Near Miss of the Day 116: Close pass driver won't face prosecution - because cyclist was too experienced

The police response to the footage shown in our latest Near Miss of the Day video suggests that for the force in question, the standard of driving is not what counts in deciding whether to prosecute a motorist for a close pass on a cyclist – but rather, the standard of riding by the person on the receiving end.

That’s the logical conclusion after road.cc reader Dave told us of the reply he received from Northamptonshire Police after he submitted them his video of a driver overtaking him just before a left-hand bend in the road and immediately cutting in front of him.

From Dave’s rear-facing camera, it appears that the driver has given him plenty of room, crossing into the opposite side of the road as they begin the overtaking procedure, pretty much textbook according to the illustration shown alongside Rule 163 of the Highway Code.

The front-facing camera on his bike, showing the completion of the manoeuvre, tells a very different story, however.

He told us: “Police said they won't prosecute as I didn't need to change direction, but if I was a less experienced cyclist and had thrown myself to the ground they would have considered a prosecution.”

Which is a curious position to take, given that the offences relating to careless or dangerous driving refer to the behaviour of the driver, and not any other road user involved – careless driving, for example, as defined by the Road Traffic Act 1988, is satisfied where the standard of driving “falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.”

> 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