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news
Near Miss of the Day 788Near Miss of the Day 788: British Transport Police apologises for "lapse in judgement" from impatient officer
Today's Near Miss of the Day comes courtesy of a road.cc reader who was on the receiving end of some impatient must get in front driving from... a police officer driving a British Transport Police vehicle. At least it was easy to work out where to send the complaint...
The reader was riding a tandem through York when the police vehicle rushed ahead — despite oncoming traffic — resulting in "an unnecessary and uncomfortably close pass" at the narrowest point of the bridge.
"Nothing is gained, because it has to stop for lights. It's no surprise that it's almost impossible to get the police interested in dangerous driving in York," he told us.
But that's not where this story ends because, as we would recommend all cyclists who have recorded clips of close passes, they reported it to the police, making an official complaint via the British Transport Police website.
He received the following reply:
I am in receipt of your complaint regarding the BTP vehicle passing too close to you in York. I have watched the video that you supplied and concur that the decision to pass you at that point should have been given more thought as to possible repercussions of such action. Please accept my apologies on behalf of the British Transport Police for this lapse in judgement by the officers.
It is my intention to ascertain who the officers are and ask their supervision to have a reflective practice meeting with them to review the footage and identify any learning that is to be had and reflect on findings moving forward, so that a repeat does not happen.
> 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
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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69 comments
Officers broke the law - they were not blue lighted.
Send them on the public awareness safety course for some shame and then suspend their advanced one which they probably have until they redo that too.
Another painted line bike lane that makes motor vehicle drivers feel entitled to use all of 'their' lane when passing a cyclist in the bike lane; when the bike lane ends with a car alongside, which has priority?
Spot on.
"I am in receipt of your complaint"
Which was immediately filed... in the bin.
We all know only too well that the police will always protect their own. Even well-meaning 'honest' officers end up being dragged down into the pit. It's a central part of the culture. Corruption can flourish because there is no real way of stopping it.
Its a police car - most people slow down to let them pass.
I d have slowed down anyway - common sense
They have sirens and pretty blue flashy lights if they are in a hurry, to let you know they need you to get out of the way. Even then, they are trained to an extremely high standard so as to avoid risk to the public.
I think that is only true if they are trained in pursuit. Not convinced the normal drivers are that well trained.
I'm sure wtjs could provide a few examples !
I'm sure wtjs could provide a few examples !
Sadly, not- or I would have put them on here. Much though I despise Lancashire Constabulary for their presumed corruption and proven idleness and hypocrisy, I have never experienced a close pass or other bad driving at the hands of the police here or anywhere else that I can remember- except one illegal crossing of the unbroken white line by a police vehicle when I wasn't carrying the camera.
Disappointed. You are clearly not going out looking for trouble as mandated by the camera code.
Welcome another first post anti-cyclist! Nobody slows down to let a police car pass if it is not on an emergency call with lights and/or sirens operating. If you did so I suspect the police would pull over themselves to check that you were sober, as it would be utterly absurd behaviour which would cause confusion and delay for all parties.
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'Nobody slows down to let a police car pass if it is not on an emergency call'.
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There ya go again, Mr. Dogmatic, Never Wrong Trendy.
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Gawd, it must be wonderful to be omnipotent like you.
.
P.S. The lady herself says that she would have slowed down. QED your statement is simply wrong.
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Oh, DO keep up, please.
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Must be hard trolling without your mates anymore Flint. Maybe post some discussion pieces on bikes or something instead.
Fixed it for you
Are you saying I'm not omnipotent? Dammit, there was me thinking that FB was regarding me as a God…
Know-it-all.
You really are obsessed with me now, aren't you? I don't mind, because nothing you say matters to me in the slightest, but it can't be good for you to keep letting me live rent-free inside your head like this. You should take up a hobby, something that will get you out in the open air and stop you being so obsessed with complete strangers; cycling is highly recommended.
Maybe don't use what appears to be your email address for your username here.
Was that part of your driver training? Unless the emergency vehicle has blue/lights sirens, they are treated as normal traffic.
You should be more concerned with drivers who a) don't notice emergency vehicles on a call b) have no idea how to let them past safely
You don't slow down for a police car to let it past. If you do you'll probably be booked for driving inconsiderately. The only time you let a police car past is when it has its blues and twos on. Even then you only do so when you can legally and safely. pull over. A trained TB Officer understands this. Regular station drivers not so much.
Emergency drivers are encouraged not to drive to the speed limit if they are not on an emergency call on the motorway, it causes too much confusion as people drive in all sorts of odd ways. You'll quite often see patrol cars driving at around 60.
The same used to apply to white Volvo's with roof racks - an emergency responder mate, before the days of them being allowed lights, used to get calls from the motorway control centre for bumbling along at 65mph and causing havoc in his.
I've some vague recollection of somebody pointing that fact to me. I do have a vivid memory of a sometime girlfriend screaming at me to slow drown as we drove past the police on the motorway ( they were doing 55 or so). She was deeply concerned that I would be done for speeding even though I was still under 70 at the time.
And if you watch the Blue Light Aware guidance, generally they don't want you to slow down excessively to let them past. If you're in a set of double whites for example, carry on at the speed limit. They'll switch their siren off until they consider it's safe to overtake. When the siren goes on start looking for the best place to let them past and indicate left to tell them you're ready for them to go past
What we need is a pithy phrase to express that. Maybe it could be translated into latin too, for the benefit of lawyers?
Is the officer replying also a Methodist Lay Preacher?
As a cyclist myself, a close pass is scary, especially at speed. However, that is very much to be interpreted by the specific rider on the receiving end. Also a driver can cross a solid white line to pass a slow moving / stationary vehicle (highway code) - just saying. In all though, a very bad example to be setting as a police driver🫣
129 ... You may cross the line
if necessary, (it wasn't)
provided the road is clear, (it wasn't)
to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle,
if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less. (he wasn't)
- just saying.
129 ... You may cross the line
if necessary, (it wasn't)
provided the road is clear, (it wasn't)
Enforcement of single and double unbroken white lines has long been completely abandoned by Lancashire Constabulary
It seems like a large number of drivers are joining your long crusade to get the Police to actually do something about all the illegal drivers on the road . . . . . .
Motorists want speed cameras to check tax, insurance and MOT
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/norfolk-speed-cameras-motorists-back-...
Try this one- no MOT for 8 months, and therefore uninsured. There will be no response and no action whatsoever from Lancashire Constabulary. A bit different from the dynamic police you see on the motorway programs on the telly?! Total Indolence Policing- I'll think up a better acronym
Do you check the status of everything you pass on the road, or did this one do something else to warrant your attention? Just asking, not judging.
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