“An error in judgement”: Police apologise for “dangerous” high speed close pass on cyclist during emergency response, which “dropped below standards expected”

Gloucestershire Constabulary have apologised to a cyclist who was “dangerously” close passed by an officer responding to an emergency incident – after an oncoming driver failed to slow down or move over – describing the manoeuvre as “below the standards expected” and an “error in judgement”.

Responding to a complaint lodged by the cyclist, who said he “could have easily fallen into the road” due to the speed of the overtake, the driver’s commanding officer said he accepted that he had passed “far too closely” and that he “will now take more care when responding to emergency incidents”.

The incident, which we reported on last month, took place on the B4063 in Churchdown, about five miles from Gloucester, as the officer approached the cyclist from behind while responding to an emergency call.

Yesterday I was reported an incident to @Glos_Police, their reply basically stated there wasn't enough evidence to proceed. Also on the same ride this happened, it's no wonder #Gloucestershire #Police won't prosecute when their own drivers do this! pic.twitter.com/NikzOZ38Sm

— The Cycling Nerd (@NerdCyclist) July 18, 2024

“The police car had both its lights on and siren going,” the cyclist, known as ‘The Cycling Nerd’ on social media, told road.cc.

“As soon as I knew that it was coming from behind, I pulled over to the side of the road as quickly as I could, but because of the speed of the police vehicle there wasn’t enough time to fully unclip from the bike.

“I am an experienced cyclist with thousands of miles cycled using clips, so I was able to maintain an upright position despite still being clipped in and despite the bow wave that hit me from the police car driving so close at such a high speed.”

> Cyclist criticises police car driver for “dangerous manoeuvre” while passing due to oncoming driver not moving aside or slowing down

The cyclist, who holds a professional bus and lorry driving licence and has experience at dealing with emergency vehicles, said that the oncoming car driver “definitely didn’t pull to the kerb”, and while he “couldn’t be 100 per cent sure”, he believed “they didn’t slow at all”.

He continued: “The oncoming car failed to slow down to allow the police car through safely which led to the police car making a manoeuvre they shouldn’t have done. Yes, they were responding to an emergency, but they still have to respect vulnerable road users in such situations.

“I never thought they were going to hit me, but it was when the bow wave hit me in an almost stationary state and still clipped to the bike that I felt unsteady. I could have easily fallen into the road at that point.

“My biggest complaint was that it shouldn’t have happened simply because not all cyclists are as confident.”

> Near Miss of the Day 430: Close pass ... from a police officer

After seeking the counsel of a retired police officer, who told him that the driver of the police vehicle “totally failed when presented with the predictable emerging hazard”, the cyclist reported the close pass to Gloucestershire Constabulary.

“Despite what a lot of keyboard warriors are saying, I’m confident I will get a positive result from my complaint as this is not the first time I have had to complain about police driving in Gloucestershire around cyclists,” he told road.cc at the time.

> Police claim they don’t carry out close pass operations on A roads due to “safety element involved towards police cyclists” — after cyclist complains of dangerous driving and “20 closes passes in a day” on national cycle route

And this week, in email correspondence seen by road.cc, the force has issued an apology to the cyclist for a pass which they agreed was “far too close”.

“I have spoken to the officer driving the police vehicle involved in your complaint as agreed and have explained that their driving dropped below the standards I would have expected on this occasion,” the driver’s commanding officer told the cyclist.

However, it was also noted that the driver of the vehicle was unable to view the footage due to the link sent by the cyclist expiring, but the officer said “I would have liked to have shown the officer this footage as I felt it was quite impactive”.

They continued: “However, even though the officer has not seen the footage, they have accepted my description of the incident and agreed that they would have passed too close in those circumstances. They have agreed to learn from this situation and be more careful when approaching and passing cyclists, other road users, and hazards as per our training.

“It was an error in judgement at the time which caused them to pass you far too closely, which again I apologise for. The officer is aware and will now take more care when responding to emergency incidents.

“I will complete my report and return it to our professional standards department, who will review the course of action taken and supply you with a copy of the report.”

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Accepting the force’s apology, and forwarding them another link to the video shared on social media, the cyclist said: “Thank you for the update. I am happy that this matter has been dealt with, however seeing the footage would enhance the officers understanding of the situation.

“I look forward to seeing a copy of the report from the professional standards department.”

Despite Gloucestershire Constabulary’s apology, the cyclist remains critical of the lack of attention afforded to dangerous driving around people on bikes in the county.

The close pass in question! pic.twitter.com/WLy2uZvyb3

— The Cycling Nerd (@NerdCyclist) July 18, 2024

On the same day as he was close passed by the police officer, a van driver committed a careless overtake – but when the cyclist reported the incident, Gloucestershire Constabulary said there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.

“Since the incident happened I have joined a national network run by Action Vision Zero,” the cyclist told road.cc this week. “The group is focusing on road crime reporting as so many reports are being handled badly where the police are taking no further action – which if you remember was my initial gripe that they ignored my report about the van and then performed a close pass themselves.

“It’s still very early days, we’ve only had one meeting, but the aim is to get the police to improve Operation Snap and for reporting incidents not to be a ‘postcode lottery’.”

Remarkably, or perhaps unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first time that we’ve reported on police officers in Gloucestershire close passing cyclists at high speed, with one similarly shocking overtake from a driver of a marked police vehicle on the A40 making our Near Miss of the Day series in 2020.

And the previous year, an officer from Gloucestershire Constabulary told a cyclist reporting a close pass from a coach driver, “Maybe you should consider trading in your bike for a Hummer”.

The force subsequently apologised for the comments and the coach driver was fined and had six penalty points put on his licence.