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A really bad one to start the week on Near Miss of the Day as a reader from Northern Ireland got in touch with this footage of a van driver pulling out on them, pushing the rider against the kerb to the point where their pedal struck the footpath and they unclipped to avoid a fall.
road.cc reader Gary noted that the van’s trailer was not displaying a number plate when the driver either “hadn’t observed me, or just simply ignored my presence and subsequent right of way”.
The incident happened on Tuesday 2nd August at 8:17pm as Gary “was riding fairly gently” through Toome, in County Antrim.
“A car had just overtaken me beforehand,” he recalled. “The van moved out immediately after the pass. It seemed as if he hadn’t observed me, or just simply ignored my presence and subsequent right of way.
“The van moved into my lane, squeezing me against the kerb, causing my pedal to strike the raised kerb. The bike also did pitch violently forward owing to the front wheel and tyre grinding against the kerb.
“I was able to unclip my left foot quickly and pull up to a complete stop. Had I not done so, I would have, most certainly, fallen onto the footpath. I was able to avoid contact with the van, as I determined in the moment that the footpath was the safest option, rather than under the wheels of the van or trailer.
“You can observe from the video that the trailer was not displaying a number plate. The matter has been reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“The first course of action recommended to me by the police was to speak with the driver. I’ve had no feedback yet, but I would be very surprised if any prosecution occurs.”
> Near Miss of the Day turns 100 – Why do we do the feature and what have we learnt from it?
Over the years road.cc has reported on literally hundreds of close passes and near misses involving badly driven vehicles from every corner of the country – so many, in fact, that we’ve decided to turn the phenomenon into a regular feature on the site. One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on.
If you’ve caught on camera a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with another road user that you’d like to share with the wider cycling community please send it to us at info [at] road.cc or send us a message via the road.cc Facebook page.
If the video is on YouTube, please send us a link, if not we can add any footage you supply to our YouTube channel as an unlisted video (so it won’t show up on searches).
Please also let us know whether you contacted the police and if so what their reaction was, as well as the reaction of the vehicle operator if it was a bus, lorry or van with company markings etc.
> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling
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