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What is the purpose of a "warning letter"?
Quite often on 'Near Miss of The Day' I see the obvious disappointment when some really bad driving only results in a "warning letter" being sent out.
I'm not very familiar with the various police documents and I've never actually seen a warning letter (and google didn't really help).
Does it warn the driver something along the lines of "if the same thing happens again, you'll be fined" or, maybe not? I really don't know.
How long does this "warning" last for, is it a permanent thing or just till the next offense?
I'm just trying to understand the reason for sending them out, Oh... and when they 'say' they sent one out, is there any way of really knowing? 
Thanks
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This, received today at 13:50 illustrates the Lancashire Constabulary response to seriously close passes:
LC-20210821-1176
Thanks you for taking the time to submit your camera footage of the occurrence on Bowgreave Hill 05/08/2021 and to which the above log number relates.
We have forwarded educational material taken from the highway code to the registered keepers of bother vehicles involved referencing your complaint.
xxxxxxxx PC 1583 | Tactical Operations | Roads Policing | Dash Camera
This offence, below, occurred on the 4th August and was the subject of the online incident report with evidence file, video, etc on 5th August. It wasn't looked at, and allocated a log reference number, until 21st August. It then received the new sniggering LC Super-Joke response, which is the rubbish educational material for the offender to laugh at and file in the bin, with no mention even of any warning letter. The PC gets the date wrong and it's a poorly executed letter. That's how it goes in Lancashire.
One of the best articles on this I've seen is here. Very recent as well.
https://bristolcycling.org.uk/cycling-with-video-cameras-a-cyclists-pers...
One of the best articles on this I've seen is here. Very recent as well.
https://bristolcycling.org.uk/cycling-with-video-cameras-a-cyclists-pers...
Maybe it applies to Bristol, but it bears no relation to what happens (in other words, doesn't happen) in Lancashire.
the majority of drivers do not apparently contest compelling video evidence
This case is coming up in a month or so. Lancashire Constabulary hasn't replied to a request of over 2 weeks ago for the details of his court appearance. He is pleading 'Not Guilty' to the charge “Motor vehicle fail to comply with solid white line road markings". He did it twice at the same location in 2 days
'It can take a few minutes for a 300-400MB clip to be uploaded depending on your broadband speed.' Mine takes more like 90 minutes, and that's just for a two-minute clip. What broadband are they on??
I suspect the impact of a warning letter is really dependent on who receives it. I'm sure some people would take one seriously and it would make them think about how they drive in future; but some people will just ignore it (as demonstrated by the number of people who are repeatedly penalised for speeding, etc). Sadly, it is the latter category who are more likely to be the more dangerous driving.
Not letters but words of advice in Gloucestershire.
Here is one which may have had some effect :
Good morning Richard,
Thank you for taking the time to write back to me with your thoughts it is much appreciated.
The driver of the vehicle is not really known to the police, is previously of a good character and not known for any sort of driving offences as such I have given him the benefit of the doubt on this occasion and chosen to deal with this incident by means of education and words of advice.
I have attended the drivers home address and spoken to him at length he stated he knew immediately after the incident that he had got to close to you and was very apologetic asking for me to pass his apologies onto you. I have given him stern words of advice about keeping his distance from other road users especially cyclists due to their vulnerabilities on the roads and educated him in detail about the recommended passing distances for cyclists etc.
He continued to apologise and assured me it will not happen again and that he will be a lot more considerate for cyclists in the future.
A record is kept of what you reported to us and the outcome of me issuing words of advice to the driver and it is all kept and logged on incident reference 141 11/03/2021.
I hope you are happy with this outcome and that I have dealt with the incident to your satisfaction. If you ever have any further issues please don’t hesitate to contact us. In the meantime take care and stay safe.
Kind regards,
and here is one which may not :
Good Evening Richard,
In relation to this incident I would like to advise that the driver of the VW was spoken to and given strong words advice today in relation to her manner of driving.
In turn, she has asked that cyclists should also be mindful of their responsibilities and I have reassured her that you are aware of these.
This incident will now be closed and no further action will be taking place.
Many Thanks
I didn't realise that being formally warned by the police meant that you got to negotiate with them...
I'm beginning to suspect that the response I get depends very much on who deals with it. The 2 above were different officers and another PC informed me that the driving wasn't bad enough for a prosecution and sending out a warning letter was not possible as it would take too much time to identify the driver. At least I got feedback on that one, most of my early ones got no response at all.
I try to convince myself that things will get better in time, the system they use was only launched last year.
Would that be classed as 'driver priviledge'?
This is repetition, but...
