UK policing #OpClosePass

[Tamiya]

Bobbies back in Ole Blimey seem to give a hoot...

https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/OpCl ... htag_click

[Shred11]

Good to see Police in more enlightened countries taking this seriously.

Reading further down, they took one offender to court, where he received a 400 pound fine and 620 pounds in costs... plus six demerit points. Bad drivers get away with less than that here for killing a cyclist. Seriously.

One thing I disagree with is the “mat” that they are using to educate drivers as to the correct distance to leave when passing a cyclist. It measures the 1.5m as the distance from the outside edge of the car tyre to the bike’s tyre. It should be from the edge of the car’s mirror to the tip of the bike handlebars.

[antigee]

..................One thing I disagree with is the “mat” that they are using to educate drivers as to the correct distance to leave when passing a cyclist. It measures the 1.5m as the distance from the outside edge of the car tyre to the bike’s tyre. It should be from the edge of the car’s mirror to the tip of the bike handlebars.

think that got some criticism in the UK at the time - CyclingUK (former CTC) instigated a crowdfunding program to buy mats that replicated the original West Midlands mats so other police forces could easily replicate the West Midlands program - here's how they responded to one negative comment:

........"Think you've very much got the wrong end of the stick as we're not saying cyclists should be 0.75m away from the kerb - if you watch the video you'll see we say that's a "possible distance a cyclist might be from the kerb".

West Midlands Police has used mats like this to explain the dangers of motorists passing cyclists too close. They refer to the 1.5 metre passing distance as a recommended minimum. We agree with this, though the driver’s speed and the weather conditions can mean that 1.5 metres is insufficient, something which the officer using the mat as a demonstration tool explains.

To show what 1.5 metres looks like the officer stands a bicycle on a fixed line, with the 1.5 metre gap displayed on the mat from that line, outwards into the road. The fixed line on the West Midlands’ mat is marked at 0.75 metres from the kerb. The police don’t suggest that this is where a cyclist should or must be, and the graphic in our video confirms only that this is where a cyclist might be.

West Midlands Police’s scheme has been so successful that we did not want to re-invent the wheel with such a positive cycling safety initiative. Additionally, other police forces accept that West Midlands police have got this right and want to copy their operation. In doing so it is likely that they will carry out their enforcement on busy A roads rather than minor roads, where there will probably be people cycling at or around 0.75 metres from the kerb. That is why we have not changed anything with the mats we are planning to use.

The aim of this initiative is not to tell people cycling where to position themselves on the road. No cyclists are spoken to or involved in the enforcement operation, apart from the police officers on their bikes. We are supporting an education and enforcement operation with drivers. That is why we have not complicated matters by going into issues concerning primary and secondary positioning. The point is that, wherever the cyclist is positioned, they need to be given enough space by any driver who decides to overtake them.

source: https://www.cyclinguk.org/news/20170228 ... oads-safer

My feeling on this are though its far from perfect but it absolutely maintained momentum, got very good media coverage and pushed other forces into replicating the program - personally I feel that is better than 30odd cycling groups not really working together and a forever expanding victorian "representative" body that can't see any real value in safe passing laws....guess how long TAC would take to consult academics and carry out mat trials before kicking into the long grass?

“We’ve seen reports of close passes halve in the West Midlands since we started the project and the number of cyclists seriously hurt in collisions fall by a fifth......" PC Mark Hodson, West Midlands Police

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -is-needed

[Tamiya]

Mat or no mat... West Midlands is lovely countryside with residents predominantly British-born Anglo Churchgoers probably quite a few ministers & oldwealth hang about there.

If ever I get to visit there doubt I'd be on a pushbike though... I'd be visiting the Morgan motor works in Malvern Links... I don't think they're selling their concept "Plus 2". It'll have to be the 3-wheeler... 1.5m from front left tyre, ok!

[find_bruce]

Whereas in WA police have handed out 8 fines in the course of more than a year. Sadly they are following the pattern of other states in relation to non-enforcement of safe passing.