What to you comprises a 'near miss' - ?

[Simontm]

Maybe he has more of a sense of entitlement, than actual road sense? I haven't had what I'd call a near miss for ages, and the last two I did have were both my fault.

Sorry but that's a terrible reply. I know from my route that there can be some idiots but numerically they are a small number.
To take your point, if I said: "those girls getting killed by HGVs, did they have a sense of entitlement?" This board would do me one. You cannot say that!

 

[Simontm]

To the original OP, a near miss for me is anything that makes me do a sudden action or find out my DNA is now stripped down the side!

 

[Globalti]

To me a near miss is almost ordering another slice of carrot cake then realising it's just greed and changing my mind.

 

[winjim]

Sorry but that's a terrible reply. I know from my route that there can be some idiots but numerically they are a small number.
To take your point, if I said: "those girls getting killed by HGVs, did they have a sense of entitlement?" This board would do me one. You cannot say that!

As mentioned upthread, YouTube is full of self righteous angry cyclists with a sense of entitlement and very little road sense getting into needless arguments. It happens. I would say if the chap in the op seems to have a higher than average near miss rate, then perhaps he needs to examine his own riding and attitude.

Maybe not though, he might just be unlucky and his roadcraft may be exemplary, I don't know the guy. But the fact that he lets it affect him to the point where he's growling at work, and the fact that he's only recently begun riding, raises my suspicions.

If the little girls were playing on the motorway or something like that then yes maybe they had a sense of entitlement, but anyway, the chap in question is a grown man so the comparison is not a fair one.

 

[snorri]

He cycles the eleven miles to work on a regular basis using either bike, depending on the day and uses much the same route that I do. However, about once a month or so, he comes in growling and cursing about being cut up, or having experienced a near miss by some errant motorist or other.

Perhaps it is just a feature of his personality, some car drivers have to take avoiding action a lot more frequently than others to compensate for the actions of "idiot" drivers......if we are to believe them

 

[simongt]

A near miss is contradictory, like smart casual.

' Smart casual ' - Most men's interpretation is wearing a suit jacket with a pair of jeans of questionable quality. My usual response to folk with such sartorial inability is ' Couldn't afford the rest of the suit pal - ?' But then why not the reverse of a denim jacket with a pair of suit trousers - ?

 

[buggi]

When its close enough that you can punch the vehicle, like the one I had yesterday. If he's cursing when he arrives at work then I would say his definition of a close pass is correct.

He probably gets a lot more because he riding during rush hour. People are knobs during rush hour. Also if he's only just taken up cycling he may not be using good road positioning. And the fact that he on his own will also encourage close overtakes.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

When a 4x4 overshoots the giveway line at a rbt you are circulating, slams on the brakes and stops 6 inches perpendicular to your body. Funny he didn't count it as a near miss though and sped off, it was only the following driver who asked if I was all right who thought so :-/

I had similar on Friday, though the 4x4 didn't brake. Luckily for me we were by both taking the same exit and they turned before hitting me but we were that close if the driver had had their window down I could have leaned over and kissed her.

 

[buggi]

Reading this thread has made me realise just how accustomed we've come to near misses. The correct overtaking distance is 1.5 metre (a cars width) yet as long as we only have to take "calm avoiding action" we deem it as an OK pass.

Perhaps what your colleague is experiencing is something we've all just become used to. Give him time and soon he'll only be moaning about the ones that are only two inches away, not a foot.

Sad state of affairs. Soon there won't be anything like a near miss. It'll just be hit or miss and we'll wonder why someone is complaining if they are still alive.

 

[simongt]

He probably gets a lot more because he riding during rush hour. People are knobs during rush hour. Also if he's only just taken up cycling he may not be using good road positioning. And the fact that he on his own will also encourage close overtakes.

Although I ride many more miles during rush hour than him and I'm usually on my own anyway. Recently an HGV emerged from a slip road and passed less than a metre from me at about 35mph, but didn't cause any wobble and my reaction was 'Mm, that was a bit cosy - !' Don't think I'd be much good on YouTube - !

