Take a look at British company Whyte’s mountain bike range and you won’t find any front mechs. It’s a firm believer in 1×11 drivetrains. Now, it has applied this same philosophy to the Wessex One and in doing so created a fast and comfortable endurance bike with lots of practical details. The easy and simple … Read more
Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day series doesn’t merit that description – the motorist overtaking the cyclist passed him so closely that they struck him with the passenger side mirror.
It was submitted by road.cc reader Dave – a past contributor to this series – who told us: “Yet another Northamptonshire “close pass”, the driver was so keen to pass me at the traffic lights the mirror hit me and folded back.”
Fortunately, Dave was able to stay upright and in control of his bicycle, but given this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a rider struck by a vehicle as the motorist overtakes, it does reinforce the case for a minimum safe passing distance.
While the Highway Code tells motorists to give cyclists “at least as much room” as they would when overtaking a car, the wording (if not the picture that accompanies Rule 163) is vague.
The distance of 1.5 metres that West Midlands Police and other forces have adopted as the measure they use to judge whether an overtaking manouevre is safe or not leaves no room for ambiguity – and means that if all motorists did try and adhere to it, even if they did at times stray inside, incidents of the type shown here would be far less common.
> 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 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
Police in the City of London have appealed for a cyclist knocked off his bike by the driver of a private hire vehicle earlier this month to come forward.Officers say that the rider and the driver of the vehicle, a black Toyota Prius, had been involved in an argument prior to the incident on Bishopsgate … Read more
The Hornit Clug is very possibly the world’s smallest, simplest bike rack. Available in three sizes to suit most tyres, it’s hard to think on how to improve it. Pros: Dead-simple to install and use, almost invisible Cons: Each size is specific to a range of tyre widths, possible issue with deflating tyres over time, … Read more
We’ve very much enjoyed our series of Hammer Time rides on Zwift, that we’ve been doing in association with the folks at CycleOps. On Sunday at 0930 BST it’s our last ride, and we’ll be finishing in style atop the fearsome Alpe du Zwift. Join us!> See the event on ZwiftIf you haven’t ridden the Alpe yet, … Read more
Thousands of cyclists descended on the Meadows in Edinburgh this morning where round-the-world record holder, Mark Beaumont, led off the seventh annual Pedal on Parliament (PoP) protest on a cargo bike carrying his daughters. A sister ride also took place in Inverness, with another planned for Aberdeen tomorrow.The rides are to ask politicians to sign … Read more
Castelli’s latest Aero Race 5.1 Jersey FZ takes a lot of the aero details from its Speedsuits and combines them with the lightweight mesh construction of its Climber’s jersey. What you get it a close-fitting, race-cut top that is unbelievably breathable on even the hottest of days. Pros: Great airflow to keep you cool, taut … Read more
All three races comprising this year’s Hammer Series will be streamed live and for free on Twitter and Facebook and also at Daily Motion. The series begins in Stavanger, Norway on May 25-27, returns to Limburg in the Netherlands on June 1-3 and finishes in Hong Kong on October 14.The first edition of Velon’s Hammer … Read more
Today’s near miss features a harrowing combination of factors for a cyclist. You’re approaching a traffic island, the road is about to narrow and you hear the sound of a fast-moving car behind you…The incident took place on January 6 at the junction of Renfree Way and Chertsey Road in Surrey during a local club … Read more
The BBC reports that a cyclist was caught riding a Mobike on the hard shoulder of the M60 near the Trafford Centre yesterday. North West Motorway Police received two further reports of motorway cycling before the morning was out.The geographic area in which users are allowed to park the city’s Mobikes was reduced in November … Read more
