My closest pass ever!

[Accy cyclist]

I know we all have them and they give us much distress but i feel the need to share this with you! Yesterday late afternoon i was riding in the cycle lane on a busy main road leading to the M65 when a very big lorry close passed me by about 18 inches to start with then a foot to finish with! The thing was massive,i saw the front wheels then the raised middle ones pass but it kept on coming till i saw the rear wheels then it seemed to swerve at me. If it'd been a yard longer i'm sure it would've taken me out! I held on for dear life just concentrating on holding on(while being covered in the monster's tyre spray) and not being drawn into its path like some startled rabbit! I don't know if the driver did it on purpose but what a sod eh?! I could be on the "Cyclist Down"section,no thanks to him i'm not! Evergreen is the company whose wagon it was but i suppose there's no point contacting them,but thanks for listening. I feel better sharing it with fellow cyclists as we've all been there!

 

[classic33]

Had a similar pass from a local supermarket lorry.
No real reason for him to do it, other than to stop me passing. Cycle lane in stationary traffic and he turned the tractor unit in my direction whilst moving forward about three feet.
Note made of the trailer number and checked all that were parked up when I got to work. Approached by another driver wanting to know what I thought I was doing. Explained it to him and got asked if I'd let him sort it ou, insead of reporting it. Turns out that a few heated words were exchanged inside between the driver that turned in on me and the rest of the drivers.
Always had plenty of room given after that.

 

[luckyfox]

you're safe now! (glad you're ok)

 

[mjr]

My closest pass was a people carrier that clipped the dangling straps of my rucksack. Amazing it didn't take my handlebars. Dozy driver then parked in the next lay by and was obliviously fiddling with his satnav when I stopped alongside. I wonder what he was doing while driving along...

 

[numbnuts]

A day in the life of a cyclist - glad your OK

 

[Mugshot]

Worth reporting if you've got the info, I had a similar one a little while ago, started overtaking heading up a slight slope, but was pulling back in all the time he was passing me, bloody close by the end of the pass. I had all the vehicle info so contacted the company concerned, had an email back saying they took it seriously. They told me that although it was their trailer it was a separate haulage company but they would be be contacting them and speaking to the people that mattered. Had a follow up email to let me know that they had spoken to senior personnel and told them that should they continue to drive in such a manner then they would lose the contract to haul this companies trailers. Now, whether they did or not is another matter of course, but the fact that I reported it to them means that I have a record of it and I know they have a record of it and they know I have a record of it and so on, so it may be a little shot across the bows.

 

[mjr]

Oh yeah. Glad you're OK. Sorry I forgot to say that ;-) These are rare so don't let it deter you. I think there is point contacting Evergreen with time and location. Most companies take dim views of this because they don't want to be on the news for killing people. A few don't seem to care (Anglian Water, Network Rail) but they're also rare.

 

[Ganymede]

+1 for reporting it, especially in the light of what @Mugshot says.

and

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Scary, glad you're home safe.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Thanks for the replies. I've sent an e-mail off to Evergreen i'll see if they reply.


The experience will be added to the list of near death experiences i've faced,probably about 5th in the league.

 

[swee'pea99]

I think it's always worth contacting companies in these situations - most do actually take such things very seriously, reputations being so important to business, and so vulnerable in the age of the internet. They really don't want people googling their company name to be stumbling onto threads like this one. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the result of your email wasn't an explicit note going out from the MD to all drivers making it very clear that the company's policy on this is zero farking tolerance, and don't even think about chancing your arm if you want to keep your job. It may not. But there's a good chance. And it's thru' things like that that 'the way we do things round here' gets changed.

 

[Blue]

Reporting is the right thing to do. The last time that happened to me it involved a bus and I got an apology and a clear space from buses on that particular route thereafter.
A point to remember is that a less experienced rider might not be able to maintain control of their bike in such circumstances.

 

[tiermat]

Report it, if they do nowt, they do nowt, but if you don't report it they will still do nowt. Reporting it will increase, greatly, the chance of them actually doing something.

I have reported a few, mostly I get a canned reply, but one (as I rode from Heathrow into Uxbridge) got me not just a personal reply from the MD of the company, but a phone call from the driver apologising for his driving (I should bloody well think so as he nearly splattered me against a 6' stone wall just because he couldn't wait 10 seconds to get around the corner, where the road was clear!)

 

[Arjimlad]

Nasty - glad you're OK.

I feel the need to apologise to the driver of a TNT lorry. I turned right out of a minor road this morning whilst riding on somewhat of an autopilot - not realising the driver was doing the 50mph speed limit.

Normally there's plenty of traffic turning into this minor road, so the traffic is slowing down. Not today. Familiarity had bred dangerous contempt.

I got right over almost onto the grass verge, but it was still a close pass thanks to my misjudgment.

Not much the driver could have done to avoid it as there was another HGV coming the other way. I rightly felt a total prat who had nearly got himself squashed.