“Cyclists are never held accountable for anything they do”: Police’s close pass operation angers motorists who claim they feel “persecuted”; 5 Live guest criticised for urging cyclists to “behave much better”; Another Vuelta sprint + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"Just seems like more persecution to motorists when cyclists are never held accountable for anything"
Ah, it couldn’t last could it? Just as I find a group of people on the internet criticising someone urging cyclists at-large to “behave better”, another group of people crop up with views sadly rather closer to what we’ve come to expect.
The occasion for all this is police in Norfolk carrying out a close pass operation. There are many reasons to be sceptical of this sort of thing given the poor treatment many forces take towards treating close passes, but this is one facet of road policing that is generally held in a higher regard.
It sees a plain-clothed officer ride a bike along busy lanes, reporting drivers who make a close or dangerous pass. The ‘offending’ driver is then flagged down and offered a short educational course on the roadside or a minor traffic penalty.
The operation is educational rather than retributive and on the rare occasion it does lead to a conviction, it tends to be an aggravating factor as part of a harsher punishment for crimes such as dangerous or drink-driving.
Incidentally, I once watched an online presentation of a police force’s implementation of Operation Close Pass that was so matter-of-fact and self-explanatory that I concluded there was no story to be had in it. It helped that it’s a fairly popular initiative among many cyclists.
Slightly less so for Norfolk motorists however. Norfolk Constabulary have put out a press release detailing an operation last week on London Road in Thetford. There’s even a good quote from Insp James Shepherd of the Norfolk Roads and Armed Policing Team:
“Cyclists are among our most vulnerable road users, and drivers have a responsibility to give them sufficient space when overtaking.
“These operations help raise awareness of the risks cyclists face and encourage safer driving behaviour. A little more patience and consideration can make a significant difference in preventing collisions and keeping everyone safe on Norfolk’s roads.”
They also put out a video which, I presume, is designed to make the police look simultaneously cool, menacing, down with the kids, and in touch. I for one think the music choice and text overlay is horrendous but we’re not here for the aesthetics…
Anyway, the comments are not such a riot…
“So seen [sic] as how bikes are slower than tractors and tractors have to pull over if there is [sic] more than 7 vehicles behind the , how’s about bikes have to pull over if there is more than 5 people behind them.”
“They seem to require much less space when squeezing past in a queue of traffic before running a red light though don’t they…”
“If a car driver can be fined for passing too close, then the cyclist should also be fined for not using the provided cycle paths.”
Our personal favourite though is one for the bingo cards…
“Some of these are bit ridiculous. Given the massive space you’re supposedly meant to give cyclists it’s sometimes difficult given the road width and traffic conditions, and there ends up being a massive tailback down the road. Do cyclists ever move over out of courtesy? No. Do they use the cycle lane right next to them? No. Just seems like more persecution to motorists when cyclists are never held accountable for anything they do…”
Ah well, what can you do?
‘E-bike’ riders 41% more likely to suffer head injuries
Legal and illegal e-bikes, it should be said…
Teamwork makes the dream work
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Brennan wins!
Was it ever in doubt?
Uno-X were perfectly lined up at the front of the bunch with Van Aert and Brennan on Cort’s wheel. They led under the flamme rouge and Rasmus Tiller expertly led out Magnus Cort, but the Dane maybe launched his sprint a few seconds too early, giving Brennan time to sit in his slipstream before coming round him in the final 50 metres or so to take his 5th (fifth) stage win of the race!
Brennan tiene un 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 ✨
Quinta victoria para el prodigio británico, que no encuentra rival en Sevilla.
#LaVuelta26 #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/BKWwxntUkf— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 9, 2026
3km
Finally Enzo Paleni is caught after a valiant effort! He has a combativity prize though for his efforts, which will surely help his contract negotiations for next year. A bunch sprint is incoming… Uno-X have several riders in position at the front working for Magnus Cort.
15km
Sinuhe Fernandez and Enzo Paleni are starting to dig very deep and still have 1’10” of an advantage over the peloton. Steven Kruijswijk is still working on the front, albeit Visma have put Jorgen Nordhagen on the front to support him. Cofidis are also still on the front, but the gap isn’t yet coming down quick enough.
