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West Yorkshire Police decriminalising bad driving

by the little onion
Thu, Apr 01, 2021 20:11
10

After an incident where I was hit by a driver who couldn't see me despite having 950 lumens of front lights, and after a long appeals process into why the police didn't investigate the crash, it turns out that West Yorkshire Police's official policy is not to investigate or prosecute crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists which do not result in death or serious injury. It doesn't matter if there is dashcam footage or anything - the policy is that if you can walk away from it, they won't investigate it.

 

FFS!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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10 comments

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0-0 | 3 years ago
1 like

If a cyclist is knocked off their bike or has a near miss. Then confronts the driver.
Does kicking the driver in the balls count as a serious injury?
I guess my foot might hurt for a few minutes afterwards, but that's about it 😁

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Bungle_52 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Obviously ridiculous but if you would like to do something constructive on behalf of all vulnerable road users in Yorkshire I would ask for confirmation of the policy in writing and then contact the PCC and MP for comment. It may not reap rewards but a least you will have tried.

PS Cycling UK have been very helpful to me in Gloucestershire.

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brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

Utterly ridiculous surprise

("I'm sorry, sir, but if the burglars didn't take goods over the threshold then we can't investigate... "

"You've got a bruise but the skins not actually broken? I'm sorry, sir..."

Where would it stop? Would they just be left investigating offences against statues?)

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the little onion | 3 years ago
2 likes

I should clarify here - I'm actually directly quoting a police officer here. They informed me explicitly that their policy is not to investigate incidents where the injuries are not serious, beyond breathalysing drivers (which I understand is a legal requirement for RTAs).

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wtjs replied to the little onion | 3 years ago
0 likes

I'm actually directly quoting a police officer here

But was this a quotation from a written document? If so, please publicise it!

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Captain Badger replied to the little onion | 3 years ago
3 likes

the little onion wrote:

I should clarify here - I'm actually directly quoting a police officer here. They informed me explicitly that their policy is not to investigate incidents where the injuries are not serious, beyond breathalysing drivers (which I understand is a legal requirement for RTAs).

My policy(learned at work) is to produce minutes of this type of conversation and share back. This becomes a record of occurrences, and is citable.

The sharing back with the individual undermines the ability to say at a later date "I don't remember it like that"

As other posters have also said, to be [edit:police] policy this must be written. Gain the policy and publicise.

I agree with you entirely that their stance is ridiculous and unacceptable. They'll only change with publicity - daylight is the best disinfectant

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zero_trooper | 3 years ago
0 likes

'…involving pedestrians or cyclists…'
So two cars have a bump and one of the drivers has whiplash. WYP investigate the accident. 
Car runs over vulnerable road user, breaking their leg. No investigation! 

I take it that 'no investigation' only applies where the driver stops, provides details etc AND all their driving docs are in order. Still don't agree with the policy.

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the little onion replied to zero_trooper | 3 years ago
1 like

You would think! But no - I spotted earlier on this site a hit and run Near Miss of the Day from yorkshire where no criminal action was taken against the driver. Here the cyclist somehow managed to stay upright, but the driver wasn't prosecuted or properly investigated:

https://road.cc/content/news/271521-not-so-near-miss-day-380-driver-deli...

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wtjs | 3 years ago
0 likes

Yes, that's the way Lancashire operates as well. They also try to dodge action against people crashing red lights on the A6: today I received this reply to my enquiry about a red light crashing by 2  learner bikers which occurred on 28.11.20 and was reported by me with video the following day. This, from Force Control Room at Lancashire Constabulary:

Good Morning, 

The log was passed to the relevant department who will have taken any appropriate action in relation to the incident.

That was all, but it's not going to be the end of it, as there is now a long list of LC's failure to take any action whatsoever over red light offences. The important aspect is that, as far as Lancashire Constabulary is concerned, the appropriate action to take over well-documented traffic offences is none at all. Lancashire is a paradise for offenders.

PS Toyota Hiace PX68 NHC was a lot further back when the lights turned red.

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ktache | 3 years ago
2 likes

Ah well...

I hope you and the bike are alright.

Unless there are some consequences for awful driving, the driver will never learn and the next person hit might not get to walk away.

We now have no hope for inverstigations of close passes if the police won't investigate a proper hit.

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