How to stop close passes, who to write to?

You could try prayer. 5 minutes after I got home last night there was an almighty bang outside my house. I came outside to see two expensive cars with custom number plates I recognised as people who had close passed me on previous occasions had crashed into each other. Witness in another vehicle said both were driving like total dicks.
The negative part was the clean up of wreckage blocked buses in both directions for two hours. So as usual, public transport users were the ones punished for driver misbehaviour.

I've submitted a few clips to Avon & Somerset Police; got the usual 'driver has been served a letter/fixed penalty/Notice to Prosecute'.  In Bath the Lib Dem council are pushing ahead with active travel and cutting off rat-runs (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) so I usually engage with the consulations where I can.  It was in their manifesto but it's sending some locals wild.  I think the majority either want safer cycling roads or are indifferent; problem with the 'antis' are they go full petition, social media ranting and crowd-funding for legal challenges.  Fortunately the council just ignore it and get on with it.  I did engage with a Nextdoor chat but realised I was up against people who thought it was their god-given right to drive wherever they want.  Signed up for a local meeting organised by (supportive) councillors ref a LTN being implemented nearby; it's around the time I get back on my bike so thought I'd turn up in cycle gear!  I still drive but if I can swap out some of my journeys and cycle/walk/use public transport then I don't see why other people can't make an effort.

I think that there are certain road layouts that encourage a close pass. I'm not sure exactly but it seems to be more common on wider roads or roads with multiple lanes.

So when I've been close passed more than once on a section of road I remember that as being a section where I need to ride in a position that makes it impossible to pass.

I live in a large village and have the same problem doing utility riding around the locality.

I put together a video, six close passes in six days, ranging from "Ok it's a close pass, over the double white line" to "*******!!!!" I then booked a slot at the local Parish Council meeting, showed them the video along with some explanations and basically said "What are you going to do about this then?"

The PC have very little power to actually do anything, they sent the video to the local Police Comissioner who passed it on to the County Police road safety group.

The upshot was that we got two close pass operations in the village, on the first one they pulled in 20 drivers for "education". The operations were not well received on the village facebook pages.

All in all, made no difference to driver behaviour.

I suggest you write to the driver direct and start your missive with

NOTICE OF INTENDED PROSECUTION

Yes it's a waste of time, no one cares enough to fix it. So we have to put up with it unfortunately.

I ride with a pass pixi, past Suffolk Police HQ, I often see the traffic cops driving on the same road, yet I get close passed all the time on it. I had one the other week who did it with a police car coming towards them, made no difference. One with an ambulance on blues & twos coming towards us, still overtook & close passed and made the ambulance brake to avoid a collision.

Having cameras will make it easier for you to provide evidence [although don't be surprised if it gets ignored].

If you are getting close passes from commercial vehicles such as HGV, busses and coaches, upload the clip to YouTube [but keep it as Private - need to have a link to view], and send the link to the company transport manager. If they only have an online contact page, don't send the link, and mark it as 'complaint: for the attention of the Transport Manager.
Make sure your complaint lists the offenses [preferable to note legislation and index (Road Traffic Act, section 1.2.3 for example)] and keep clear and precise.
Make sure you copy yourself/ screen capture the contact form.

Print to PDF all communication between yourself and the company.

If you get no resolution, send it all to the Traffic Commissioner for your area, as they issue Operators Licence and the firm must have a robust complaint resolution process in place.
If there are enough complaints about a vehicle or company, the TC may not renew the licence.

You can do this in parallel with reporting to your local police force for them to ignore.

Your main and almost insuperable problem is the almost limitless tolerance and sympathy the police display towards motorists, especially in their interactions with us 'rats of the road'. WU59 UMH is well known to the police and to my fans on here having today achieved a landmark 7 full years without VED. Didn't quite make the 7 years without MOT, but was driving around for 6 months after an MOT failed for several "dangerous" defects. It was regularly parked for hours at a time, including most of last Christmas Day and New Year's Day, outside the pub 150 yards from the police station. If only there was some way for the crack Police Squad to locate the vehicle and owner and view the MOT and VED history of the vehicle! The trailer does not, of course, display a number plate

Without knowing the police force, it is hard to say other than you are wasting your time with lancs, Essex, Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk.

Get a camera, rear facing and report via the police portal.

I am afraid you won't be able to stop close passes but you can play your part in trying to hold drivers to account which may reduce the problem in the long term.

First thing to do is work out what police force you come under and see if they run OpSnap or some other system for receiving video footage of incidents during your ride.

If they do then you will need a camera. Battery life will be a major factor when choosing a camera. You can get away with shorter life if you can get spare batteries and change them at work before your return journey. Low light performance is an issue even with some expensive cameras and if this is the case a mic input is useful so you can call out number plates. The ideal would be front and rear fixed cameras and a headcam but this is something to build up to.

You then read the instructions on the police web site and report driving you deem to be inconsiderate or dangerous. At this point you will suffer one or both of the following. The police will take no action against the driver. The police will not tell you the outcome of your report.

You then need to email your PCC and MP to see if they will help. Unlikely. You can also send your videos in to roadcc NMOTD and get advice from commenters who report already, some of whom may be in the same area as you.

It is very easy to get disheartened when reporting but I feel it is important to keep it up. I've been reporting in Gloucestershire since 2020. Here is my first ever.

https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-461-dangerous-overtake-rain-2...

In all that time only two drivers have had points and a fine and I think one of those was because the oncoming van had to stop. I still report and in 2024 nearly all my reports have met with (as yet unspecified) action. If it was "just" a close pass then it was NFA but the assessor did take the time to explain why. Things should have changed now though as they have said they are going to send out advisory letters for close passes so I'm going to start reporting them again.

Finally good luck if you decide to join us vigilantes/road safety campaigners. (delete as appropriate)