Ooh, as I type Paleni has dropped Fernandez! That’s a hell of a risk for the Frenchman to survive solo against an oncoming peloton. 14km, 1 minute the gap! This could be quite a late catch…
Ethan Hayter linked with Pinarello-Q36.5
One of the animators of this year’s Vuelta, Ethan Hayter looks set to join Pinarello-Q36.5, reuniting him with Tom Pidcock, Daniel Benson reports.
Hayter’s two-year contract with Soudal Quick-Step expires at the end of this year and is not being renewed but the Brit, who has continued to win time trials but has not been contesting bunch sprints, has attracted the interest of the Swiss second-tier team.
Now 27, the Brit’s greatest victories came at Ineos Grenadiers when he won the Tours of Poland and Norway, as well as several national TT championships and four world titles on the track.
40km
Considering he was a snow wall away from winning the Giro d’Italia and podiumed the Tour de France, the latter day transformation of Steven Kruijswijk into a Tim Declerq-style Tractor towing the peloton for hours on end is quite something. He’s 39 as well.
He’s had some brief respite courtesy of Cofidis but it’s almost been a one-man show. He had brought the break’s advantage back down to 1’30” but the gap has since increased slightly to 2’15”. You suspect that’s partly because the veteran Dutchman has tired, and you suspect the leading duo of Fernandez and Paleni are just starting to squeeze that bit more than they were an hour or so ago.
37km to go, 2’25” the gap.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
The car, apparently. According to these villagers…
A Spanish stand-off
We’ve just seen a slightly strange sight at the Vuelta.
A two-rider breakaway (Sinuhe Fernandez and Enzo Paleni) had a lead of around 3’30” over a peloton led by Visma and Cofidis. Then both teams suddenly stopped riding. Did the teams not want everyone else to get a free-ride? Were Visma, already with 6 stage wins attempting to call the other team’s bluff by threatening to let the break get away?
It didn’t work. After Paleni and Fernandez’s lead extended to 5’15” without any effort, Visma blinked and put Steven Kruijswijk back on the front. So we now have the same situation as we had around 10 minutes ago, only the breakaway pair have gained an extra minute and a half effectively for free. And suddenly the chase becomes that bit harder for the sprinter-focused teams.
85km to go, 4’50” the gap to the peloton.
Is the internet (in one small way) getting better?
To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I grew up with 5 Live. I knew 5 Live. BBC Radio 5 Live was a childhood friend of mine. Social media admin, you’re no friend of 5 Live.
The wonder of public service broadcasting is that it is not reliant on clicks, engagement or any ad-revenue – imagine! So why the BBC are putting out these sorts of social media posts isn’t exactly clear…
The caption is a call to arms in internet terms, with Times columnist Edward Lucas explaining that “cyclists should realise that it’s in their interest to respect the law, because the law that protects pedestrians is the law that protects them against rogue drivers”.
We’re also treated to the reassurance of Lucas’ status as “a cyclist himself” before the topic is opened up to us, dear readers, with a “What do you think
“
I suspect Lucas has been invited on to the station given his most recent column espoused similar themes, targeted once gain on floating bus stops and pedestrian crossings. But that was all yesterday’s live blog so we can leave that for now.
I can imagine the writer of this social post plotting the subtext of their ragebait in their head, “Go on, cyclists are a bit crap aren’t they? Come, Facebook user! Share with us your antipathy, express your modicum of frustration to us!”
Reassuringly, the comments aren’t biting:
“Lets imagine you have a road safety magic wand. You can wave it and one group of road users will behave perfectly from now on. Are you going to pick cyclists? I’m not saying everyone can’t behave better on the roads including cyclists, but we need to put things into perspective.”
“Do a simple thought experiment:
Compare the difference in road safety if either
a) all cyclists cycled cautiously and with full attention at all times vs
b) drivers drove cautiously and with full attention at all times.
And the answer will become clear about where the problem on our roads lies.”
“If the roads were safer, cyclists wouldn’t need to use the pavements to stay feeling safe. Start with the problem, not the symptom.”
“The only danger on the roads are drivers”
Honestly, I might even urge you to leave this page and scroll through the comments yourself. It took me a good minute before I even saw the phrase “road tax”.
