Repeated very close pass

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ian s
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Joined: 24 Jun 2008, 12:59pm

Repeated very close pass

Post by ian s »

Does anyone have any suggestions as to deal with a motorist who persistently passes me far too close. It happens on the road that my pace of employments is beside, so I have no possibility of an alternative route; the road is a single carriageway national speed limit (ie 60mph) and the driver concerned typically passes me so close that having passed me he simply keeps going straight afterwards, he doesn't need to pull back towards the hedge because he has not pulled out to pass me. I am hoping to set up a back facing camera to record his actions, but just assuming I get the evidence, what do I do with it. I typically ride in something near secondary position, and if I try anything like primary I enrage too many other motorists
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Erudin
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by Erudin »

Do you have a rear view mirror? If you are able to see his vehicle approaching from a distance you could take primary then move to secondary before he passes.

I use a rear mirror and if a vehicle seems to be coming too fast or close for the road conditions I'll take primary or wobble/swerve around a bit on the road before they get near to discourage a fast/close pass.

I'd rather take primary when necessary and get beeped at by road hogs/speeders than endanger myself. If the driver's obviously dangerous or reckless it's better to get off the road before they pass.

I had a driver on the estate where I live tailgate and beep at me repeatedly, there was no room for them to overtake anyway as there was a row of parked cars to my left, and I was going 20mph.

After they passed I followed them up to where they live and told them in no uncertain terms what I thought of their driving, I don't think they will repeat their behaviour. Ironically the driver had a "you get close, I GO SLOW" sticker in their back window.

Youtube - Tailgating Scene, Lost Highway (NSFW)
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Spinners
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by Spinners »

Madness! I'd certainly consider mentioning this matter to the local police station just so that it's on record IF he/she does actually make contact with you on a future occasion and I really hope that it doesn't happen. Does he/she show any sign of looking to see if you're upset, you know, looking in the mirror immediately after he/she passes.

If it were me, I'd change my routine and use the car to follow him/her and have a 'polite' word. Then again, he/she might be on the first stage of a 50-mile commute :wink:

I hope this problem goes away for you - it would really bug me.
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Psamathe
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by Psamathe »

I would definitely report it to the Police (with car reg. no) ... because:
1. others may also be suffering the same and the more reports against a vehicle the more likely Police are to act.
2. should he misjudge (with anybody), then he has a "history" and action is likely to involve less victim blaming and more severe penalties.

Probably loads of other reasons ...

Get a waistcoat printed "I am recording and reporting close passes" (might have no effect but might be worth a try)

Ian
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mjr
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by mjr »

Report it to the police, just in case they get it more badly wrong any time, but beyond that... a camera on your own bike will probably not show how close the pass was, but one on a bike in front would. Can you ask a local cycling group (is it CCNB?) if there's any volunteer to ride in with you until they're caught on camera?
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BearOnWheels
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by BearOnWheels »

You might try wearing one of these:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/22148120 ... 0&ff14=108

The Polite Notice seems to work as it look all to much like Police….not tried it myself but seen some good reports on the BBC…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29894590

If not try the following: if you can follow to his place of work. Then call his employer - argue that all employees are ambassadors for their employers and his driving is damaging the company reputation. Most employers will sit up and take notice and tell the employee not to behave like a prat near work.

If you can't, call it in on 101 each day. Every day. Get it logged.
snibgo
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by snibgo »

Erudin wrote:... I'll take primary or wobble/swerve around a bit ...

Yes, strategic wobbling. Very useful.

Some drivers think that cyclists have no width so the driver doesn't need to move out. We cyclists know we need some room, but some drivers just don't know this. Weave around a bit, the driver thinks, "bloody cyclist doesn't know what he's doing, I'd better keep clear."

ian s wrote:I typically ride in something near secondary position, and if I try anything like primary I enrage too many other motorists

I suggest taking a more laid-back approach.

It depends on the width of the lane and road, and other factors, and we should never enrage anyone for no reason. But we often need to take primary for our own safety. If that enrages someone, typically for no reason at all, that is their tough luck.

Case in point: I'm often on a short stretch of dual-carriageway. There are often no motorists on the road with me. The lanes are wide. When I am in secondary cars whizz past, sharing my lane, inches from my elbow. When I take primary, the cars move out to the second lane and overtake properly. The road is always so quiet that they never have problems moving out. True, some of them will beep or even shout at me. I don't care.
tatanab
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by tatanab »

Police will not be interested.

