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Close pass case where police told cyclist "maybe you should trade your bike in for a Hummer" ends with conviction

Cyclist was also initially accused of having a ‘vendetta’ against coach company

A coach driver has been fined and given six points on his licence following a close pass of a cyclist. When the incident was first reported to Gloucestershire Constabulary, the cyclist was told: "Maybe you should consider trading in your bike for a Hummer." The case was reopened after we featured the incident and initial police response on our live blog.

In January, Matt Coldrey contacted Gloucestershire Police with footage of a close pass executed by a George Young’s Coaches driver.

After reviewing the video, an officer told Coldrey that the driver responsible had not committed an offence because both cyclist and coach had continued on their journeys smoothly.

The police officer also told him: "Maybe you should consider trading in your bike for a Hummer".

Coldrey told road.cc: "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."

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

When we reported the incident and initial police response on our live blog, Gloucestershire Police's social media team said they were "looking into" the comments that were allegedly made by the officer.

A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Constabulary later told us: “A senior officer has reviewed the telephone conversation between the police officer and the cyclist. We believe that certain comments made by the officer during the call were unacceptable and do not represent the Constabulary's approach to road safety.

“In the call the police officer made comments they said were meant to be humorous, however it was inappropriate in the circumstances and we completely understand why the cyclist was unhappy with the conversation.

“Since this was brought to our attention we’ve reviewed the footage and believe the cyclist’s complaint is legitimate and that our initial assessment and closing of the investigation was wrong. We’ve now reopened the investigation and will look into this further.

“The senior officer has been in contact with the cyclist who has been made aware of this recent development and we have apologised for the inappropriate comments which were previously made to him.”

The officer in question was given “words of advice.”

Gloucestershire Live reports that Krzysztof Kostrowsk was this week found guilty of driving without due care and attention.

Coldrey said he was pleased with the result, and also pleased for the officer who pursued the case.

"It's satisfying for him. He said it's pretty hard to secure a result in a lot of these cases so I'm pleased it's gone well for him.

"It's also important from a road safety point of view – the vast majority of people are safe and responsible but some aren't and hundreds of people die on the roads every year."

Transport director George Young coaches said the company was unaware of anything relating to the conviction but was nevertheless planning to seek an appeal against it.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said: "We’re pleased that the victim in this case is happy with the outcome here and would urge people to remember that all road users have equal rights to use the highway safely.

"When overtaking a cyclist motorists are advised they should allow as much distance between them and the bike as they would a car, which is a minimum clearance of 1.5m – approximately a car door’s width."

 

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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13 comments

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CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
1 like

6 points on the driver probably has implications for the company's insurance policies. So he could be barred from driving coaches with the company.

Not a bad outcome.

Also there is now case law from the Northern Ireland case for dangerous driving when making a close pass.

R V KELLY dated October 2019 from Omagh appeal Court

Riders should quote this of the police, if they fail to take close passes seriously

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zero_trooper | 4 years ago
2 likes

Surely a mis-quote from the 'transport director'?

'I don't know what happened at court, but we'll appeal regardless' sounds ridiculous! 
 

Having said that, well done to the OP for persevering.

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Milkfloat | 4 years ago
4 likes

The transport director must be lying.  How would the Police have obtained the drivers details without contacting the company to know who was driving?

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iandusud | 4 years ago
4 likes

"Transport director George Young coaches said the company was unaware of anything relating to the conviction but was nevertheless planning to seek an appeal against it."

I would have thought that the transport director would want to make himself aware of the circumstances surounding the conviction before deciding to make an appeal. Unless he considers that cyclists have no right to be on the roads so therefore no offence could have been commited. 

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Vlad the Impailer | 4 years ago
3 likes

Anyone can appeal their conviction if they feel that they have not been served correctly through the Judicial system.

This is then heard in the Appeal Courts, or the same Court that the first hearing was made.

The Police and CPS attend to present the original evidence and a lawyer from the other side.

the Judge then looks over the evidence and makes a decision if there was any irregularities with the evidence presented from both sides and the decision made by the presiding Magistrate/Judge who made the original sentence.

If he/she agrees with the Defendant and the original sentence is altered or quashed, then the Police and CPS can counter appeal and that is the last time it can go before this type of Court, as it then goes to the Supreme Courts in London.