It’s the latest in a trend I’ve noticed of Facebook comment sections steadily improving their attitudes towards cyclists. Unfortunately, I’m yet to see the shift when it comes to sections reporting on local infrastructure, nothing can quite stir the feelings like a temporarily empty cycle lane photographed and put on a local newspaper Facebook page or residents’ group.
But progress is progress, and the lack of scapegoating maybe gives me reason to be cheerful after all. Either that or the usual trolls are too distracted by the worst AI-generated videos you could conceive of. We’ll take the wins where we can get them…
Vuelta stage 17: Same sprint, different day?
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t think today’s Vuelta stage doesn’t end in a bunch sprint. A second consecutive day with no categorised climbs, and a quick look at the scale on today’s stage profile suggests the fast men shouldn’t have any difficulty making it to the finish in Seville.
Will Matty Brennan aim for his whopping 5th stage win of the race? Will Wout van Aert try and pull off something to complete his own hat-trick. Will any of Coquard, Meeus, Aular or Dainese be able to get in on the act? We can hope…
📍𝐃𝐎𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐒
💪 Stage 1️⃣7️⃣ neutral start!
🙌 ¡Salida neutralizada de la etapa 1️⃣7️⃣! #LaVuelta26 pic.twitter.com/brIfhKG97V
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 9, 2026
Jaume Guardeño successfully undergoes surgery
Jaume Guardeño, the Spanish cyclist seriously injured in May following a training collision with a motorist, has undergone neurological surgery.
In a statement, his team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA say the surgery was a success and that he has since been, “transferred back to the Guttmann Clinic, where the rehabilitation team remains deeply committed to his neuro-rehabilitation process.”
Guardeño was widely expected to make his Tour de France debut this summer, having finished 14th at last year’s Vuelta a Espana. However, he hit a rock whilst training, causing him to swerve into a moving car. No further details of his injuries have been given.
His team end their update adding, “We are grateful to the medical teams for the excellent work they are doing, and everyone at Caja Rural-Seguros RGA continues to offer our full support and solidarity to Jaume, his family, and his loved ones, standing by them during this difficult time.”
Man charged with causing death by dangerous driving after fatal collision killed two cyclists
An update to bring you from our story on Monday when we reported on the deaths of two cyclists in Kent who were hit by a driver on Sunday. The driver has now been charged.
Aaron Turner, 22, from Higham has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of a crash, and possession of a class C drug after hitting three cyclists, killing two and injuring another.
The fatal crash occurred around 7:45 on Sunday morning. Two other people in the car, initially arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and suspicion of assisting an offender, have been released on bail.
Police are continuing to appeal for any witnesses with CCTV or dashcam footage to get in touch.
Surging Scottish hangar demand
Demand for spaces in cycle hangars in Edinburgh has increased by 2,700 (50%) in the last 12 months. After adjusting for duplication across waiting lists, I estimate that around 7,000 people currently want a spot in one – but Edinburgh Council only provide 1,500 spaces. rpubs.com/edtiss/hangars
— Edward Tissiman (@edtiss.bsky.social) 8 September 2026 at 08:35
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Latest Comments
@lio Is it coz I is black? (if you are old enough to remember that particular Madeley incident?)
"(I also think there is a lot of bad driving where 1 point should be a suitable penalty; but we seem to never issue less than 3 (so WTF have a 12 point system)."
@qwerty360 I've been suggesting the 1 point system for years. The new AI cameras can pick up thousands of incidents in very short periods so this would really work against repeat offenders. I suspect that what we really need is complete review of the law (which we were of course promised in 2014).
@mitsky I agree, how good can a driver if they don't know the highway code or understand the law. Also wouldn't the money be better spent on targeting this lack of knowledge at the population as a whole rather than one person at a time.
Madeley - "I drive around London a lot" There's your problem mate. Stop doing that. London has an amazing public transport network.
If the reporting is correct and complete, nobody picked up on Moron Madeley's reference to road tax- we all know that hasn't existed for several decades, but it appears that is too short a time for Driver Decayed Brain (and Hyper-Junk TV Presenter Slow Brain) to register the fact. BF64 TGE shows that drivers get away with not paying it for years anyway, despite DVLA being informed about the evasion for years, a letter from my MP and the laughable assertion by former DfT Minister Lilian Greenwood that "DVLA makes VED easy to pay and difficult to avoid".
