Dangerous overtake reported

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MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
On Tuesday, I was passing a long line of parked cars on my way to work. I was going in late, so traffic wasn't ridiculously heavy. Just as I got to the end of the parked cars, this truck passed me within about 12 inches.

MX06YNO-VeryDangerousOvertake2.jpg

On Wednesday I sent an email, giving the Google map reference, the time of day, the registration number, and a link to the YouTube video, and then I rang the company yesterday. I spoke to the Transport Manager, who seemed delighted with the information I gave him. When I told him the registration number, he said that he knew immediately who the driver was, and that action would be taken. The transport manager said he is a cyclist himself and is fed up with being passed too close.

Hopefully a result! I'll post any developments here.
 

skudupnorth

Cycling Skoda lover
Sounds like a result ! Where abouts was the overtake ? I work on Manchester Road and hate the Mosses Gate junction especially in the evening rush hour
 
Good news over the willingness to take action...looking at the still it looks like it could be a "punishment" overtake...which is even worse
 
OP
OP
MrHappyCyclist

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
Sounds like a result ! Where abouts was the overtake ? I work on Manchester Road and hate the Mosses Gate junction especially in the evening rush hour

Hi. It was on Market Street going towards Kearsley. Where do you commute from? Perhaps I see you in the mornings. I go from Bolton to Salford down the A666.
 

skudupnorth

Cycling Skoda lover
Hi. It was on Market Street going towards Kearsley. Where do you commute from? Perhaps I see you in the mornings. I go from Bolton to Salford down the A666.

I commute from Tyldesley through Little Hulton ( Beruit) and then down from Mosses Gate (one way system) onto Manchester Road and that little German sports car company on the corner !
 

Jezston

Über Member
Location
London
LGVs (or "cube trucks" as I think they call them Stateside) can whip up a fair bit of drag. :wacko:


That reminds me of something I heard the other day. Transit type vans, the steed of the White Van Man - you know what they call them in the US?

Rape Wagons.

Evidently their drivers are held in equal esteem over the pond as their respective drivers here.
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
Always worth reporting drivers that you can identify...
I had one with a UPS van driver that had me livid with his driving. Reported him, gave an account of the incident via email, they investigated and promptly gave him a warning and apologised profusely.
You never know MrGrumpy, perhaps you gave the transport manager the perfect opportunity to deal with an a$$hole of an employee, let alone driver.
 
OP
OP
MrHappyCyclist

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
I commute from Tyldesley through Little Hulton ( Beruit) and then down from Mosses Gate (one way system) onto Manchester Road and that little German sports car company on the corner !

Ah, you miss the worst bit then. The half mile of road through Farnworth is the worst part of my journey because all of the "traffic calming" measures, along with the parked cars, cause me to have to take primary for a lot of the way, and also bring me into conflict with motorists more than all the other 12 miles put together. It really is a problem there. Not quite so bad coming the other way because I can easily do 30mph down the slight hill, but still get the "must pass the cyclist" mentality even at that speed.
 

JonnyBlade

Live to Ride
There are oodles of cyclists in and around my home area so you would think that drivers are well aware? The problem lies that so many are reluctant to overtake, even when there is sufficient room, that at least one irate driver in the ensuing traffic line is bound to give you a hard time. Usually it's a transit van full of youngish lads or a builders delivery lorry
 
OP
OP
MrHappyCyclist

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
There are oodles of cyclists in and around my home area so you would think that drivers are well aware? The problem lies that so many are reluctant to overtake, even when there is sufficient room, that at least one irate driver in the ensuing traffic line is bound to give you a hard time. Usually it's a transit van full of youngish lads or a builders delivery lorry

Ah, I didn't mean confrontations; rather traffic flow conflicts. It's usually cars that insist on overtaking at the pinch points caused by the traffic islands where there really isn't room to pass safely.
 

GFamily

Über Member
Location
North Cheshire
Ah, I didn't mean confrontations; rather traffic flow conflicts. It's usually cars that insist on overtaking at the pinch points caused by the traffic islands where there really isn't room to pass safely.

What I do is check (100 metres) before I get to the pinch points.

If I think I can safely move into primary position, I signal right and check behind again (50 metres) and move to primary (50 metres before); but, on the other hand, if I think the drivers behind are not paying attention I take the defensive line and slow down.
 
OP
OP
MrHappyCyclist

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
What I do is check (100 metres) before I get to the pinch points.

If I think I can safely move into primary position, I signal right and check behind again (50 metres) and move to primary (50 metres before); but, on the other hand, if I think the drivers behind are not paying attention I take the defensive line and slow down.

I agree entirely with the strategy you describe, plus, if I'm going to have to take primary for a while after the traffic lights, I don't filter to the front.

The problem on this particular stretch is that once you have taken primary position, then because of traffic islands, pavements sticking out into the road and on-road car parking, you end up in primary position for what seems quite a while, though is only about 40 seconds in practice (checked on my video clips), with nowhere to move over and let motor vehicles overtake. They get impatient and start to overtake dangerously, even if you are in primary position, doing things like passing wide then cutting you up at the islands. This is bad driving, exacerbated by bad road design.
 

asterix

Comrade Member
Location
Limoges or York
What I do is check (100 metres) before I get to the pinch points.

If I think I can safely move into primary position, I signal right and check behind again (50 metres) and move to primary (50 metres before); but, on the other hand, if I think the drivers behind are not paying attention I take the defensive line and slow down.


There's one in York where drivers are leaving a 30 limit for a 40 and I turn right just after it. I often used to get grief when I did the signal: drivers are just speeding up to their 50-60 and don't like having to slow down. They overtook regardless of my outstretched arm.

The local paper say there'll be action taken over speeders at this point so I folks have been complaining. Not holding my breath for anything to change.

Good on the OP for doing something.
 
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