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news
Near Miss of the Day 132: Foreign-registered van in close pass - but police take no action
Today’s video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows a van driver making a very close pass on a cyclist on the outskirts of London – but police have taken no action, with the rider concerned wondering whether they made that decision because the vehicle involved is registered abroad.
The footage, shot on Ockendon Road in Upminster, was submitted by road.cc reader Martin, who told us: “This happened last Saturday and I reported it and I've received a reply from from the Met Police today fobbing me off, saying ‘after careful consideration of the evidence supplied we are unable to take any further action’.
“The vehicle involved was a red sprinter van from Lithuania HAD 016 that overtook on blind esses into oncoming traffic then swerved in on me to avoid a head on collision, couple of swear words uttered.
“Lithuania is part of the European Union but it appears if you want to drive recklessly and endanger people's lives just put a Lithuanian number plate on your vehicle as the police won't follow it up.
“It has however raised my suspicions as to why they won't follow it up and the speed of their reply,” he added.
> 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
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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16 comments
There has always been a lack of prosecution for foreign plates in the UK, simply not worth the man hours chasing haulage companies or drivers which ultimatley will get off with a warning , fine or just opt out of replying.
And yet there's plenty of appetite for chasing foreign contaminants that injure 2 people.
i had a close pass from a German car/driver. I'd recorded the incident on a helmet cam and submitted to Sussex Police (who are utter shite) and they refused to follow up saying that they couldn't because it was a foreign vehicle not registered here. They said if i wanted to do anything (which i did) i should make a complaint to the Germany Embassy, which i duly did, who then told me i had to follow up with the German Police, which i again did. Nothing came of it. so i figure the next time i get a close pass from a foreign vehicle i should just catch them up and deal out my own punishment.
Since when was Essex "from London", ffs Road CC why does everything have to be 'nr London' when it's actually not in London at all, you're just like US movies that only note a known conurbation in the on screen text because they think the viewers are too thick to fathom out that other places on the map exist.
Today's near miss is near Upminster in Essex, it is NOT London!
it's in the London Borough of Havering
Nope simple proforma, probably got it on file for foreign number plates incidents and just change date, name and address. The last one that the Met refused to pursue took over three months to reply so three days, including Sunday, is a pretty swift turnaround hence my suspicions.
Martin, ‘after careful consideration of the evidence supplied we are unable to take any further action’ any further explanation? Terrible, bland reply.
In general, public bodies and corporations alike, love to say "unable to" when they really mean "don't want to".
Surprised myself that I kept as calm as I did, probably that I knew the appalling road surface was just ahead so needed to concentrate. It won't happen next time as I'll be in the middle of the road.
Terrible close pass
on a shit road surface.
As regards the foreign plate - poor enforcement by the police and DVLA. As I understand it, as soon as you 'reside' in the U.K., any foreign registered vehicle you bring with you should be re-registered with D.V.L.A. and issued with U.K. plates.
This is useful - https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/media/4765/INF38-1-Eng/pdf/INF38-1_E...
Run a police/VOSA campaign - stop checks, check documents and registration. Seize a few vehicles, crush them; word will soon get around.
You understand wrong. And who's to say that this twatty driver "resides" here?
No-one is saying that the driver is a 'resident' (because he or she hasn't been traced),but I gather from the right-of-centre newspapers my in-laws read that parts of this country are overrun with East European migrant workers. Living and working in the U.K., can make you a (D.V.L.A. defined) resident.
Did you read the pdf?
No, I read the same info in the .gov.uk site that gives much more info than that .pdf, Thanks. What's your point?
Off to order some Lithuanian plates now and do some speeding.
This does raise an ANPR question. If you've got foreign plates on, is there any information on you at all? Free pass for crime?
The answer is yes it "can" contain info, if the Police have had any dealings with the vehicle before it'll be in the system, and if they want a word with you it should still piing up, the same as a British plate should.
I think it'll depend on whether there are deals with other national plod forces, I believe there is no reciprocal deal between Spain and UK therefore Spanish plated vehicles will not be pursued by British plod.