Welcome to another edition of West Yorkshire Cycling. I’m Charlotte.
In this episode, we take a look at an extreme close pass on the B6432 St Andrew’s Road in Huddersfield. It occurred on Sunday, 10th November 2024, and involved a blue Ford Fiesta.
The map shows the direction the cyclist was travelling in, along with the location of the incident.
We will now take another look at that incident in slow motion.
The footage was uploaded via the Safer Roads Media Submission Portal to West Yorkshire Police on the same day. An email with a unique reference number was returned to confirm the submission.
West Yorkshire Police responded by email on Tuesday, 12th November 2024, to inform us that enquiries were underway to trace the driver of the vehicle so they could be processed for the offence or offences identified from the footage.
This process starts by issuing a Notice of Intended Prosecution, or nip within 14 days to the registered keeper. A nip is designed to inform a potential defendant that they may be prosecuted for an offence while the incident is still fresh in their memory. You have 28 days from receiving the NIP to provide the name and address of the driver.
Please note: providing details of someone else if you were the driver may constitute the offence of perverting the course of justice, which can incur a prison sentence or a substantial fine. It is an offence in itself not to comply with the nip; failing to provide the requested information makes you liable under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, carrying six penalty points and a maximum £1,000 fine on conviction.
Information from Operation Snap for October to December 2024 shows that the driver was dealt with for the offence RT88576 : ‘Driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or public place without reasonable consideration’. This falls under Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. A person is considered to have driven without reasonable consideration if another road user is inconvenienced by their driving.
Rule 163 of the Highway Code deals with the close pass. It states you should overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should give cyclists at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car. As a guide, leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30 mph, and give them more space at higher speeds. Importantly, you should wait and not overtake if it is unsafe or impossible to meet these clearances.
So, what penalty did the driver receive? Operation Snap data shows the driver was offered an educational course. These are aimed at changing attitudes and preventing re-offending. You can only attend a course once in a three-year period.
You have 28 days to book and pay for the course and 120 days from the date of the offence to complete it. The police retain the right to withdraw the offer at any time until the course is finished. The driver also had the option of a Fixed Penalty or a court hearing but opted for the educational course.
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That’s all from this edition of West Yorkshire Cycling. We will be back with another episode; until then, stay safe.
