UPDATE #2: road.cc reader and cyclist James, who was on the receiving end of a “hat-trick of near misses” which, when submitted to the Essex Police, only warranted a “no further action”, had written to his local MP Sir Bernard Jenkin.

The Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex chased Essex Police, asking them why the submitted footage did not result in any action being taken.

Essex Police have now replied with the following message, implying that they were unable to “locate the driver for prosecution” because their details weren’t being held on the police national computer:

I am sorry to hear that Mr ClosePassCam has not received the decision that he had hoped from the Extra eyes campaign. I have reached out to the team and spoken with the Prosecution section head Chris Sydric who has also previously corresponded with Mr ClosePassCam on the attached email in reference to the previous concerns raised from footage submitted which is documented below. In relation to the footage of the pickup truck and Mr ClosePassCam.

The officer in charge of this investigation was unable to send a notice of intended prosecution to the driver as the index resulted in no details being held on our police national computer (PNC). As such we were not in a prosecution to locate the driver for prosecution. Unfortunately with the extra eyes website there is no appeals process or rationale provided to the person reporting any offences once a decision has been made whether a prosecution will take place or not this is clearly stipulated on the website itself too.

Previously updated article from 26 March 2025:

UPDATE: Essex Police have defended the “no further action” decision after road.cc reader and cyclist James submitted a “hat-trick of near misses”, by claiming there were “no actual reference points” to determine proximity of the vehicle from the rider.

The police got back to the cyclist after he asked them to review their decision. He told road.cc: “I was astonished that having a truck driven at you leads to this outcome.”

He added: “It’s clearly a generic, copy-pasted effort. I doubt if they even watched the incident I submitted.”

Here’s the response in full from Prosecutions Section Head (Investigations), Road Police Support, Chris Sydric:

“The Code of Practice, (Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021), published in October 2023, has affected the examination and subsequent decision process when viewing footage being considered for alleged driving offences. Investigating Officers can no longer calculate distances, road widths, speed or vehicle dimensions when assessing the footage. In addition, a number of submissions only show moving images with no actual reference point in relation to the submitter and, therefore, do not show, accurately, how close the alleged offender is to the submitter. Different camera angles, camera location, video quality and zoom settings may also influence the perspective.

“A decision to prosecute must be made using the Crown Prosecution Service full code test based on the evidence available; is it in the public interest and is there a realistic prospect of conviction? In the majority of submissions it is in the public interest to prosecute due to the submitter being a vulnerable road user, however, a number of cases are not progressed as the evidence does not provide a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Responding to the police’s email, James commented: “This is all very well, but my submission didn’t involve a close pass. I had a van driven at me.

“I don’t think that a prosecution would have been appropriate. But I would have expected the bare minimum being a warning letter sent, preferably with the recommendation that the driver goes on a course to improve their poor driving.”

He added: “We can only help to educate poor drivers by bringing their errors to a wider audience. I wish Essex Police would take these dangerous situations more seriously, and not offer up a generic reply.”

Original article from 19 March 2025:

A cyclist who reported being on the receiving end of “a hat-trick of near misses” within the space of a few seconds has questioned Essex Police’s decision to take no further action against the drivers.

road.cc reader Jason was riding along “the usually very peaceful” Thorrington Road in Great Bentley, Essex, on Sunday, enjoying the sun on the “lovely old-school village green”, a route often used by local cyclists on their club runs.

In a video shared on YouTube [below] a first driver is seen overtaking, Jason explaining that while it felt close it was more of “a possible near miss” and one he let go as “the sun was out, there was blue sky” and he “felt happy”.

“A few seconds later and I noticed a huge black truck waiting to turn onto Thorrington Road from a side junction,” he explained. “The very nature of the green means that there is clear visibility all around. I had right of way. I kept on cycling. I was shocked when the truck [driver] pulled out.”

Jason said it felt like he had “attempted to push me off the road”.

“The hat-trick of near misses came a few seconds later when another car [driver] did a close pass, all for the sake of gaining a few extra metres ahead of me at the next left-hand turn,” he continued.

“I reported the bully boy truck and the second near miss to Essex Police via the Extra Eyes website. The only praise I can give Essex Police is that they have a speedy turnaround when it comes to delivering an outcome.”

That outcome was no further action taken in both of the reported cases, Jason explaining that he has contacted his local MP, Sir Bernard Jenkin, to “see if he can get any reasoning out of Essex Police as to why this type of dangerous driving is deemed acceptable on our roads”.

road.cc will also contact Essex Police for comment on the incident.

> 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@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