Closest Pass of the Year?

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This is my closest pass of the year. I think it was an intentional attempt to knock me off, nay, I am certain this was the case. Witness has the same opinion. The car twitched my sleeve.

I believe the registered owner didn't formally identify the driver, and is going to be asked to a formal interview.

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This is extraordinary when viewed on a screen in the calm of a domestic setting. I believe many cyclists have experienced passes not much farther out than this, but it is striking and scary nonetheless. I wonder if the BMW driver had already been wound up by being held up by what appears to be a learner driver at the beginning of the clip.

I think many helmetcammers bibble and rant and get screamy-shouty-scary weird about a lot of nothing. The sort of Web-published behaviour that will make them cringe in later life.

But this footage is one of the few justifications for helmet camming that I've seen. I was surprised at how little the recumbent swerved. I'd have been on the grass or in the next county. Very cool, calm riding.

Definitely one to report, not that you needed my permission or approval. I kept muttering profanities as I watched it. They were aimed at the driver. Normally with helmet-cam footage, they are aimed at the cyclist.

I'm jolly glad you weren't walloped or forced off the road. I'm not from the loony revenge fringe of the Hang 'Em Brigade of the Nazi Party, but I do hope the driver gets a knock on his or her door from the authorities.
 

campbellab

Senior Member
Location
Swindon
If he registered owner fails to identify the driver it should be taken away and crushed, at the registered owners expense.

'What is the maximum penalty for failing to indentify the driver at the time of the alleged offence?

You are required to identify the driver of the vehicle. You must do this within 28 days and if you fail to do so, you have committed a separate offence for which your licence can be endorsed with 6 penalty points and a fine up of £1,000.'
http://www.motorlawyers.co.uk/offences/failing_to_identify_driver.htm

In my opinion it should be the maximum penalty of the intended offence!
 

shouldbeinbed

Rollin' along
Location
Manchester way
No Vids but I complained to the post office when one of their vans got that close it knocked my mirror askew in spring. I started a formal complaint but got sidetracked and let it slide. They had the time date, location and reg number given to them.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I was surprised at how little the recumbent swerved. I'd have been on the grass or in the next county. Very cool, calm riding.

Cheers! Surprisingly I get quite a few compliments about my bike handling. I wish it were me, but it's all the bike. That bike is just the sweetest handling bike I've ever owned, it's so easy to control. I can flick it across three lanes in a heartbeat at speed, or ride a white line with two fingers. It only gets harder at very low speeds, walking speed or less, like any low recumbent.
 

Miquel In De Rain

No Longer Posting
I think thats the myth of why I didn't want mirrors because I would absolutely poop it if I saw someone driving at me like that.Didn't help with the bus though because otherwise I could have probably taken evasive action.
 

Scruffmonster

Über Member
Location
London/Kent
This is extraordinary when viewed on a screen in the calm of a domestic setting. I believe many cyclists have experienced passes not much farther out than this, but it is striking and scary nonetheless. I wonder if the BMW driver had already been wound up by being held up by what appears to be a learner driver at the beginning of the clip.

I think many helmetcammers bibble and rant and get screamy-shouty-scary weird about a lot of nothing. The sort of Web-published behaviour that will make them cringe in later life.

But this footage is one of the few justifications for helmet camming that I've seen. I was surprised at how little the recumbent swerved. I'd have been on the grass or in the next county. Very cool, calm riding.

Definitely one to report, not that you needed my permission or approval. I kept muttering profanities as I watched it. They were aimed at the driver. Normally with helmet-cam footage, they are aimed at the cyclist.

I'm jolly glad you weren't walloped or forced off the road. I'm not from the loony revenge fringe of the Hang 'Em Brigade of the Nazi Party, but I do hope the driver gets a knock on his or her door from the authorities.

What a fabulous post.

If Helmet camera users restricted themselves to only ever uploading truly dangerous driving, such as this, rather than examples of all dubious driving, or human errors, they'd have more support and make a bigger impact.

That video is horrifying. It was close enough to make you wince, but the speed involved just made it scary. Had the worst happened, you wouldn't have 'Fallen off' you would have been 'Thrown from'. Fabulous bike handling too.
 

Scruffmonster

Über Member
Location
London/Kent
When I am filtering and on the wrong side of the road, I will accept people passing me closely as it is my own fault for being over the line. Nowadays I try to stick to my side of the road as much as possible.

I may be wrong, but I think the original point was; You cant really complain about bad driving, when you choose to make the complaint from the wrong side of the road, causing oncoming cars to drive around you.
 
Years of being bullied by cab drivers along the Walworth Road means I don't consider a pass as close unless I'm hit or forced across an entire lane.



Notes:
The orange Micra emerged from a side road and was seemingly oblivious to my presence.
The first taxi was a deliberate squeeze.
The attempted left hook at Elephant and Castle was executed from the furthest right of four traffic lanes, I could not manoeuvre out of the car's path. My shout of 'No!' stopped the driver in his tracks - it was horribly close. The swearing is from the driver, being LHD he was closer to the mic than me.
The second taxi got me at a newly installed pedestrian island. (It's a beauty. In order to get a decent position through this one means taking a strong position through the previous one, which wasn't necessary before, which means taking a stronger position before the cycle lane ends, which means taking a stronger position on the sweeping bend. Four new hazards for the price of one! And on a hill that reaches 10%. I've worked out a way to navigate this section now and coincidentally also have a Strava KOM.)
I don't know what the driver in the final clip was doing. He moved into the right hand turn lane to overtake, slowed and then cut in hard to the bus lane. There's usually space for me to pass outside a pothole on the corner and passing cars to give me in turn 2m clearance.
Apologies for the swearing, but towards the end of the week I was getting a little narked.



Looking back I've only posted four YouTube videos this year. This is mainly because it would be a relentless stream of close passes and side swipes which don't reflect how much I enjoy cycling in London and paint an unfairly dark picture of cycling in general. Another reason is that I worked quite hard to get the police to respond to my first clip. The Traffic Criminal Justice Unit wouldn't even look at it. No independent evidence! From Gaz and Mikey's recent experiences though it seems things might be changing.
 

daSmirnov

Well-Known Member
Location
Horsham, UK
My closest past this year (actually hit me), driver was given a warning (for failing to report, guess better to get it on a technicality than nothing at all):



This is probably the second closest - if not the closest, the second most dangerous considering the road condition, speed and size of vehicle.

 

jarlrmai

Veteran
had a high speed 4 axle concrete lorry close pass today, I have the video but am waiting for a response from the company.
 

paulw1969

Ridley rider
[/QUOTE]This is my closest pass of the year. I think it was an intentional attempt to knock me off, nay, I am certain this was the case. Witness has the same opinion. The car twitched my sleeve.[/QUOTE]

That is just crazy........there are some total nutters out there. Great riding....if that were me i would ended up falling over and turning my lycra brown immediatley.
I think this type of incident is reason enough for cameras....i am seriously thinking of getting one when i can afford it......if given the choice i would want the video evidence for a pass as serious and as dangerous as this......Some passes are close because of poor driving i am often passed too closely but i just shake it off and put it down to ignorance ........yours however looks malevolent.
 
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