 

[Jody]

Generally if I utter "oh sh1t" I will be heading towards a near miss. If it's any other swear word then I have just avoided a near miss. The C word is saved for special near miss occasions.

 

[the_craig]

Generally if I utter "oh sh1t" I will be heading towards a near miss. If it's any other swear word then I have just avoided a near miss. The C word is saved for special near miss occasions.

Cock?
Crap?
Crivvens?

 

[sidevalve]

Reading this thread has made me realise just how accustomed we've come to near misses. The correct overtaking distance is 1.5 metre (a cars width) yet as long as we only have to take "calm avoiding action" we deem it as an OK pass.

Perhaps what your colleague is experiencing is something we've all just become used to. Give him time and soon he'll only be moaning about the ones that are only two inches away, not a foot.

Sad state of affairs. Soon there won't be anything like a near miss. It'll just be hit or miss and we'll wonder why someone is complaining if they are still alive.

No -the correct overtaking distance is NOT 1.5 meters it is what is appropriate. If it were 1.5 meters then most filtering by BICYCLES would be impossible. We need to forget this fantasy idea of 'one size fits all situations'. Being passed by a car 1 meter away at 10 mph when you are simply standing waiting to turn left or what ever is not really too close. A 40 ton truck hammering past at 70 [yes they can do it] 2 meters away is a bowel loosener. Further far too many other things come into play - weather, day or night time even road conditions. If 1.5 meters were to be made a law and enforced then how do you filter to the front in long standing queues ? If there is a gap of 2 meters between the cars and the kerb YOU would be breaking your own rules to pass anything. Law is not a one way thing.
I'm afraid I must sort of agree with some of the above comments - a few misses maybe but on a regular basis ? There is a fine line between being positive and being arrogant and pig headed. One point to note is that a cyclist has no more or less right to the road than a car driver and I'm sorry but there are too many out there with a chip on their shoulder the size of a battleship that seem to forget this.
Maybe I'm wrong but try a ride with him one day and check out his riding - one way or the other you might get a surprise.

 

[jefmcg]

I discovered yesterday that close passes, SMIDSY situations where I can see it coming, someone pulling out ahead of me by stopping when I shout etc i.e. situations where the driver's behaviour could have led to an accident, but I had enough wits to avoid it leads to sweary anger and sometimes pursuit to shout at the driver.

But a real near miss, as happened yesterday, when a car to my right left turned across me so I had to brake and turn and pray has me screaming like a girl and needing to take a minute to stop shaking.

My only two actual collisions with cars have been rear-endings from cars that had stopped behind me on a roundabout, so I haven't had the experience of seeing an accident about to occur, and then it actually happening.

 

[buggi]

No -the correct overtaking distance is NOT 1.5 meters it is what is appropriate. If it were 1.5 meters then most filtering by BICYCLES would be impossible. We need to forget this fantasy idea of 'one size fits all situations'. Being passed by a car 1 meter away at 10 mph when you are simply standing waiting to turn left or what ever is not really too close. A 40 ton truck hammering past at 70 [yes they can do it] 2 meters away is a bowel loosener. Further far too many other things come into play - weather, day or night time even road conditions. If 1.5 meters were to be made a law and enforced then how do you filter to the front in long standing queues ? If there is a gap of 2 meters between the cars and the kerb YOU would be breaking your own rules to pass anything. Law is not a one way thing.
I'm afraid I must sort of agree with some of the above comments - a few misses maybe but on a regular basis ? There is a fine line between being positive and being arrogant and pig headed. One point to note is that a cyclist has no more or less right to the road than a car driver and I'm sorry but there are too many out there with a chip on their shoulder the size of a battleship that seem to forget this.
Maybe I'm wrong but try a ride with him one day and check out his riding - one way or the other you might get a surprise.

I was generalising! Jeez! The Highway Code states to give the room of a car . The average car is 1.5 metres; of course there are going to be variations. My point is that too many of us have got too used to close passes. As for filtering.. The passing distance is stated for cars passing bikes not the other way round.