was coming in the opposite lane to my right. The white taxi just got through before the row of parked cars on my left began.
“Unfortunately, my front facing camera wasn’t working at the time. I am fortunate that I ride with two rear battery lights and one rear dynamo light, and two front lights. I also have a rearview helmet-mounted mirror.
“Thanks to the mirror I saw this incredibly dangerous manoeuvre coming and was able to hold my line and not swerve left or right. If not for my mirror or if I was less experienced/confident riding my bike, I could have ended up under the wheels of either vehicle.
“This was an incredibly dangerous manoeuvre by a professional driver (taxi driver) … it falls FAR below the standard expected of a careful competent driver.
“It was a terrifying experience and I was very shaken/upset/trembling afterwards. I cycled slowly home.
“I have never reported one of these before but feel this one is impossible to ignore. I hope you can correlate with other reports of this negligent driver. I have video from my rear facing camera. The number plate isn’t clear enough to read but the dangerous driving is very clear.”
> 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
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It's next door to County Ups, which for obvious reasons isn't so popular with cyclists.
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I have three bikes I am fond of each of them and not one has cost me more than £400. In fact two cost £80 and the other originally cost my family ...
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Don't open at Edinburgh Fringe with that one.
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Imagine writing such a pathetic, victim-ey article in a national newspaper.
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40 comments
100% of the close passes on here are from the rider riding on the yellow or white lines or very close to a curb. This is basically asking for it.
The close passes I see on here I must get 5 or 6 of them EVERY DAY.
The highway code says that cars must share the road with cyclist and give as much space as you would a car. A cyclist can use the entire lane if he or she wants to so get away from that painted line or curb and make them wait until it is safe for them to overtake.
And when you are arriving at one of those supidly placed traffic islands take the lane and close the door. Motorists won't hesitate to squeeze you in-between it and the curb, risking your life to save them selves precious seconds getting where they are going
100%??? Bit of hyperbole dont you think? Mine certainly wasn't.
It's not 100% by any means and it is Kerb !
No, the close passes are from drivers passing closely. The HWC is pretty clear about it
Confused, are you blaming yourself cos you were "basically asking for it"?
"can", not "have to".... divers are still required to only overtake when safe to do so within the tenets of the HWC
This one will. If a driver does this it is entirely their fault, not the rider's....
There's a certain user here who likes to pick at me for taking the lane at dangerous, and narrow, sections of road, whenever i've got a video up...
Everyone moaning about the cyclists position should watch it in slow-mo (use , and .) to see how bloody close it was. There was literally no room for the taxi to undertake - look how close to the back wheel they are.
FWIW - Im pretty sure its a White Mercedes Estate - so a C or an E Class.
I'd like to see a full resolution video of it, there are a couple of frames where partial plates might be visible
It's a Toyota Auris Touring Sports:
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/auris/touring-sports
Yea. Toyota was my second guess. Since thats a much rarer car than a Merc there may be value in the OP contacting licensing [at] oxford.gov.uk with the Crime reference number and asking them to pass a list of registered private hire cars of that make to themselves or TVP directly.
Will take a lot of cajoling I suspect, but you're right that they should be able to narrow it down with those details if it's a registered cab.
I also wonder like you if the full res vid would reveal a partial plate. Squinting I think the year marker is 64 - and that would fit with the age range of that model.
Unfortuately there's a limit to the amount of investigation they'll be prepared to do - I was surprised that for road collisions, they rarely do a full scene investigation unless there's been a death. To the point where they're waiting for news from the hospital as to whether it's 'just' a serious injury so they can pack up and reopen the road. I should really stop watching these police interceptor tv shows!
Yep, definitely a Toyota. A mate of mine has that model and it's the same colour too. It wasn't him as he lives in S London tho! It shouldn't be too hard for the cops to trace, if they can be bothered.
It shouldn't be too hard for the cops to trace, if they can be bothered.
They can't. The police attitude is we're not going to do anything at all unless you get the registration exactly right and we're almost certainly going to ignore it anyway. Their flow diagram is: one character wrong-STOP. It's a dodge like 'we have to have more video before and after the incident than X', where X is the amount they think you have
Very poor road positioning from the cyclist, not in the primary position as the article says but on the white line giving the impression of turning right. Parked cars aside the drivers position is understandable. Control the space around you by not leaving car sized gaps, if the cyclist was 1.5m from the cars the taxi wouldn't fit
They weren't on the white line though.
Not wishing to put words in your mouth, but you seem to suggest that the undertake was invited due to road position
If that's the case I'd disagree. The driver would have had a view of a rider to the right of the lane and parked cars to the left. Although we can't see it I would assume that the driver accelerated on the inside, and then had to cut in front to avoid crashing into the cars - Must Get In Front. This hypotheseis would be supported by the riders exclamation of consternation, and deviation from his path.
