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Near Miss of the Day 825: Police refuse to prosecute because cyclist swore after driver pulled out on him
*Warning: clip contains very strong language*
In today's Near Miss of the Day, a cyclist who reacted angrily when he was almost hit by a driver pulling out from a side road was told police would not be prosecuting because of his conduct in the aftermath of the incident. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time we've featured a story about camera submissions where swearing was cited as the reason for police refusing to take action.
road.cc reader Stephen says he cycles to work regularly in and around Peterborough, and has been on the receiving end of "many" near misses.
Stephen told us more about the incident and his dealings with Cambridgeshire Police, saying: "I apologised for the swearing but I was angry and shocked that the motorist would put my life at risk just to save a few seconds. I also don't know how to 'beep' them out [of the footage]. This turned out to be my downfall...
"On submitting this to the police they stated that due to me swearing at the woman, after she nearly caused an accident, they will not prosecute her!
"I have never heard anything so ridiculous and in future must thank them for nearly killing me if there is to be a chance of action being taken against them.
"Sorry about the swearing but I was angry and frightened by [the driver]."
road.cc has contacted Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
Back in May of last year, road.cc was told by Gwent Police that if a cyclist submits footage of bad driving under its Operation Snap initiative, the cyclist themself could face prosecution if they can be heard swearing in the footage.
Cyclist Nick Thompson, whose footage led to the original story on road.cc, was told by the Crown Prosecution Service that “there is no general rule against prosecuting cases where victims or witnesses can be shown to have used bad language.”
DCS Andy Cox, head of crime and intelligence in Lincolnshire and the national lead for fatal collision investigation reporting, told road.cc: "I believe we should review every matter in its individual sense; eg if there has been dangerous or reckless driving this should be reviewed in the context of the driving (eg in isolation to other matters).
"That said; any offensive or intimidatory behaviour should also be reviewed and where appropriate enforcement action progressed against any relevant party; even if that person has been impacted by sub standard driving.
"Offensive and intimidatory behaviour only enhances the danger on our roads and all parties should remain respectful towards each other as that is the best way to maintain safe and sensible travel."
> 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
Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story).
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72 comments
Never been a better reason for learning an obscure language! I was going to suggest Latin but at least some of the judiciary may still have that.
Klingon, maybe? I bet they can swear well...
There's no requirement to supply sound with the video and my cams don't tend to be able to pick up anything except road/pedalling noises.
I'd recommend removing the audio from police submissions if you think it could negatively affect you - there's no need to self-incriminate. The driver is free to provide their own recordings if they want to prove that you were insulting.
Presumably they could also subpoena your original footage and use it against you?
Subpoena implies it got past the NFA black hole into the NIP stage, so that's still a win.
I'm not sure how that would work (wouldn't they need to produce some evidence of it first?) and if you claimed that the original had no usable sound, then they wouldn't have any proof.
This close pass one from HP went no further...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ONxIzytXE
Turn the camera mic off....
Subpoena ? Someone's been watching too much American TV. That's not something UK police do.
Also I don't think it was the swearing alone. It's the swearing plus banging on the car that starts to make it more of a public order offence. Insulting words in themselves are no longer sufficient for a s5 offence. See
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05760/
swearing in shock or anger isn't likely to result in a prosecution without some more disorderly conduct to show it was abusive and was likely to cause someone alarm or distress.
Note there is a defence of "reasonable behaviour" but the post incident turns it from something relatively clear cut to a "what about the offence committed by the cyclist". Police can't take sides, and resources are limited with huge backlogs of cases awaiting trial.
It may not be easy but if possible restraining the anger and submitting the report later on is the better course.
Thanks for your input and your work in S Yorks.
Forgive me if I got the terminology wrong, but my source is definitely not American TV.
Incriminating dash cam footage is a two-way street
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/dash-cams/article/dash-cams-and-the-law-...
Moreover, I'm pretty sure that any dashcam footage you submit must not have been edited or enhanced in anyway - for example by deleting the sound, as was suggested earlier. Therefore if you did so, it seems pretty reasonable to expect to be asked for the original version. If it became obvious that you had deleted the sound because it improved your position, I think that would count against you.
And yes, I understand that there is more than just the verbals in question here, but I was replying to the suggestion made to delete the sound:
Recording without sound in the first place might well be OK, but submitting footage after deleting the sound because it doesn't suit your case would not be.
Police can't take sides, and resources are limited with huge backlogs of cases awaiting trial. It may not be easy but if possible restraining the anger and submitting the report later on is the better course
Even the admirable Inspector K. can't get everything right. The police, at least in Lancashire, take sides all the time - either employing dodges to get motorists off or, as in the case below where they have full video long before and after, when they can't think of any get-out the b******s at OpSnap Lancs just don't respond at all and do nothing. What was on the side of the Kirkby Lonsdale Coaches driver here, Inspector? Me being on the road causing understandable frustration? There's no swearing or any other voice from me- I was too busy trying to avoid being shoved under the wheels of the bus or any following traffic 'who had no time to react, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the cyclist'. The 'huge backlog of cases' does not apply here because nobody is ever taken to court for offences against cyclists in Lancashire
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