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Near Miss of the Day 314: So what is “the minimum threshold of the offence”?

Our regular series featuring close passes from around the country - today it's Cheshire...
by Alex Bowden
Fri, Oct 11, 2019 21:14
38

Pete sent this video and a statement off to Cheshire police, “hoping that something, anything, might be done to educate the driver.” He was told that the force would not be taking action because the incident “doesn’t meet the minimum threshold of the offence.”

“I had the misfortune of having this driver overtake me on 23rd of September,” says Pete. “I'd just exited the single lane slip road off the A483 onto the B5445 near Grosvenor Garden Centre near Chester.

“Sorry about the quality – the roads are poor and it’s raining – but you do see clearly enough what happens. The driver makes no attempt to give me anything like half decent space, because they can't, as there's a Transit in the other carriageway.”

Explaining the decision not to take action, Cheshire Police told him: “This is because the incident in the footage you’ve supplied doesn’t meet the minimum threshold of the offence so unfortunately on this occasion no action will be taken against another party but thanks for letting us know, I’ve logged the details in case it comes to our attention again.”

“This is the latest in a long line of point blank refusals by Cheshire police to do anything at all to protect cyclists,” says Pete. “It's got to a point now that I only send the occasional one just to test the waters to see if they can be bothered – which apparently they still can’t.”

Pete adds that if you go over the border to Wales, “Operation Snap will at the very least issue a warning letter.”

> 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.

NMotD
Near Miss of the Day
Alex Bowden

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.

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38 comments

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Nemesis | 5 years ago
2 likes

Nemesis wrote:

I must be weird. I didn't think it was that close.... 

But what do I know - I've only been cycling  55 years. 

You may now commence the abuse 

 

 

You've been cycling for 55 years* in current conditions.  Ergo, you are weird, I'm afraid.  Most non-weird people would have given up long ago.  Your view of the closeness is therefore of reduced significance as you are one of those hard-core cyclist outliers who are by definition not representative of normal people.

 

*(I'll resist the temptation to suggest you must be a very long way from home by now, in favour of the more serious point)

Avatar
Nemesis replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 5 years ago
0 likes

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Nemesis wrote:

I must be weird. I didn't think it was that close.... 

But what do I know - I've only been cycling  55 years. 

You may now commence the abuse 

 

 

You've been cycling for 55 years* in current conditions.  Ergo, you are weird, I'm afraid.  Most non-weird people would have given up long ago.  Your view of the closeness is therefore of reduced significance as you are one of those hard-core cyclist outliers who are by definition not representative of normal people.

 

*(I'll resist the temptation to suggest you must be a very long way from home by now, in favour of the more serious point)

Thank you so much Fluffy Kitten - that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all week.

Seriously I take your comments as a compliment. Thanks!

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to Nemesis | 5 years ago
0 likes

Nemesis wrote:

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Nemesis wrote:

I must be weird. I didn't think it was that close.... 

But what do I know - I've only been cycling  55 years. 

You may now commence the abuse 

 

 

You've been cycling for 55 years* in current conditions.  Ergo, you are weird, I'm afraid.  Most non-weird people would have given up long ago.  Your view of the closeness is therefore of reduced significance as you are one of those hard-core cyclist outliers who are by definition not representative of normal people.

 

*(I'll resist the temptation to suggest you must be a very long way from home by now, in favour of the more serious point)

Thank you so much Fluffy Kitten - that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all week.

Seriously I take your comments as a compliment. Thanks!

 

Fine by me - it certainly wasn't intended as an insult.  But the point still stands. (You aren't representative - ergo for those who want to see more active travel and less driving by the population as a whole, your view on what is a close pass is not that relavant)

Avatar
burtthebike | 5 years ago
3 likes

Funny, but when I was learning to drive, I was told several times that you had to take extra care in bad weather conditions, but many people, like this driver, seem to think that you can drive just as fast and just as close when it's pouring with rain.  At the very least the police should have sent them a very sternly worded letter pointing out that their bad driving put someone's life at risk.

Pardon me for repeating the point, but the government's review of road crimes will solve the problem of dangerous driving, not being, well, dangerous legally.  Of course it has to happen first, and perhaps someone could remind me of exactly how many years it has been since it was announced.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
1 like

burtthebike wrote:

Funny, but when I was learning to drive, I was told several times that you had to take extra care in bad weather conditions, but many people, like this driver, seem to think that you can drive just as fast and just as close when it's pouring with rain.  At the very least the police should have sent them a very sternly worded letter pointing out that their bad driving put someone's life at risk.

Pardon me for repeating the point, but the government's review of road crimes will solve the problem of dangerous driving, not being, well, dangerous legally.  Of course it has to happen first, and perhaps someone could remind me of exactly how many years it has been since it was announced.

May 2014 as far as I know.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/justice-for-victims-of-banned-drivers

Quote:

The law will be changed so disqualified drivers will face up to 10 years in prison if they cause death, and up to 4 years imprisonment if they cause serious injuries. These much tougher maximum sentences are designed to reflect the devastating impact on victims and their families.

The Justice Secretary also announced his intention to launch a full review of all driving offences and penalties, to ensure people who endanger lives and public safety are properly punished. This will include reviewing offences committed by uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said:

I want to make our roads safer and ensure people who cause harm face tough penalties.

Disqualified drivers should not be on our roads for good reason. Those who chose to defy a ban imposed by a court and go on to destroy innocent lives must face serious consequences for the terrible impact of their actions.

Today, we are sending a clear message that anyone who does will face much tougher punishment.

Avatar
Sriracha | 5 years ago
0 likes

DK68OKT
It's always helpful to get the reg in there somewhere so it shows up on Google. Unless, of course, some drivers see it as a badge of honour - quite possible I suppose.

Avatar
ktache | 5 years ago
0 likes

Wonderful weather for driving like an arse too.

Avatar
markw | 5 years ago
1 like

I've had the same response from Cheshire police. Even for overtaking on a solid white line.

I think for them to take any action at all you'd have to end up in hospital at least.

North Wales/Flintshire police are more supportive to cyclists though. They would send out a written warning for a close pass like this. My commute starts in Flintshire & passes into Cheshire so I get a short time where I feel the police would support me in an incident.

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