Undertake with a difference...

[Foss62]

I was the (fortunately unharmed) victim of some not so advanced driving today. The circumstances still astonish me.
On a morning run I encountered a mowing machine that made the narrow path and verge unpassable. In a 30 limit just entering a village I ran out towards the centre of the empty road as the mower was throwing up a lot of dust and stones. As I was passing the machine and just about to head back to the path, a car passed me at speed on the inside. The drivers door mirror missed me by about an inch, and presumably the other side missed the mower by about the same amount.
The road was clear when I left the path and any approaching vehicle would have seen the situation from a distance of at least a couple of hundred yards (the mower was producing a lot of dust).
I am trying hard to work out what was going through the driver’s head...

[jamei303]

Best to start with what was going through your head, as that's something you can control.

If running in the middle of the road and your ears are full of lawn mower, it's probably best in future to spend half your time looking behind you, so you won't be surprised like that.

[Foss62]

You may be right. Before this stretch is a mile or so of road with no paths, and on that bit I would be running on the right. Probably the safest action in this case would have been to cross the centre line, but I imagine 99% of pedestrians (and cyclists) would have done what I did. I can’t think many drivers would want to pass that close to a grass cutter, so am wondering if somehow that driver saw nothing and only missed me and the machine by accident...

[RobM77]

I had something similar happen to me in the New Forest a few years ago. I slowed and went wide to go around some ponies, and before I returned to my side of the road a car blasted past me on the inside. I was watching him in my mirror and knew exactly what he was going to do, so it wasn't dangerous, but rather stupid! He'd been following me, presumably frustrated at me sticking to the 40mph speed limit.

[21TonyK]

Just sounds like the driver didn't see you until the last minute due to the dust and had to decide whether to swerve left or right. They chose left as that the side of the road they were safest on after passing the machinery.

[Ron240]

21TonyK said:

Just sounds like the driver didn't see you until the last minute due to the dust and had to decide whether to swerve left or right. They chose left as that the side of the road they were safest on after passing the machinery.

So by your reckoning the driver took the correct and safest course of action under the circumstances.
I feel I would just be wasting my time pointing out every fault with what you said.