Live blog: Gloucestershire Police officer allegedly tells cyclist "Maybe you should consider trading in your bike for a Hummer" following shocking close pass by a coach (and they've now responded on Twitter saying they're "looking in" to comments

According to the Gloucestershire Constabulary the driver in the video has done nothing wrong. I was also asked if I had a vendetta again this coach company, and told to trade my bike in for a hummer. #Cycling #Ride #Bike #RideToWork #CycleCommute #Gloucester pic.twitter.com/O4PcLAlc3d

— Ride to Work Gloucester (@CyclistGlos) January 9, 2019

Many police forces in the UK have adopted policies to crack down on drivers who pass other vehicles too closely, such as Operation Close Pass by West Midlands Police  - however it appears that hasn't filtered through to Gloucestershire Police, who reportedly told cyclist Matt Coldrey that the coach driver in this clip had not committed an offence because the cyclist and coach continued on their journeys smoothly. 

Even more shockingly, Matt claims the police officer told him over the phone: "Maybe you should consider trading in your bike for a Hummer". He told us: "I do get that it was a joke, but as I was trying to explain to the police officer that having a coach pass me so closely that I can touch it, as traffic is travelling in the opposite direction, is at the very least careless driving, it didn't seem particularly appropriate response to my legitimate concerns."

He also says he was accused of having "a vendetta" against George Young's Coaches, because he had reported a similar incident against them in the past. 

In the clip, there are two lines in the middle of the road and the closest to the left is solid, meaning it's illegal to cross it to overtake unless the road on the other side is clear and the vehicle in front of you is travelling at 10 mph or less. Section 6, part 129 of the Highway Code states: "This means you MUST NOT cross or straddle it unless it is safe and you need to enter adjoining premises or a side road. You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less.

We've asked Gloucestershire Police for comment. 

 

 

 

 

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Dave’s gone all colour-coordinated fitting the new @fizikofficial Terra bar tape to compliment his @panaracer_world Gravelking Colour Edition slicks. Okay so they’re slightly contrasting shades of green but top marks for effort! #cycling #matchymatchy #fizik #gravel #gravelbike #panaracer #green

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Carl Grove, the 90-year-old who was last week stripped of an age group world record after he tested positive for the steroid epitrenbolone, says that anti-doping aiuthorities are “wasting their time” targeting older athletes.

> World record breaking 90-year-old cyclist who failed dope test employs Contador defence and accepts public warning

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accepted that Grove returned a positive result due to having eaten contaminated meat the night before he was tested at the at US Masters Track National Championships in July, where he won the the 90-94 age group sprint title.

He was issued a public warning, the least severe of the penalties that can be applied by the agency.

“Us old guys are kind of like peanuts,” said Grove, who was quote in the Guardian. “I think that they’re wasting their time. “What can I gain at 90 years old doing drugs? Tell me, I just don’t know.

“So I think that somewhere there ought to be a cut-off and they ought to zero in on the stuff that is done for money reasons or whatever it may be. But I think after 65 or 70, you know, they ought to just give up.”

He continued: “I was really kind of down for a while. But I’m over it. I wanted to be an inspiration, if possible. I worked like a real horse to do it.

“They struck me from the records. I don’t really care about that too much. The thing that I really, really care about is that I wanted to be a sterling, totally clean person in front of people that knew about me.

“It looked like I had not been an honest person to a lot of people. I guess I was kind of worried about what did other people think, you know? Then, I began to think, ‘Well, some of them will believe me and some of them won’t.’ I guess that’s just the way it is,” he added.