Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Near Miss of the Day 276: Thames Valley Police launch operation targeting close passing drivers - but took no action on this shocking example

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Buckinghamshire...

Thames Valley Police and their colleagues from Hampshire Police, with whom the run a Joint Roads Policing Unit, are this week running a ‘Give Space, Be Safe’ campaign warning drivers of the dangers of overtaking cyclist too closely. By pure coincidence, the latest video in our Near Miss of the Day series took place on their patch – but despite it being reported to Thames Valley Police, no action has been taken.

It happened in Hartwell near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to road.cc reader Gerry, who told is it happened several weeks ago and that he had followed it up to establish that no action had been taken as yet.

“The car actually brushes me as it drives through, trying to avoid the motorcycle on the other side,” he said. “The government need to get their act together and introduce the close pass law to make it an offence.

“The law cannot be correct if the police are not willing to take action as they probably see it as not resulting in any kind of conviction and there is nothing really to be done in preventing idiots continuing to drive like this.”

He added: “I think the police should contract this work out as they are not interested.”

According to this article published today on the Thames Valley Police website, however, they are interested – although as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

Sergeant Rob Heard, from the Joint Operations Roads Safety Team, said: “A close pass not only presents a danger to the cyclist, but it is also intimidating.

“The Highway Code states, overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so and that drivers should allow vulnerable road users as much room as they would when overtaking a car.

“A driver deemed to be driving dangerously close can be prosecuted and taken to court. Cyclists also found to be riding in a careless or dangerous manner will also be stopped and dealt with appropriately.

“Ultimately, we are about making the roads safer for all and making sure we all get to our destinations safely.”

> 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

> What to do next if you’ve been involved in a road traffic collision

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

10 comments

Avatar
zero_trooper | 4 years ago
0 likes

"No action has been taken, as yet"

Victim Gerry, if you are reading this, what did the police actually tell you? That that it had been investigated, but there was going to be No Further Action, or that they had decided not to investigate it at all (and if so, why not?), or that they were still investigating it, hence the 'as yet'. It could be 'we haven't managed to trace the driver, as yet'.

You shouldn't have to chase up your own complaint and the update you were given seems very poor. Maybe Sgt. HEARD can help you?

Avatar
LDR | 4 years ago
0 likes

Find it a bit hypocritical of Thames Valley when they posted a few months ago about the (idiot) sportive riders undertaking the horse, the comments vitriol was the usual ‘ road tax ‘ and ‘ riding side by side’ and not once did they take the time to point out the Road Traffic Ordinance

Avatar
LDR | 4 years ago
1 like

Find it a bit hypocritical of Thames Valley when they posted a few months ago about the (idiot) sportive riders undertaking the horse, the comments vitriol was the usual ‘ road tax ‘ and ‘ riding side by side’ and not once did they take the time to point out the Road Traffic Ordinance

Avatar
ChrisB200SX | 4 years ago
0 likes

TVP giving a damn about cyclists... I'll believe it when I see it!

Avatar
alansmurphy | 4 years ago
2 likes

100% Burt - 5mm between wing mirrors at 60mph is deemed good driving!

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
3 likes

At least the government review into road offences will sort out TVP's inability to police the roads.

Avatar
burtthebike replied to hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
3 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

At least the government review into road offences will sort out TVP's inability to police the roads.

Any decade now.

Avatar
TedBarnes | 4 years ago
4 likes

Sergeant Rob Heard hasn't quite got the Highway Code right. What it actually says in R163 is: 

"give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car"

It may seem pedantic, but I think the bit I've put in bold is an important point - it's the difference between treating cyclists and other vulnerable road users the same as you'd treat a car, as against recognising that they are actually vulnerable road users and so should be treated with extra care. 

Avatar
burtthebike replied to TedBarnes | 4 years ago
3 likes

TedBarnes wrote:

Sergeant Rob Heard hasn't quite got the Highway Code right. What it actually says in R163 is: 

"give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car"

It may seem pedantic, but I think the bit I've put in bold is an important point - it's the difference between treating cyclists and other vulnerable road users the same as you'd treat a car, as against recognising that they are actually vulnerable road users and so should be treated with extra care. 

Yes, but since some drivers give cars that much room when overtaking, that rule is nonsense.  It needs to be rewritten to say that they should be given at least 1m space when passsing at <30mph, and 1.5m between 30-40mph, and 2m >40mph.

Passing vulnerable road users at the same distance you'd give another driver in their armoured car is absurd.

Avatar
jh27 replied to TedBarnes | 4 years ago
2 likes

TedBarnes wrote:

Sergeant Rob Heard hasn't quite got the Highway Code right. What it actually says in R163 is: 

"give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car"

It may seem pedantic, but I think the bit I've put in bold is an important point - it's the difference between treating cyclists and other vulnerable road users the same as you'd treat a car, as against recognising that they are actually vulnerable road users and so should be treated with extra care. 

 

Whoever wrote that rule has a lot to answer for - as it is very ambiguous - it wasn't always accompanied by the photo that currently accompanies it.  To my mind, the room that you leave when overtaking car is the space between your respective wing mirrors - that is rarely going to be 1.5m.  Many, many, many years ago, when my father was taught to drive a bus, he was taught to leave a gap that is atleast equivalent to the height of the cyclist he is passing.  It wouldn't have been difficult to write the rule as 'give at least 1.5m' - and it should be rewritten - but ideally into the road traffic act, so that it becomes a 'must' rule. 

Latest Comments