25 years ago a particular female driver would pass me in on a bend in a dense housing estate. Cars parked both sides, right hand turn on the apex of the bend which I would be signalling I was going to take with appropriate positioning. She would still insist on passing. After a few weeks I went to the police and put it to them that if it bothered me as an experienced rider then others would be much more endangered. The response was "unless a police officer witnesses the move then we will do nothing".

Slightly off topic - some years ago I was passed very closely by a car which pulled into a garden centre within a few yards - well it was a Sunday. I pulling in as well. When the driver got out he saw me inspecting the passenger side mirror and asked me what I was doing. I replied "I'm just checking to see if any skin got left behind", and then explained about the close pass. Apparently he "had" to pass close because of motorcycles coming the other way. All was done calmly, so I hope that next time he will think before "having" to pass.
thirdcrank
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by thirdcrank »

ian s wrote: ... but just assuming I get the evidence, what do I do with it. ...


Have a look at this thread:-

viewtopic.php?p=600003#p600003
eileithyia
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by eileithyia »

Back in the 80's i used to travel between Baginton (Cov) and Leamington, the road i used was rural and relatively quiet at the time of morning i used it. Had a couple of cars who regularly overtook me, one a neighbour of my parents and one who always seemed to cut a bit close, regardless of the fact that there was no traffic coming the other way. It was so regular that i began to realise it was not deliberate, in that he was not trying (as is popularly being used these days) a punishment pass, i just think he had no idea that he was coming closer than comfortable.
Times were different then, we had no cameras, and i doubt the police would have been very interested in a black capri that came a little bit close every morning. But attitudes change, it might be worth reporting and or getting some footage.
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reohn2
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by reohn2 »

If you live in the GM or Cheshire area,don't bother,you need to be murdered deliberately before they're even remotely interested.
The POLITE vest works though,as would a long enough black cane with nails taped to the end :)
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Flinders
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by Flinders »

tatanab wrote:Police will not be interested.

25 years ago a particular female driver would pass me in on a bend in a dense housing estate. Cars parked both sides, right hand turn on the apex of the bend which I would be signalling I was going to take with appropriate positioning. She would still insist on passing. After a few weeks I went to the police and put it to them that if it bothered me as an experienced rider then others would be much more endangered. The response was "unless a police officer witnesses the move then we will do nothing".

Slightly off topic - some years ago I was passed very closely by a car which pulled into a garden centre within a few yards - well it was a Sunday. I pulling in as well. When the driver got out he saw me inspecting the passenger side mirror and asked me what I was doing. I replied "I'm just checking to see if any skin got left behind", and then explained about the close pass. Apparently he "had" to pass close because of motorcycles coming the other way. All was done calmly, so I hope that next time he will think before "having" to pass.


As your problem on the bend was a regular one, then the police ought to have come to watch one morning so the would have had a 'witness'. If they didn't, then it's clear they didn't give a monkey's.
ian s
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by ian s »

Thank you for the responses. I do have a mirror, and when the mornings were lighter I could sometimes move out before the guilty party got to me, but with these darker mornings all I can see is lights behind me, without being able to see the type of car at all reliably. I fear the reverse facing camera will have a similar difficulty, it will tend to expose for the headlamps with consequently poor definition of the number plate. Interestingly I have spoken to one other man who sometimes uses the same road, and he does not recall a problem, so I suspect that the guilty party is trying to push me into the gutter.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Garden leaf rake - strap it across your rack...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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Vorpal
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Re: Repeated very close pass

Post by Vorpal »

snibgo wrote:It depends on the width of the lane and road, and other factors, and we should never enrage anyone for no reason. But we often need to take primary for our own safety. If that enrages someone, typically for no reason at all, that is their tough luck.

+1 I'd ride the problem stretch in primary. I have found that there are a few places that I ride regularly that seem to encourage close passes unless I ride in primary. There isn't anything remarkable about them. They aren't exceptionally fast, or wide, or narrow. There is just something about them, and I'm not even certain what it is, but I get closer than comfortable passes if I ride in secondary. Maybe I don't need to be right out in the middle, but it seems the further out I ride, the more space I get. And I'm not going to give up my safety just to avoid irritating or even enraging an impatient person who probably doesn't need much excuse anyway.
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