Driving courses are worthless if they're online, and not much better if they're genuine. 'Having a word with the driver' is even more worthless if that's possible. I suspect that an 'official warning letter' has some meaning, but I only know that from the amount of effort Lancashire Constabulary puts into not sending them and just sending 'educational material' instead. The problem is that the sort of driver, often a BMW driver, who really deserves punishment is the sort who completely ignores any 'nudge' type of punishment because they regard it as a badge of honour. Points on the licence is the only effective deterrent: that's why we're still enduring endless NMotDs and the occasional death, because the police can't be bothered. The main police weapon against the people they consider to be the real villains (cyclists reporting offences with impeccable video evidence) is 'refuse to tell them anything!!'
What they should be: an official way of saying 'your card is marked, son - watch it. If this happens again, you'll be in bother'
What they are: who knows?!
I am still of the opinion that a PC turning up at the door, or (perhaps better still) the offender's place of work, and delivering a stiffly-worded formal verbal warning, would be the ideal solution.
I kind of get it, but isn't 3 points supposed to be the start of that process?
Do we need a pre-warning letter. " Watch it, your card is premarked. If it happens a gains we will send you a letter to tell you 'your card is marked, son - watch it. If this happens again, you'll be in bother'
I see the point. I'd still favour the officer turning up to give a formal, verbal warning, with the discretion to escalate to 3 points if the recipient doesn't seem to be 'getting it'. That won't happen, though, not least because most police forces don't regard the issue as a priority.
I'm sure that a kiwi friend of mine told me that they get an initial letter if caught speeding (eg), followed by a punitive fine on the second offence. I suppose my cynicism on this is that I don't trust that the offences are adequately logged for such a system to actually happen in practice (in the UK).
To my mind, if you have had a warning letter or course, then get had up subsequently for a similar offence then not only should you get a fine/points for that offence, but also the previous one you had a warning for.
I have reported dozens of close passes mainly to Thames Valley Police over more than eight years. Only one resulted in anything more than a written warning and sometimes only verbal or no action at all. In the case of verbal warnings I know that in some cases the officers clearly communicated to the driver a shared contempt for me as a cyclist, communicating to me the driver's complaints as though they were valid although I had behaved entirely legally. These were almost certainly counter-productive.
As for the written warnings the police have refused to divulge their contents to me so it is impossible to know anything at all about their value except to say that a prosecution or driving awareness course in lieu would have been appropriate and far more effective.
Last year one close pass driver attended a driving awareness course but I have no idea why this one driver was treated more seriously than all the others. I can only suppose the driver had other convictions.
On another occasion a driver undertook me while we were both turning right and clipped my handlebars. It was a hit and run. Although the police accepted a cock and bull excuse for that the driver attended a driving awareness course for the collision, which fortuitously didn't cause any injury.
There is never any way of knowing if the police are telling the truth.
Thanks for the detailed reply Fifth Gear, very much appreciated
Disappointing, hearing about the "shared contempt for me as a cyclist" tone - I expect it from the driver, but not the officers - are they all DailyMail readers or something? (joke)
Thank you for your efforts in reporting the incidents as well,
Cheers
My experience with TVP as well. When I get any follow up information its usually accompanied by a list of points raised by the driver. In one case I was told the we are all trying to share the same road and we all have to make concessions. I pointed out I actually wasn't trying to share the bus lane with the black cab brushing my elbow, I wanted that piece of road for myself.
Geez Id hope it's more than what the Met send out as that's barely worth the paper its printed on, but I doubt it's as wordsome as the one from Suffolk either,as that's come from a specific PC at a local police station, and not the place,which is confusingly in Norfolk, youd deal with for close passes.
There's also this form of letter, which is a Section 59 notice. I don't think these are sent very often for the sort of thing you see on NMOTD, they're more aimed at anti-social driving - the yoofs in their badly modified cars driving like twats in the Halfords car park.
Does anyone have any knowledge of a vehicle being seized due to subsequent offences?
I have seen it on Police Inrterceptors, with John "wrong uns" Thompson. They are gutted, but as I remember it, it is not seized for long.
Google turned up this, I believe that's the sort of thing they send.
Ok, thanks for that. Yes, google did bring up various letters but I was curious what the letter is specifically for a close pass/near miss; what the crime is listed as, and what the deterent is.
Erm, really? So you can't be careless or dangerous unless you actually hit someone?
My wife got a letter a bit like that for speeding, one time. She hadn't noticed that a signed speed limit had changed sicne the last time she'd travelled a particular road, and thinks she got flashed by a camera.
More seriously, they do go on record and can be used in the event of a repeat offence. They're not a formal caution though.
With Thames Valley, you need to have had 3 warning letters within 3 months. That seems to me a flippin' high rate of offending that they're willing to tolerate before taking further action.
No way of knowing. It's the paper equivalent of the village bobby having a quiet word with your parents when they've caught you scrumping from the local Freemason's orchard