“We must avoid encouraging risk taking or deliberate incitement for others to offend”: Heavily criticised road safety campaign stands by message to cyclists “proactively” seeking bad driving

A road safety campaign in Essex has stood by its claim that some cyclists “proactively seek out examples of poor driving” and added that those sending submissions should consider their own conduct as well, after they rejected a submission because it was not “in passing” from commute.

Safer Essex Road Partnership, or SERP, says that its purpose is to reduce death and serious injury on Essex roads to zero. Its “Extra Eyes” initiative is a public footage submission forum which allows people to send evidence of poor and dangerous behaviour on the roads, which then gets passed on to Essex Police for further action.

Earlier this week, we had reported SERP’s Twitter account replying to a question asking why one example of a cyclist's footage of a mobile phone-using driver would not be accepted, saying: “We accept these if they are reported by cyclists who record it in passing while on their commute but not from those who proactively seek out examples of poor driving.”

The stance drew criticism, with one cyclist calling it “shocking” and another saying it is a “completely unacceptable response”. Others questioned how SERP would determine the difference between someone who recorded something “in passing” and other footage “proactively” sought out.

> Road safety campaign slammed for claiming some cyclists "proactively seek out examples of poor driving", says it only accepts footage captured "in passing" from commutes

road.cc had reached to SERP for a comment and they’ve got back to us, essentially doubling down on its message and standing by its claim: “Extra Eyes exists to allow members of the public to report suspected road traffic offences with supporting video evidence, enabling Essex Police to investigate and take action where appropriate.

“Most cases are dealt with either by warning letters or a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). A NIP can lead to a fixed penalty, educational retraining course or a court hearing. All suspected offenders who receive a NIP have the right for their case to be heard in court, so footage that will be unlikely to secure a conviction in court for any reason will not result in a NIP.

“Before submitting footage, those making a report are informed that ‘Neither the Safer Essex Roads Partnership nor Essex Police will support or encourage anyone to proactively seek out examples of poor driving. It is essential to consider your own driving and conduct before making any submission.’”

They said that SERP “supports people who witness risky driving while using the public roads, but we must avoid encouraging risk taking or deliberate incitement for others to offend”, before adding that “over 70 motorists in Essex this year so far have received a NIP following a close pass on a cyclist submitted to Extra Eyes”.

“We are grateful for all the people who share our aim to make the roads of Essex safer by taking the time to report driving complaints. We appreciate there is frustration that we cannot process every complaint so the continued support we receive from the public is highly appreciated,” SERP said.

Last year (2022) you prosecuted two (2) reports of phone use where the reporter was a cyclist.
In total you received 254 reports of phone use and prosecuted 33.https://t.co/Nf0bu8kwfB

— ThatGuyOnTheBike (@TGonthebike) April 25, 2023

Under the original tweet by SaferEssexRoads, a Twitter user had shared an FOI request which showed the outcome of all Operation SNAP reports in Essex last year, showing just two phone-using motorists reported by cyclists were prosecuted. In total, 252 reports of mobile phone use resulted in 33 prosecutions.

Of the 252 reports, 15 came from cyclists, resulting in three prosecutions, four warning letters, one passed to another team and seven cases of no further action.

The backlash against the Essex group came just days after another similar group from Warwickshire advised cyclists to “stop and allow drivers to overtake”. The campaign group, called Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, also asked cyclists to be “considerate of motorists who are trying to pass them”.

> Road safety group draws ire after advising cyclists to “stop and allow drivers to overtake”

The move had drawn ire, with people criticising Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership of spreading misleading information to cyclists and ignoring the hierarchy of road users as per the new Highway Code.

In response, an Inspector from Warwickshire Police’s Road Safety Unit, on behalf of the group told road.cc that “one tweet cannot always explain the complex rules of the Highway Code”, and that their “aim is to try to educate all road users to be considerate of everyone else to avoid collisions and make the roads safer for everyone to use”.

These aren’t the first instances of those charged with making the roads safe have been accused of “victim blaming” when it comes to cyclists this year.

> Police accused of "victim blaming" for advice to cyclists after two riders injured by drivers

In February, police in Bournemouth were criticised after responding to two separate incidents where cyclists were seriously injured after being hit by drivers with a “BIKE aware” social media campaign, which advises riders to “be aware”, “keep space”, and “expect to wait”.

The Facebook post received several comments questioning the response to the two incidents, but Bournemouth Police doubled down on its advice, replying to comments by insisting that being “BIKE aware is for both cyclists and motorists, with considerations made by both to help keep everyone on the road safe”.

The controversial advice accompanied a report of “two unrelated serious road traffic collisions in Christchurch”.

“Both involved vehicles colliding with cyclists, leaving the two cyclists requiring hospital treatment for serious injuries. One of the cyclists had fractures to their knee, thumb and four vertebrae,” the force confirmed.

The week before Bournemouth Police’s contentious road safety campaign, Police Scotland received similar accusations of victim blaming after asking pedestrians to wear hi-vis clothing following a spate of road deaths. The advice was criticised by many, including national lead for fatal collision investigation reporting DCS Andy Cox, and came after six pedestrians died in collisions in the space of just 13 days.

And just last week, Derbyshire Constabulary announced a new road safety campaign which said that its officers will focus on protecting cyclists and motorbike riders by reducing dangerous riding behaviour and ensuring that they keep them within speed limits.

In the somewhat clumsily worded statement, the force said that it is going to spend “more time on our most rural roads, to ensure riders are keeping to speed limits and riding with care”.