Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel. Today, I want to break down a truly scary near miss caught on camera and sent in by Paul, one of my viewers from the UK. As a cyclist myself, safety on the roads is a top priority, but unfortunately, not everyone and especially not all motorists shares that mindset.
In the footage we’re about to see, which was also sent to the police, you’ll witness a motorist making a left turn at a junction without proper care for the cyclist on the road. The cyclist suffered a close call and was just inches away from being struck by the vehicle. It’s a heart-stopping moment that serves as a reminder of the dangers cyclists face daily.
The driving was frankly poor and I make that point very strongly in the video. I also explain exactly what action and punishment would be most appropriate in these circumstances.
But what actually happened in this case?
Well, I’m very sorry to say that despite the clear evidence provided by the cyclist, the UK Police decided to take no further action against the motorist. This is a truly frustrating reality for us cyclists who often feel neglected and overlooked regarding road safety enforcement.
I honestly believe that the police are failing us as cyclists and road users.
It’s thoughtless driver incidents like these that highlight the need for stricter laws and better enforcement to protect vulnerable road users. So, let’s continue to advocate for safer roads and hold accountable those who endanger others through careless and thoughtless driving.
Stay safe out there, and until next time, ride defensively and always stay vigilant.
Thanks for watching.
#BikeSafety #RideResponsibly #CyclingSkills #CycleClosePass #trafficlaws #cyclingnearmiss
Welcome to the Daily ride welcome to the channel today I’ve got a close Bass video for you all to take a look at but before I get into that just want to ask any of you if you’ve got video clips of your own you want me to feature and
Break down please send them to my Gmail account you’ll find that in the about section on my channel page let’s not waste any more time let’s look at this clip that’s not good and frankly there’s a few things wrong here but I thought a good place to start would be the fact
That there’s virtually nothing on the road the guy who’s driving the Mercedes he’s not been pre pressurized at all into makeing any kind of maneuver whatsoever as you can see from the clip here I mean there’s just nothing on the road there really isn’t this clip was
Sent in by Paul it’s the second clip is sent in so thanks very much for that he did add a little bit more context uh surrounding this piece of video that this was actually taken at 6:00 in the morning which kind of reinforces why there was no traffic on the road I mean
Honestly the driver of this car what the hell was the hurry the second thing I want to comment on is why was it so necessary to overt take Paul so close to the junction that’s just ridiculous I mean fortunately Paul was turning left but if he hadn’t the Mercedes it would
Have barely cleared the corner in time to avoid a collision again that’s a horrible piece of driving and the last point I want to H in on now is the fact that Paul wasn’t given 1.5 M of room while the driver was making this maneuver in your country it may vary I I
Think in a lot of states in the US it’s actually less than this it’s 3 feet but regardless he didn’t even get a meter and that’s just not acceptable it really isn’t you can see again from the clip there’s no way he was given enough room
Before I move on I probably should cover the fact that there’s going to be some molus thinking and there’ll be some of you almost certainly going to comment that the 1.5 meter rule in the UK it’s merely a guideline it’s a suggestion I’m here to tell you that’s not true it’s
The law that’s a fact you can put into your own minds that it isn’t it really isn’t but trust me it really is it’s been covered so many times including by the black belt Barrister pop over to his channel and check that out if you don’t believe me for those that still have
Some doubt Let me refresh you let me put up rule 163 again and here it states leave at least 1.5 M when when overtaking cyclist a speed of up to 30 m hour and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds hopefully that clears up the rules not a
Suggestion not a guide for all you absentminded motorists in the UK and no doubt there are very similar rules wherever you live in the world I was actually going to end my breakdown at this point but I’ve watched it over a few times and there’s one thing that
Really does come to mind why on Earth did he not make more effort to actually take a wider turn and give Paul more space it really doesn’t make sense to me I mean it wouldn’t have required any effort whatsoever just to have made that wider
Move and he he could have given Paul all the room he needed I really don’t get it I’d actually be really interested about what you think what punishment if any you think should be Meed out to the driver I’m I’m sure there’ll be a lot of disagreements between a lot of people on
This one but for what it’s worth this is what I think overall the driving it just didn’t meet the requirement to be driving with due care and attention there just wasn’t enough care there and there’s no excuse for it the conditions everything made it really easy for that
Driver to give Paul way more room than he was given and I don’t understand why I did that I just think it was just lack of thinking lack of any thought at all for poor being on the road and how dangerous that is for a cyclist when
Being so close to a vehicle uh I think playing and simple this is driving without due care and attention in the UK points on the license and a fine I’d say three but I think it’s more serious than a speeding defense so I’d actually go for six points and a
Fine um what that would be in your country if it’s not in the UK I don’t know what your systems are but tell me what what do you think in your country you would actually think would be appropriate um yeah now let’s move on because fortunately Paul did put this
Clip into the Southampton police so let’s see what the result was of this clip being forwarded to Southampton police well Southampton police decided to do absolutely nothing they couldn’t see anything wrong with his driving whatsoever and somehow it doesn’t surprise me because if you want to take
A look at the clip that Paul sent into to me over a week ago that’s here it was actually a lot worse and again they decided to do nothing I think Southampton police there’s something wrong with you you’re completely incompetent you have no ability to interpret the traffic laws of the UK
Whatsoever useless again you’re a bunch of thickos well there we have it yet another clip of a close pass and yet another clip where no action is taken by the police and it’s all too familiar I’ll thank Paul again for sending in this clip and it’s kind of a reminder to
All the cyclists that we’re not really getting the protection that we should have from the police it’s a sickening fact I think they have a complete inability to interpret the traffic rules correctly I don’t think they understand the rules I don’t think they understand what it’s like to be a cyclist and I
Don’t think motorists do either unless you’ve been on a bike and you’ve ridden you really don’t understand what it’s like we as cyclists who drive we understand what it’s like to drive a vehicle but if you don’t cycle you really really don’t get it you really don’t I’d finish off by saying the
Police and molus you need to do better that’s all for today but as ever don’t forget to like And subscribe if you’ve enjoyed this video and here’s another couple of videos a little bit more relaxing on screen now that you might like to watch take care
20 Comments
Seems to me it is time for lawmakers who felt it necessary to enact the law to step up and pressure law enforcement to actually enforce the law. 👮♂️
I think a lot of motorists think the highway code is like the pirate code, it's mostly guidelines.