Its a simple matter and in reality - lots of appeals are heard for all offences across the board each day.

Hope that helps.

p.s.

Your correct about the NIP - would have gone to the firm to get the drivers details, so they must have been aware.   Ignorance is not an excuse.

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Vlad the Impailer | 4 years ago
1 like

Vlad the Impailer wrote:

Anyone can appeal their conviction if they feel that they have not been served correctly through the Judicial system.

 

Yes, but the guy said

"the company was unaware of anything relating to the conviction and planned to seek an appeal against it."

 Which suggests he feels they have not been served correctly through the judicial system...despite knowing absolutely nothing about the case.   So he surely can only be going on the basis that the judicial system is always, necessarily, wrong if it acts against anything to do with his company.  Either he rejects the entire British legal system apriori, or he thinks his company cannot by definition ever be in the wrong.

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
5 likes

Which court would the appeal go to and can one appeal?

The NIP would have gone to the company's registered address and the follow up letters, so how can he plead ignorance?

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Vlad the Impailer | 4 years ago
2 likes

Good result.

As I have explained before - if you are insistant that a close pass - is Dangerous and the footage is good, then make a formal complaint to the Duty Inspector, if your matter is filed.

The work load of Officers is vast and they have to cherry pick to get the results that they can win at Court as both the CPS and Police are driven by the numbers game.

Hopefully, the appeal will win, and the Police will pick up the case.

However - the standards that are required to present the case at Court are very high from the CPS ( they must have a more than realistic probability of conviction to send it to Court) so that is the reason most cases do not proceed - its not always the Police fault.

Remember - what you believe is an offence and dangerous - might not be in the eyes of the law, in these cases its the law that matters and how the law is presented.   Laws are written by barristers and passed by MPs through Parliment - the Police only use the Laws to present cases at Court through the CPS.

It would help matters though - if the Police had dedicated officers who actually have knowledge of cycling themselves, to act as the investigative officer for that Force.

However - money and man/woman power is at a shortage so you get any investigative officer with over 30 reports in his in box each day looking at your report, and he might not be favourable if he does not have the feeling of being a victim of a close pass himself.

remember also -

You can always do a civil law suit against anyone - the balance of probabilities at Civil Court is far lower than a Criminal Court. (evidence needed for a conviction).

Seek legal advice first, and then have a go.

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wycombewheeler replied to Vlad the Impailer | 4 years ago
3 likes
Vlad the Impailer wrote:

The work load of Officers is vast and they have to cherry pick to get the results that they can win at Court as both the CPS and Police are driven by the numbers game.

Hopefully, the appeal will win, and the Police will pick up the case.

However - the standards that are required to present the case at Court are very high from the CPS ( they must have a more than realistic probability of conviction to send it to Court) so that is the reason most cases do not proceed - its not always the Police fault

From my assessment of reported cases succesful conviction requires at least one of the following three conditions
1) drink/drugs
2) hgv rather than car
3) foreign driver

A uk national driving a car will rarely be convicted by a jury of drivers, several of whom will be crap, and see nothing wrong with the actions of the driver and will consider that they could easily be in the similar unfortunate position of being prosecuted.

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Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
8 likes

Next police will be telling victims of assault they should have taken up boxing.

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Hamster | 4 years ago
5 likes

 

Quote:

Is Mr Young a suitable person to be running a company with responsibility for public safety?

Maybe something to bring to the traffic commisioners attention at the next operating licence renewal for Youngs Coaches?

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burtthebike | 4 years ago
15 likes

"Transport director for the company Kevin Young said the company was unaware of anything relating to the conviction and planned to seek an appeal against it."

Wow!  Has Mr Young not seen the footage?  If I was running a transport company and an employee was taking to court for a driving offence in one of my vehicles and they didn't tell me, their future with my company could be measured in nano-seconds.   Is Mr Young a suitable person to be running a company with responsibility for public safety?

Well done to the police for taking it seriously and obtaining the conviction, and I'm sure the original officer will have changed his behaviour.

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growingvegtables replied to burtthebike | 4 years ago
0 likes

burtthebike wrote:

"Transport director for the company Kevin Young said the company was unaware of anything relating to the conviction and planned to seek an appeal against it."

 

Traffic Commissioner should be "interested" in transport director's response.

As will HSE I expect - what's the betting Young has not got adequate HSE procedures and systems in place?

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