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Near Miss of the Day 278: Driver reverses from driveway into path of cyclists

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country and beyond - today it's New Zealand...

Occasionally in our Near Miss of the Day feature we'll highlight a video from abroad - we have readers all over the world - and today we're heading to New Zealand for this footage showing a driver reversing out of their driveway and onto the road just as a group of cyclists arrive.

> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling

> What to do next if you’ve been involved in a road traffic collision

It was shot by road.cc reader Chris in Hastings, which is in the Hawke's Bay region of the country's North Island.

He told us that it happened at the end of a Sunday brunch ride last weekend.

"If not for the excellent swerving skills of the riders it could have ended up much worse," he said.

"The driver was totally unaware of what they had done," 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.

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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5 comments

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bike_food | 4 years ago
5 likes

I dunno if this is better or worse than the ones who reverse a bit, see you coming then just carry on anyway.

Avatar
SurreyHiller | 4 years ago
4 likes

I had a very similar thing happen, but it was a flatbed truck with an engine hoist hanging off the back of it.   The hook beam part of it stuck out over a meter out the back and perfectly at head height.

He reversed out of a hidden driveway from behind bushes.  First thing I saw was this large metal beam heading for my head...

Quick reactions on my part and a loud yell meant he stopped and I swerved round it.

 

I waited for him at the next junction and we had a chat.  I wasn't angry, pointed out he could easily have killed me there, he was apologetic, and I suggested his mate get out and see him out next time they're reversing out blind...

Avatar
brooksby replied to SurreyHiller | 4 years ago
2 likes

SurreyHiller wrote:

I had a very similar thing happen, but it was a flatbed truck with an engine hoist hanging off the back of it.   The hook beam part of it stuck out over a meter out the back and perfectly at head height.

He reversed out of a hidden driveway from behind bushes.  First thing I saw was this large metal beam heading for my head...

Quick reactions on my part and a loud yell meant he stopped and I swerved round it.

I waited for him at the next junction and we had a chat.  I wasn't angry, pointed out he could easily have killed me there, he was apologetic, and I suggested his mate get out and see him out next time they're reversing out blind...

I seem to recall that big vehicles on commercial building sites and yards have to have a 'banksman', to walk around and actually keep an eye out while the vehicle is manoeuvering.

It often seems to me that it would make sense for any commercial vehicle - whether on public or private land - to have to have such a person.  Might save some lives, y'know... 

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
5 likes

If only that ridiculously oversized vehicle had more windows.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
5 likes

Terrible piece of driving, but it doesn't surprise me in the least - people do that sort of thing all the time, IME.  Too many people think, for example, that "putting on an indicator light" somehow grants you priority...

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