Near Miss of the Day 897: Police concede that "prosecution would have been more suitable" after close-passing van driver who could've "killed cyclist" let off with a warning letter

One of the objectives of our Near Miss of the Day series is to hold police forces accountable for any close passes reported by cyclists. We've enquired about many cases to the police in the past, and not many of them have yielded that the initial decision taken by them was not only incorrect, but also "regrettable" given the severity of the incident, unlike Surrey Police.

Richard Hepburn had a work meeting to attend in Artington. Instead of taking his car on the 42-mile round trip, he decided to take his bike on the train and then cycle the final 1.7 miles to his destination.

As he was set off from the Guildford railway station, he was close passed twice in less than two miles. While the first one wasn't "too bad", the second was "scary", he told road.cc.

He was cycling up an incline when a driver passed him "nice and wide". However, seconds later, the driver of a Ford Transit van passed him with "inches to spare at speed".

"Looking back at the footage, if I had wobbled, or had to swerve for a pothole or road imperfection, or a gust of wind, I would have been in their path and killed," he said.

> Police force that prosecuted one driver from 286 close pass reports now taking action in 97% of cyclist submissions

He added: "I submitted the footage of both to Surrey Police and received an email saying that action would be taken. However they say they cannot provide feedback on what specific action will be taken. Probably just a warning letter... I think it is a matter of public confidence in finding out what happened."

"It seems inconceivable, that a competent driver (allegedly the van driver) would overtake in such a way, when the car preceding and the car succeeding were able to give excess space and performed a very nice overtake (despite the double whites). The van driver either deliberately drove close to me to intimidate, or is so incompetent that they don't know how wide their vehicle is. Either way they should not be on the road."

We reached out to Surrey Police asking for comment about this close pass, and they got back to us, confirming that a "prosecution would have been more suitable" and regretting that "more robust action was not taken". 

When allegations of driving offences are submitted to us, they are investigated by our Criminal Justice department, which assesses the information provided and decide how to proceed based off the available evidence.

Although there is no specific ‘close pass’ offence, and the 1.5 metres stated in the Highway Code is a recommendation and not a law, close pass incidents can include offences such as careless driving or dangerous driving.

The van driver in this instance received a warning letter and we acknowledge that a prosecution would have been more suitable on this occasion. Unfortunately, this is not something we can address retrospectively as the 14-day period for issuing a notice of intended prosecution has now passed. It is regrettable that more robust action was not taken at the time and we apologise to the cyclist involved in this incident.

In January this year, Surrey Police was in hot waters after it fined and issued fixed penalty notices to four cyclists, besides sharing the now-viral footage of the group ride not stopping at red lights on social media, leading to widespread debate and even questions about the legitimacy of the clip.

The force was then pressurised into sharing the full video, which indeed showed the cyclists jumping the lights. However, debate still ensued, with many, including cycling lawyer for Leigh Day law firm Rory McCarron, suggesting it would be "surely more dangerous for them to wait in the junction?"

Last year, Surrey Police were also the source of a controversy related to the this near miss, when a Freedom of Information request revealed that 80 per cent of the almost 1,000 motorists accused of close passing a cyclist in Surrey over the past 15 months were issued with warning letters, with only three being prosecuted.

> Surrey Police says warning letters “most appropriate course of action” for majority of driving offences, and calls on cyclists who submit multiple near miss clips to “engage with us further” to improve road safety

The force later claimed "in the majority of cases, issuing a warning letter is the most appropriate course of action", due to the "evidential viability" of the submitted videos and the "associated threat, harm, and risk" of the driving offence committed.

The force also told road.cc that it "regularly" receives video submissions of alleged driving offences "from the same people", and called on those who frequently submit close pass clips to "engage with us further and work together to tackle" issues around road safety.

> 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 Twitter or 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