Near-miss 'could have killed me', says Devon cyclist

A cyclist said she feared for her life when a car overtaking her narrowly missed a truck in the oncoming lane.

The driver cut in front of vet Emily Simcock, 42, as she cycled to work on her first day in a new job, with the truck flashing its lights in warning.

"If the car had hit that lorry I would be dead," said Ms Simcock, who caught the manoeuvre on video as she cycled.

The driver's move on the B3344 in Devon put "Emily, themselves and other road users at risk", Cycling UK said.

Emily Simcock said she "cannot imagine a life without cycling"

Ms Simcock was riding to her new job in Kingsteignton on Friday when the car overtook her.

"I could not see any room for them to pass, I knew there was nothing I could do," she said.

It was one of two close-pass incidents on the same journey that left her "angry and shaken".

"Sad to say cyclists are close-passed on almost every journey, though not always as frightening as those ones," Ms Simcock said.

"We should be encouraging cycling for the planet and for our mental and physical health.

"It would put me off, but I cannot imagine a life without cycling."

Emily Simcock recorded two close-pass incidents on the same ride to work

Keir Gallagher, from Cycling UK, said the footage showed "definitely careless and borderline dangerous driving".

Devon and Cornwall Police has been encouraging victims of dangerous driving to upload videos to Operation Snap, which was launched in July 2019.

In its first six months one driver was prosecuted and four cases were pending based on video evidence sent to the site.

Another driver faces prosecution for cutting up a cyclist in footage from January.

Ch Insp Steve Lenney, head of roads policing in Devon and Cornwall, said "on this occasion" the force could not take any action "due to the quality of the video material" provided by Ms Simcock.

"However we routinely receive footage which results in an educational course or prosecution," he said.