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Near Miss of the Day 641: Three incidents from same driver in quick succession

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's east London...

Two ​close passes in quick succession from the same motorist followed by the driver then sailing through a temporary traffic light on red is what we have for you today in our Near Miss of the Day series.

The footage, sent in by road.cc reader Tony and shot in the London Borough of Havering, was also submitted to the Metropolitan Police, who have issued a Notice of Intended Prosecution to the driver of the white Ford vehicle involved.

Tony said: “I was out for an afternoon cycle at the end of June, cycling along Suttons Lane in Hornchurch, the traffic ahead was stopping due to a vehicle wanting to turn into a side road so I’m slowing down myself when the driver behind decides this is the perfect place to overtake to get in front (way too close in my opinion). 

“They then had to stop completely anyway and had basically cut me up to do so.  I managed to filter by and set off again, a little further along the road I notice a set of temporary traffic lights, red light showing so again start to slow when the same driver decides to overtake, thinking they were trying to get in front of me before the light, but nope, to my surprise they go straight through the red light.

“I reported them to Met Police the same day who issued a Notice of Intended Prosecution,” he added.

> 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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21 comments

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 3 years ago
10 likes

Not too impressed by the driver of the grey estate car. "I know, I'll overtake the cyclist even though I'm going to turn right in about 100m, then I'll make sure to get in his way by not positioning my car towards the middle of the road and behind that nice big van which I won't be able to see past".

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Awavey replied to Mungecrundle | 3 years ago
3 likes

they arent even thinking...about the turn, till its on them, its a very sequential habit of driving you notice alot more as a cyclist.

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
10 likes

Sara's date.

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brooksby | 3 years ago
4 likes

"Must get in front; Must Get In Front; MUST GET IN FRONT"

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alexuk | 3 years ago
2 likes

The Jerk store called. They're out of ...him! 

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nicmason | 3 years ago
0 likes

Not very close at all tbh. police might be interested in the light jumping though.

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Wingguy replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
17 likes

The first one was so rushed the driver didn't even have space to pull all the way back in even though he was heavily braking from the moment he was in front of the cyclist. An awful, awful overtake.

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Awavey replied to Wingguy | 3 years ago
3 likes

it might be so, but thats so common a move I didnt even flinch with that and the rider did exactly what Id have done in that situation, just moved back in front of them straight away. Without the red jumping bit I dont think the police IME, other forces may vary, would have done a thing with that.

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Wingguy replied to Awavey | 3 years ago
1 like

Awavey wrote:

Without the red jumping bit I dont think the police IME, other forces may vary, would have done a thing with that.

Whether the police give a toss and whether it was actually close are two completely different things.

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Awavey replied to Wingguy | 3 years ago
0 likes

they are, but maybe Im jaded or so worn down by experiencing stuff like that alot I dont really notice it anymore, and IME the police whether they gave a jot or not wouldnt do anything with those kinds of passes on their own, and if thats the worst that happened on a ride, its probably been a good day.

 

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Hirsute replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
0 likes

Do you run a camera nic?

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nicmason replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
0 likes

sorry . what do you mean ?

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Hirsute replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
2 likes

You said it wasn't very close at all which makes me question whether you run a camera.

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Rendel Harris replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
11 likes

Yes, his rear wheels must've been at least 30 cm away from the cyclist's front wheel when he cut back in across him, perfectly reasonable. No danger at all, in fact the cyclist ought to be fined for wasting police time for having the temerity to complain.

The fact that you say the police "might" be interested in the red light jumping, when in the article it clearly states that the driver was sent an NIP, would appear to indicate that you didn't read the text in your rush to spew out your usual four wheels good two wheels bad mantra. Do you actually even ride a bike? Can't remember seeing you do anything on here but criticise cyclists.

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nicmason replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
0 likes

where the two wheels bad four good in that. ?

So I was right the police where interested in the red light. And I didnt even read the text .  1

 

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Rendel Harris replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
12 likes

Actually the text says nothing about why the NIP was sent - doubling down on an assumption doesn't improve things. Why not read the text before commenting? Won't take a moment...

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nicmason replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
0 likes

Alternatively why read the text. Isnt the point of the camera to be the unsubjective witness 

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Rendel Harris replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
6 likes

You've obviously never been in court, video evidence is treated entirely subjectively, the defence will say it shows one thing and the prosecution another - that's why it's worth actually reading the evidence that accompanies the video rather than assuming your view is correct simply on the visuals.

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sensei | 3 years ago
11 likes

I was thinking just today that it had been a little quiet on the NMOTD front considering how many nutcases there are on the roads. Then lo and behold, a perfect example of the cretins out there. The first MGIF and close pass is just embarrassing on every level. The second just highlights what an utter moron the motorist is but then still manages to outdo himself by running a red light (probably because he was so focused on the cyclist). The prosecution is fine but can the police really be comfortable with knowing that an idiot with zero patience and complete incompetence will be back out on the roads the following day?!

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zero_trooper replied to sensei | 3 years ago
2 likes

'…can the police be really comfortable …' well that's the issue sensei, apparently so. The NIP should have covered the red light and the careless driving, but as this happened at the end of June and the OP hasn't had any other updates, then we'll never know. The red light is the easiest option, but that doesn't really get to the bottom of the issue.

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sensei replied to zero_trooper | 3 years ago
2 likes

zero_trooper wrote:

'…can the police be really comfortable …' well that's the issue sensei, apparently so. The NIP should have covered the red light and the careless driving, but as this happened at the end of June and the OP hasn't had any other updates, then we'll never know. The red light is the easiest option, but that doesn't really get to the bottom of the issue.

 

Disappointing isn't it?! The NIP will bring some penalty/punishment but will more than likely not deter the offender from doing this again next time.

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