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news
Claypotts Road, Broughty Ferry (via StreetView).jpgDundee cyclist suffers close pass by police van on blind bend
Police Scotland’s Tayside Division has said it will “look into” footage shot on a cyclist’s helmet cam which appears to show one of the force’s officers executing a close pass on a blind bend.
David Evans was riding along Claypotts Road in Broughty Ferry shortly before 8am last Thursday when the incident took place. The footage can be seen on The Courier website.
“I heard an engine approaching from behind but didn’t expect anyone to pass on a blind corner,” said Evans. “Seeing it was the police was surprising. There was all manner of silly driving going on – overtaking on a blind corner, a close pass and into oncoming traffic. It was ill judged.”
A police spokesman said: “We will look into the matter and establish the circumstances”.
Tayside Police do not currently run a close pass operation based on that pioneered by West Midlands Police and subsequently adopted by a number of other forces.
The spokesman explained: “We have considered the relevance of Operation Close Pass in Tayside and in light of our collision and road casualty profile we do not consider an operation of this nature to be a high priority at this time.
“We actively engage in both education and enforcement to promote the safety of all road users and we urge everyone to be respectful of others and use our roads with due consideration at all times.”
Evans said that he had only begun using a helmet cam following a collision last year.
“I was involved in a serious accident last year where the driver denied responsibility and because there wasn’t any footage or witnesses, bar the driver involved, there was no recompense for my injuries or possessions.
“I was concussed, lost part of my tongue and most of my bottom teeth in the accident. In fact the driver, within a week, tried to get me to pay for the damage to the car.
“Once I was back on the bike I decided I needed to record my rides should anything like that happen again. I needed to protect myself against drivers doing dumb things and getting away with it.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- ktache 3 hours 28 min ago
The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
- mctrials23 4 hours 24 min ago
As i've said before, the police should be sued for a lot of money when someone they have knowingly ignored has gone on to commit a serious crime....
- David9694 4 hours 31 min ago
'Bad parking' blocks firefighters multiple times on same emergency call-out...
- David9694 4 hours 35 min ago
Cambridgeshire boy, 13, crashes Audi into garden wall after taking it from home...
- Adam Sutton 5 hours 21 min ago
Good stuff. Now do it on cycleway C9 through Hammersmith to Chiswick.
- mark1a 5 hours 30 min ago
It's technically allowed but it's not known as "London's Orbital Car Park" for nothing.
- Dogless 6 hours 38 min ago
You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
- mattw 9 hours 18 min ago
Used car salesman is a complete attention-seeking plank....
- tubasti 9 hours 35 min ago
I don't know if they're any better, but they's certainly become more boring.
- FionaJJ 10 hours 1 min ago
At risk of being cynical, and stereotyping the police, it's so they don't have to leave the comfort of their panda cars and pursue on foot when...
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10 comments
Given that they can rarely be arsed to stop someone taking/texting on a mobile phone in the next lane, this doesn't seem especially surprising.
When I say that the cops don't care if people on bikes live or die, they don't believe me. And yet not only does this force resist a close-pass enforcement operation because they don't care if you or I die, they actually start committing the offences themselves.
Once they have "looked into" this case (i.e. ignored it for a while) they will then ignore it permanently. Why can't they just be honest and admit that they don't give a shit about this report? Why do they have to lie?
Ha! They're recruiting! Would be wrong to wind them up on twitter...
https://twitter.com/TaysidePolice/status/913370908559060992
I had a police van overtake me in Regent's Park once with inches to spare. I caught up with him at the lights and he as good as said it served me right because I was cycling so far from the kerb. Some police drivers are just awful people and awful drivers. Same as the rest of us, I suppose.
These local papers are almost unreadable because of all the advertising and crap they have on their sites, which means it takes a day and a half for the browser to load the page. Even worse than road.cc
But I went through all of that, and I can confirm it is an awful overtake.
...for Dundee, normal overtake for London.
By the Met? Having said that, I did report them to themselves a few years back, but I thought they'd grown out of it.
different perception of space in Dundee - I once asked someone there where the nearest cashpoint was and they told me it was waaaay over the other side of town - asked how long it would take to walk there and they said, 5 minutes
that sounds more like London to me. I get odd looks if I admit to having walked from Euston to Kings Cross instead of using the tube...
but yeah, a bad pass from someone who should know better.
And just what does this driving behaviour say to other drivers, this coming from those that are supposed to set a higher example, as well as know the law ,rules of the road. Totally unhelpful response from police Scotland 're the close Pass initiative.