Even if someone isn't positioned well (not in this case, IMHO) that should not be seen as an invitation for poor overtaking.
To say the cyclist invited the pass would be harsh but "allowed" is fair I think. If you don't want to be passed then block the pass.
Agreed. The taxi driver shouldn't have done it but room was available which the rider shouldn't have created. He should've kept more to the left so the driver would've only been able to pass to the right of him.
Good on the rider for having a helmet mirror (as I do) and a selection of lights.
They allowed it by dint of a slower velocity. They were not by the white line at the point the driver made their move.
Perhaps you could upload a screenshot of where you think they should be to prevent the other type of close pass too.
Which one, the one on the left or the one on the right?
The rider moved out to pass the vehicle (including dooring zone) in good time. The driver made an egregious close pass on the left. The rider could have left it later to prevent it (being able to look into the future and all), but we may then be talking about being cut off whilst trying to pass parked cars, and still blaming the rider
Ultimately, the rider got passed in this way not because of anything he did, but because of who he was - a cyclist. The blame lands squarely in the driver's court, for making a crap decision to embark on an unsafe, intimidating pass that was against the HWC and risked inflicting fear, injury or death to another person.
This did not need to happen, however was not in the rider's gift to prevent.
And if the cyclist is too far to the left, the car overtakes on the outside, taking a line that barely avoids the parked cars and running the cyclist into the back of them.
The road is wide, it is not possible for the cyclist to prevent an overtake on either side, and so they have blocked the far more likely side.
I got undertaken last night.
I was in the right hand lane of two lanes, since I was approaching a split in the road in about a hundred metres and the left lane was for - er - going to the left.
Car came up behind me, realised he didn't have room to properly overtake me on my right so went to go around me on the left.
I particularly loved how he'd not noticed the cars parked on double yellows at the left of the road (in addition to the ones parked up on the right), which as he and I reached them at the same point meant that he 'had to' swerve right, so I had to swerve right too to avoid being knocked off by him.
He then got ahead of me, quickly swerved back to his right in front of me, and immediately had to stop at the traffic lights...
Here - for anyone interested: https://goo.gl/maps/tN8TEhv8GyZ3erAR9
Stick to the pavement !
Thoughts on the cyclists decision at 3:05 to use the turn left lane to overtake stationary cars and squeeze in front? He turned right and then was overtaken a few feet after the junction? Is there any point in creating an additional situation where a car needs to get around you? I presonally try to avoid this. Again, might be the cars fault if they squeezed you but you're controlling your own exposure
ive discussions like this, where I have just joined the queue at ligts and the people cycling with me suggested moving up to the cycle box. I sayif I am going through on the next change of the lights, why bother getting in front, for them to pass me straight away. It puts me 5 seconds ahead on the road maybe, or maybe I miss out on drafting. If the queue is so long then I think staying at the back puts me onto the second green light,then I filter, but not normally to the front, so fewer cars will pass me after the lights
As a driver, I never "need" to get around a rider. If I can do it safely without intimidating the rider or risking others fine. If not, I'm happy to match speed with a safe stopping distance until I can. No rider can control my vehicle or the space I chose to give them - that's my responsibility.
In terms of was the rider's action "safe" - can't see where he risked anyone else, and he is permitted to filter.... no problem.
Everyone on this forum knows what people should and shouldn't be doing. But what you're allowed to do and what's in your best interest isn't the same thing. At some point the car will definitely go around you because you are slower, what do you gain from getting in front at that junction on your bike
That is for the rider to decide at their discretion at the time. It is not an excuse for crap driving.
You asked my thoughts, I have given them. The rider's actions were safe and proportionate. It is a reasonable expectation to be treated with respect on the roads. Anything further is chatter and victim-blaming
You're right of course (legally), but I question the logic of being so stubborn if it gets you knocked off your bike
S'cool. I question the logic of blaming victims. If only you hadn't been stubborn enough to ride your bike in a safe and legal fashion, you wouldn't have got yourself knocked off.....
It's easy to drive safely around riders. Conversely, should a driver choose to drive dangerously there is f-all squared any rider can do to prevent being hurt, except of course not to ride.....
He's in shock from a close pass at this point. I can testify from personal experience - under those circumstances your riding will be well below par.
Go back and read his comments again slowly.
He's towards the centre line because of the parked cars to his left just after the junction. If he'd stayed to the left after leaving the junction, he'd have opened himself up to a close pass on the right as there was a car coming towards him, not to mention that if the Taxi had held back, there would have been plenty of space to ovetake after the oncoming car has passed.
But sure, blame his riding instead of the dickhead driver.
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