I think a lot of motorists think the highway code is like the pirate code, it's mostly guidelines.
What I find is, the quieter hour, the more crazier the driver out their. You'd think at 5-6am in the morning would be a great time to ride but some of my most frightening close passes have been in the times above with 1 driver who had TWO empty lanes to use, decided they wanted the lane I was in and tried to push me out of lane into lane 2 and 3! There was NO other traffic on the 3 lane ROAD!!
It never ceases to amaze me just how poor the police can be when dealing with cases similar to this. This is clearly an act of dangerous driving and a punishment should have been issued in order to teach this driver a lesson.
issues.
again you say 1.5m when in fact that is a should not a must. it absolutely is not a law as you state, a cycling myth only. the police have even stated that it would be unenforceable as a law. its a simple fact that you were wrong on that point again. Any highway code rule has a law attached to it, shows the reference to the law. this rule does no such thing.
You should tell Southampton police, Specsavers are open 7 days a week
A Close pass is cover under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, its classed as careless driving.
Berks drive Merc's!
The uk highway code has one page. It says 'Good Luck'
Interesting… thanks for sharing
nothing wrong with that
CP52KPZ shouldnt have been making any pass there irrespective of a 1.5m gap you don't overtake before turning left into another road, you also use indicators which this cockwomble isn't! not to mention there is a clearly lined cycle lane on the road. Also this vehicle's MOT expired July 2023 so you can just tell what sort of scumbag is driving it
A little bit too much imagination in the commentary.
Certainly the car driver was in the wrong. But had I been the cyclist, I would have taken the lane while the car was still well back. The driver would have no choice but to slow down and stay behind the cyclist until they are clear of the intersection. This simply doesn't give a car driver the opportunity to put you in this danger.
It's also entirely possible the car driver never even noticed the cyclist. They may have been looking up the road for oncoming traffic and focused on their turn. Again, taking the lane puts the cyclist right in front of the driver where they are easily noticed.
Of course, as the cyclist taking the lane, you need to keep an eye on cars overtaking and make sure they are obviously slowing down and if needed quickly take whatever action needed to avoid being hit. But car drivers are not homicidal. Most are simply oblivious and do not actively look for cyclists and others simply make poor choices. Best to limit the number of poor choices they can make.
All bicycle riders experience this. Why not simply stop this from repeating endlessly in the future? Here is how I solved this problem:
1) Pull a child trailer. After I did this some drivers would literally move into oncoming traffic and force drivers into the shoulder.
2) Use a rear-mounted baby seat. I had a similar result as #1. At first I also used a dummy baby but noticed similar results without the dummy so I instead carried my work items.
3) Tie a toy sword or toy rifle horizontally behind the bicycle with the sharp point to car traffic. I only did this for a few days because every car became so intensely focused only on me (exactly what I wanted) but I felt weird about riding with a toy sword.
4) I replaced the toy sword with a stick I found on the ground. Surprisingly similar results
5) I now settled on tying a dog-tennis-ball throwing stick. It creates less focus and fear as a child trailer or toy sword but overall it works well and probably would have caused enough fear in the car driver that he might scratch his paint. Fear causes focus on you and is how to prevent this problem. My tennis ball throw stick is bright orange.
I guarantee the Mercedes driver would NEVER have made an unsafe pass if the bicycle was pulling a child trailer or toy sword. People are terrified of injuring babies and items that vaguely resemble a weapon. BMW and Mercedes drivers in particular are terrified of paint scratches.
Fun fact – If I am on a narrow road and I think a car may give me a close pass, I do the "danse", which is when riders in the Tour de France go up a mountain pedaling out of the saddle and their bicycle leans wildly side-to-side. This causes my stick or dog-tennis-ball-thrower to repeatedly "stab" the air and cause intense fear in the car driver coming up behind me. It's completely ridiculous how hard they try to avoid me when passing.
Much the same in Australia. In fact if you can't identify the driver, and the driver says they weren't driving the car, that's the end of it.
It’s happened to me, there’s not an excuse just another entitled cknt in a car, attempted murder and should be charged as such.
We now live in a "Selfish Society" where people care for nothing and nobody but themselves. They cannot wait for one second. Just about everything in life now is driven by selfishness
Why did the Merc overtake the cyclist like that?, quite simple, the Merc driver viewed the cyclist as an obstacle, not another road user, something they thought more than a moving road block. We have to look at it as a thought experiment and break it down, green light, no one on the road, me driver want to turn left, beat cyclist to turn, me do quick..I do hope he was reported as this driver is a risk that needs to have is insurance hiked. ~Trooper