Close pass - am I overreacting or should I take a stand ?

[Farrina]

Newburgh Lancashire - moving along at about 17mph approaching a mini roundabout (to go straight on) when a person driving a very large van decided it was an appropriate place to push past. He was that close I was able to strike the side of his van with my fist.

In reviewing my video clips it is quite clear from the rear one that he approaches aggressively (the must get passed at all costs approach) with little consideration for my safety - you can see he initially brakes quite sharply before pushing past.

In overtaking me he crosses a double white line (shown clearly in the video clip) which I believe to be an offence under S36 RTA 1988.

I also believe he is also guilty of Careless or Inconsiderate Driving (S3 RTA 1988) in that he drove inappropriately close to another vehicle.

I am pondering approaching the company (which is a PLC) Monday morning to speak to the person responsible for supervising the conduct of their drivers.

My thought at this time is to advise that in the absence of a written letter of apology personally signed by the guilty driver and delivered to my home address by Friday, I intend to place the evidence before Lancashire Police

I am mindful on the need to NIP the driver within 14 days of the offence

Would appreciate the views of fellow cyclists as to whether I am overreacting, wasting my time or should I take a stand ?

Clips downloadable from OneDrive here https://1drv.ms/f/s!AmCgnPNMNA8OjWWpk0V9Ev441Tsp

[landsurfer]

I'd highly recommend switching off the camera .....

Take it your a legal professional ....

[thirdcrank]

I tried to look at the vid but lost patience waiting.

On a procedural note, I'd pick which horse you are going to back. ie Report it to the police or complain to the firm.

[kwackers]

Police won't do anything with that.
I'd probably ignore it but if I was going to do anything I'd put it on YouTube and send the link to the company - bear in mind it might be a one man band who might not give a ****.

Other thing worth doing is re-export it from the Fly software and turn on the distance lines - it gives you a bit of leverage when you say "the two red lines represent 1.5m either side of the bike, a distance recommended as the minimum by the police, blah blah".

[Vorpal]

Clips downloadable from OneDrive here https://1drv.ms/f/s!AmCgnPNMNA8OjWWpk0V9Ev441Tsp

Can you put it on YouTube or something? I've tried 4 different media players, and get an error with each.

[tykeboy2003]

Can't imagine the Police doing anything (you weren't hurt so case closed) so I'd take the company option. Don't threaten them with the police, threaten them with reporting them to the Health and Safety Executive.....

[slowster]

Reporting to the HSE would very probably be a waste of time. Some years ago the HSE toyed with taking an active role in enforcing work related safety involving company vehicles being driven by employees, but they decided not to, and now they probably do not have the resources to do so anyway.

The most important outcome that any of us should be seeking is NOT simply the punishment of the driver and/or an apology, but instead for effective action to be taken that will reduce the likelihood of further such bad driving by that employee and by any of the other drivers employed by that company. Whilst punishment of an individual can sometimes discourage them from re-offending, often other measures are likely to be more effective, e.g. sending the employee on a safer driving training course.

Given the doubt about whether the police force for the area would take any action, your best hope is to contact the company. If it's a PLC, then it might be concerned about the potential for bad driving by its employees to cause reputational damage (e.g. if a driver knocks over and kills someone, especially a child), and so might be quite responsive to being contacted. If not initially responsive they might become responsive if the video is placed on Youtube where it would show up in search results for the company's name. It's also very possible that the company might respond positively simply because insurance for its fleet of vehicles is likely to a major cost, and one that it will want to keep under control and reduce. If so a report of bad driving is much more likely to prompt the company to take action (which might be driver training, or possibly dismissal if, for example, the driver had already been reported for multiple incidents of bad driving and is now on a final warning).

[PT1029]

If you are uninjured, the police won't do anything, lack of resources and all that.
Contact the company, ask for the vehicle fleet manager. State any rules/guidances (with web link) that you believe had been broken. As well as passing you badly, did his passage through the mini roundabout pass muster? You might mention "corporate duty of care"- ie, the company might be held responsible in the case of an accident.
I did that years ago, letter and phone call. The letter I got back said it had been made clear to the employee that he wouldn't be doing that again.

Your video took ages to down load, and then my PC wouldn't play it. Suggest a different approach when reporting to the company.

[foxyrider]

If I followed up every similar incident i'm party to i'd spend more time reporting stuff than riding! I doubt that I get through almost any ride without at least one close overtake, dangerous manoeuvre potentially endangering either myself or other cyclists.

For example, today, not once but twice cars passed either myself or an oncoming rider directly at the rider coming the other direction. Or the cars pulling blindly into the opposite lane to overtake a parked ambulance or, or.... and that's just on today's ride.

Whilst it would be nice to think every 'bad' bit of driving would be punished we know they won't be.

My advice, dump the camera and concentrate on enjoying your riding, life's too short as it is.

[1982john]

Post it on twitter and copy in a few cycling friendly accounts that can amplify the video. If the company (I couldnt see the name) is on twitter copy them in as well.

[Farrina]

Thanks to all for the replies which covered quite a wide ambit of opinion, providing a number of helpful suggestions and frank observations ...

I think on balance, whilst recognising I am unlikely to change the world, I shall attempt to speak to the company’s Fleet Manager to express my displeasure (but adopting a proactive tone along the lines suggested above of the Company may wish to protect its reputation).

I’ll revisit the length and format of my recording (I am surprised One Drive downloads are so slow)

I am not new to cycling (40 plus years and still averaging 6,000 plus miles a year) although I suspect my tolerance to vehicular miscreants has disminshed since being the victim of a “hit and run” late last year (fortuitously only minor scrapes and stitches).

I’ll end by observing that If I can succeed in changing the subject drivers attitude to cyclists safety, I shall have achieved my objective. After all who knows - it might be you that meet him next!

[mjr]

If you are uninjured, the police won't do anything, lack of resources and all that.

This varies greatly by police force IME. Some act on dashcam evidence more than others.

[The utility cyclist]

Police, don't contact the company so their probable lies will be exposed, if plod do nothing make a formal complaint. Should be dangerous driving all day long

[landsurfer]

If you are uninjured, the police won't do anything, lack of resources and all that.

This varies greatly by police force IME. Some act on dashcam evidence more than others.

Not a chance ... all police resources are being diverted to "Trans hate crime" and the incorrect use of pronouns .....

[Mick F]

Speak to the company. Police won't be interested as nothing bad happened.

As an aside, I used to wait for the school bus to Shevington there at the bottom of Ash Brow junction of the Dalton road. It wasn't a mini roundabout in those days. We moved to Newburgh in 1965.