In today’s edition, we take a look at a close pass incident which occurred on Sunday, 8th September 2025, in very wet conditions on the B6379 Huddersfield Road in Wyke. The vehicle involved was a silver Vauxhall Astra.
The map onscreen shows the location of the incident along with the direction the cyclist was travelling in.
Let’s take another look at that close pass in slow motion.
The footage of the incident was uploaded the same day to West Yorkshire Police via the Safer Roads Media Submission Portal. They issued an email confirming the submission which featured a unique reference number.
An email was received from West Yorkshire Police on 10th September 2025 to inform us that enquiries were ongoing to trace the driver of the vehicle so they could be processed for the offence or offences identified.
The process starts with the police issuing a Notice Of Intended Prosecution, or nip. This is to inform a potential defendant that they may be prosecuted for an offence they have committed while the incident is still fresh in their memory. You have 28 days from receiving the notice to provide the name and address of who was driving, or any information that may lead to their identification. Be warned: providing false details may constitute the serious offence of perverting the course of justice. Furthermore, it is an offence in itself not to comply with the notice; failing to provide the requested information makes you liable under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which carries six penalty points and a maximum £1,000 fine on conviction.
Information from Operation Snap for the period July to September 2024 shows the driver was dealt with for the offence RT88576, ‘Drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or public place without reasonable consideration’, which falls under Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. A person is only considered to have driven without reasonable consideration if someone is inconvenienced by their driving.
This is covered by Rule 163 of the Highway Code, which states that you should only overtake when it is safe and legal to do so, giving cyclists at least as much room as you would a car. As a guide, leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds up to 30 mph, and more space at higher speeds. Crucially, the rule specifically states that you should take extra care and give more space when overtaking cyclists in bad weather. You should wait behind a cyclist and not overtake if it is unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances.
So, what was the penalty? Operation Snap shows the driver was sent a Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty. This allows the matter to be resolved without going to court. For this offence, the offer is typically a £100 fine and 3 penalty points on their licence. A driver can usually only accept this offer if they have 8 or fewer existing points on a valid, UK-issued licence, as accepting the points cannot take their total to 12 or more. Of course, a driver does not have to accept the fixed penalty and can always elect to have the matter heard in court.
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We will be back with another edition of West Yorkshire Cycling soon. Until then, please take care when out cycling.
