A cyclist based near Glasgow has spoken of his frustration at the current lack of a much-promised online road safety portal in Scotland. Although the shocking close pass incident featured in this article was dealt with swiftly, officers had to attend in person, a more time-consuming process that won't allow them to handle many incidents with limited resources according to the cyclist.
I've just had an incident dealt with by the police very quickly which resulted in a fine and 3 points. This is interesting for a number of reasons, but first the incident itself. Here are three videos taken from my Insta360. Apologies for the swearing. pic.twitter.com/6N7XFKsOhN
— David Brennan (@magnatom) May 21, 2024
(Warning: strong language)
The near miss, posted on X/formerly Twitter, happened on Balmore Road in East Dunbartonshire on 1 March 2024. The cyclist, David Brennan, said after contacting the police, he was told the driver was "very apologetic", admitting their guilt and accepting three points and a fine.
"I do actually think there should be more than 3 points for incidents like this, it really was very close", David wrote on X/Twitter.
"...but the fact that it was dealt with quickly, the fact that I don't have to go to court, and the fact that it genuinely sounds like the driver has learned a lesson, then I am happy with the outcome."
While David was mostly satisfied with how this incident was dealt with, he says he has been told previously that police in Scotland "did not have discretion to give points and a fine except at the time of the incident itself", a reason given for Police Scotland's lack of a third-party reporting system.
"Yet, it would seem that it is possible as this is exactly what is happening in this case", added David.
"In fact this is exactly how most forces run their online reporting systems. Most cases are dealt with by points and a fine, as most drivers will take that rather than the expense of going to court (no legal aid for traffic incidents), and risk higher points and fines.
"So it would appear that the system could work in Scotland the same way that it works elsewhere."
We reported in March last year that delays to an online safety reporting system in Scotland was putting cyclists "at risk" according to Cycling UK. Since then, Police Scotland has reportedly dropped the much-promised road safety tool and will not be accepting video footage via an online portal for the foreseeable, meaning "lives could be lost"according to Cycling UK.
David told road.cc: "Police Scotland have admitted that this system won't allow the upload of footage and that police officers will still need to visit witnesses to get footage and take statements. A very sorry state of affairs!
"I have it on very good authority that they are worried that they would receive too many reports and be inundated."
road.cc has contacted Police Scotland for comment.
> 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