Police have told a cyclist who submitted a video to them that we featured in our Near Miss of the Day series back in August that they will take no action, despite the registered keeper of the vehicle refusing to disclose the identity of the driver filmed making a very close punishment pass on a pair of cyclists riding two abreast.
While failure to disclose the identity of the driver is in itself an offence, Surrey Police explained to Andy, the cyclist who sent the footage to them, that it is the force's policy, "during the pandemic, not to prosecute persons for this, if this is a first offence, and there is no evidence to suggest that the keeper has failed to notify previously."
Here is their response to him in full.
The investigation has concluded.
The registered keeper of the vehicle was issued with a Notice of Intended prosecution and a s172 notice requiring them to disclose the driver at the time of the of the offence. This was sent to them on the 27th August 2020. They had 28 days in which to respond. Unfortunately, in this case the registered keeper has failed to respond. Whilst this is an offence, it is Surrey Police policy, during the pandemic, not to prosecute persons for this, if this is a first offence, and there is no evidence to suggest that the keeper has failed to notify previously.
There is no Crime Report to review, and as a member of the public, you are not entitled to review our investigation in to this incident.
Whilst we understand that this will be disappointing, because the registered keeper has been served with a Notice of Intended Prosecution, there is nothing preventing you from taking out a private prosecution. The statutory time limit for this incident runs out on the 25th February 2021.
Below is our original article, which first appeared on the site on 27 August 2020 but was subsequently unpublished at the request of police while they conducted their investigation.
The latest video in our Near Miss of the Day feature shows a driver carrying out a punishment pass on a pair of cyclists riding two abreast – the latter being something many motorists consider against the law, although it is entirely legal.
The clip was shot yesterday on Lingfield Common Road in Surrey by road.cc reader Andy while he was on a group ride.
He told us: “Absolutely no excuse for this behaviour which was almost certainly a punishment close pass against two cyclists legitimately riding two abreast and will be reported to Surrey Police.”
The version of the video above has no sound – if you want the other version, which includes some perfectly understandable high-decibel swearing, you’ll find it below.
> 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