Passing Judgement: Bringing Bad Drivers To Book

With traditional methods of reducing cycle casualties failing on the roads of Birmingham, three smart-thinking West Midlands police officers may have come up with the answer: Operation Close Pass.

- Owen Rogers

It’s cold and a northerly wind whips the cyclist’s breath away before it can linger in the low morning sunlight. The two-lane road is seething with traffic. Some switch lanes to overtake, other less considerate drivers squeeze past too close for comfort, putting the rider at risk.

There is no reason for it. The cyclist is doing nothing wrong; wearing red, and black clothing, he’s even wearing a white helmet, and the bright flashing light on the back of his standard road bike is lost in the sunlight illuminating him from behind.

While this is Birmingham, the same scenario is being played out all over the country. However, there is one difference between this rider and the rest of us. This is PC Mark Hodson and this is Operation Close Pass, a West Midlands Police initiative to educate drivers of the dangers of passing cyclists too closely.

How it works 

The A4540 is a main commuter road into Birmingham and, having ridden into work for his 7am shift, PC Hodson’s job is to ride a 320-metre circuit and see what happens. Any vehicle passing too closely is recorded by a camera mounted on his handlebars and he radios a colleague to stop and speak with the driver.

It doesn’t take long. On the first circuit a grey VW Transporter van is stopped and the driver offered the choice of a 10-minute educational input or prosecution. He opts for education.

Issued today by PC Chris Brock, the input uses a road layout printed on a large grey mat to illustrate cyclists’ road positioning and the effect close passes have on their safety. On that mat a bike stands 75 centimetres from the printed kerb, 1.5 metres further out another line shows the minimum acceptable passing distance.