@slc Fabulous, thank you. That clip can't be repeated too many times.
@eburtthebike I totally agree. I remember the good old days when all BBC news presenters (and some on ITV as well) were passionate about news, current affairs, politics etc and had most of the relevant facts at their fingertips and news was factual. Nowadays many seem to be lazy and rely on briefings from ignorant equally lazy researchers. And all of this while earning huge salaries. Much of the news today seems to feature sensationalist personal angles. "And we're about to hear from Sharon near Wittering. The recent surprise Russian thermonuclear strike has vaporised all beauty salons within a 30 mile radius and Sharon is struggling to find somewhere to do her hair and nails in time for a Halloween party this weekend. She wants to know how the government are planning to resolve this crisis." "Weapons of mass destruction. Are they a good or bad thing? Text us and let us know what you think."
Good to see that ITV is keeping up the media's attacks on cyclists, so that the BBC don't feel lonely. Mind you, I suppose that they've also got almost the entire print media, and the radio, and the internet on their side, so is there any form of media which isn't anti-cyclist? As for the asinine inaccuracies, those 'journalists' should be hanging their heads in shame and be forced to ride a bike until they have the faintest idea what they're talking about. Could take some time, they are incredibly dumb. Have they been reported to Ofcom? Not that Ofcom is anything more than a toothless cuddly toy tiger.
It's worth noting that rain gardens don't simply soak up more water than tarmac by virtue of having soil, but the 'garden' bit with soil tends to be over a layer of sand and/or aggregate, which eventually feeds into the surface water drainage system, often via an attenuation tank. The design will vary according to how much space there is, the status of surface water drains and local geology. The point is to slow down the rate at which rain enters the surface water drainage system to prevent them from overloading the network in times of heavy rain. Guaranteed half of the people complaining about the bike lane, lack of parking and the planting will also complain about flooding and blame that on the council not maintaining the drains. In reality, unblocking or even fixing collapsed drains only takes you so far. With increased probability of periods of heavy rainfall, combined with paving over everything, we're going to need a lot more of these and other sustainable drainage systems. Installing them at the same time as making changes to streetscapes which may or may not include bike lanes is essential. We can be sure that the costs of installing these will be attributed to the price of bike lanes, so something to watch for when people complain about value for money.
9 thoughts on ““Cyclists are never held accountable for anything they do”: Police’s close pass operation angers motorists who claim they feel “persecuted”; 5 Live guest criticised for urging cyclists to “behave much better”; Another Vuelta sprint + more on the live blog”
Sad to be the bearer of bad news. A rider killed last night in Renfrewshire. Condolences to all those associated with Johnston Wheelers CC.
“… after a car hit three cyclists…”
Come on @Callum Devereux
Do better.
I think the media should concentrate on the road users who do most of the pedestrian killing and injuring: drivers.
Re operation Snap in Norfolk.
Maybe worth pointing out to the “persecuted” motorist that the three Kent cyclists were held to account for going cycling on a Sunday morning when there was a dangerous driver on the road – two of them being dead and the other injured.
@Mr Blackbird Plus another who I knew personally who died last night and 2 more hospitalised. I was devastated to learn of someone who I know who was an extremely popular, experienced and dedicated cyclist who was admired by so many has lost his life doing something he just loved being part of. Iain McTavish (Homer Simpson to many) will be sorely missed.
That’s dreadful. Really sorry to hear that
@Smoggysteve Saw Iain just last Saturday at the Georgetown cup, it was a real shock to hear the sad news this morning, he really was one of the good guys.
Same. Although I want taking part I cycled past to wish riders good luck.
Even down Houston road many drivers were taking unnecessary risky overtakes of competitors.
I’m also reminded of the last time I rode down the A8 I had drivers overtaking me in my lane on a very straight with good visibility duel carriageway . It’s devastating that Iain lost his life there. I hope the other 2 lads have a speedy recovery. Last I heard one was still in quite a serious condition.
Just seems like more persecution to motorists when cyclists are never held accountable for anything they do…”
The answer to this is always, are you 6? Do grow up!