Mum sparks debate as van drives 'dangerously close' to her child cycling on the road

7 December 2022, 11:38 | Updated: 7 December 2022, 11:46

Van and child have close encounter in north London

A mum in London has shared a clip of her child cycling on the road as a van veers towards him.

A mum has urged for better road safety after sharing a clip of her child cycling on the road in London.

Taking to Twitter, Francesca Savage - who is a cycling and low traffic neighbourhood advocate - posted a clip of her child riding their bike in front of her.

The little one can be seen peddling on the left hand side of the road in Haringey, as a van comes up alongside them in an attempt to overtake.

• Listen now on Global Player: Heart Xmas brings you all the best festive songs

The child then veers out slightly to the right, with the van just a few feet away from the bike.

Ms Savage said: "Completely empty road this morning. I feel this van could have given us slightly more space.

“If we want to get kids to travel more actively we need to make it safe!”

The video has divided Twitter users, with many saying the van driver should have given them more room.

One person wrote: "I am very angered by the van driver for failing to give the child enough room. 100 per cent van driver not parent at fault.”

Another added that “the van needed to slow down, give more space and take more care”.

According to new Highway Code rules about the hierarchy of the road, priority must be given to those who are most vulnerable.

This starts with pedestrians, then cyclists, horse riders, and motorcyclists, followed by those in cars and vans and then drivers of buses and lorries.

It also states that drivers should leave "at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds".

It comes after a similar video showing a five-year-old cycling down the middle of the road and being narrowly missed by a car went viral.

The footage sees the child being filmed by his dad as he cycles down the road.

At one stage, the young boy has to veer into the middle of the road to go round some parked cars, but at his moment a car passes by and narrowly misses him.

Appearing on The Jeremy Vine Show, the child’s dad Ashley blamed the driver of the car for getting too close to his son.

He said: "The facts are clear on this one, the driver was wrong, and my son has every right to ride in the road. That's clear cut.

"You can see from the clip they should have stopped way sooner. They had plenty of distance to make that decision, we had lights on, reflective clothing.

“The distance [to the pair cycling] just is not safe. People will argue 'oh, plenty of room, you could drive a bus through there'... well, I'm sorry, that's not factually correct."

He added: "That's less than a metre gap so legally that's wrong and then morally that's wrong."

Read more

• ‘I use a wrist rein on my son - some people judge me but I don’t care’
• Mum shocked after being charged £47 for two bags of pick and mix at Winter Wonderland
• Dad-of-five causes debate for using leash on quintuplets