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Cyclist "dismayed" by police "not interested in taking action against drivers", as force admits "shortage in staff" and "very valid concerns"

"Unless there is real change in the culture of Thames Valley Police for cycling safety we will keep being hit, injured and assaulted for riding a bike"...

A cyclist from Oxfordshire has warned that Thames Valley Police requires a "real change in culture" around road safety, the police force having failed to take action on multiple clips of "hugely dangerous" driving that the rider caught on camera during his rides.

The road.cc reader, Paul, reported a friend had stopped cycling outside after being "hit off her bike last year" and said he feared he will "at some point join the ghost bikes around Oxfordshire" (marking the sites where cyclists have been killed), as "unless there is real change in the culture of Thames Valley Police for cycling safety, we will keep being hit, injured and assaulted for riding a bike".

His concerns, expressed in a formal complaint to the Police and Crime Commissioner's office, were met with a reply admitting that there are "very valid concerns" and the force is recruiting to fill a "shortage in resources" and staff that has meant "Notice of Intended Prosecutions are not able to be sent to the offending driver within the legal timeframe of 14 days".

Paul spends on average about eight hours a week cycling for work and leisure and says "close passes are now a regular occurrence", happening "almost every time I cycle and [they] have got worse in the last 12 months".

Despite riding with a camera filming his rides, Paul told us that until this summer he had "given up" submitting footage of dangerous driving to Thames Valley Police as he was "dismayed" by the minimal contact and lack of response, as well as the fact action being taken against the driver responsible was rare.

> Everything you need to know about bike cameras — how to choose, tips for recording quality footage and what to do if you capture a near miss, close pass or collision

Due to the "severity" of several incidents this summer, and reading a social media post from Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber in which it was stated that "saving lives on our roads with better enforcement" was one of his key commitments, Paul opted to resume uploading video footage to the force's online reporting portal.

A few months on and he is again disillusioned at the state of policing in the county, citing the dangerous driving experienced while cycling in Oxfordshire, issues with the reporting portal, lack of action, and Thames Valley Police's response to a complaint he submitted as evidence for his conclusion: "I just feel they do not care".

Paul reported footage of three incidents in July and August this summer, one involving a driver "doing at least 60" when they overtook him so close "the wing mirror pretty much touched me".

In another, Paul said he and a friend were close passed at a roundabout near Wallingford, the driver "looking at me smiling and was aware how close he was".

The third, which left the cyclist "quite shaken", saw a driver beep their horn at him as he cycled through a chicane before overtaking and shouting, "f******g prick, there is a cycle lane there (pointing to a shared path that always has stones/debris all over it)".

"I believed he was going to go into me or would wait for me up the road, which he did not fortunately," Paul told us. "However I was quite shaken by this and reported this both as a close pass and as common assault.

"All of these were reported via the online portal that Thames Valley Police provides. You cannot upload the video to start with, merely a description of the incident and you are emailed within a few days to upload the footage. You are given a deadline of seven days from the incident to report this and a link is sent to you to submit the evidence. This can take a few days, meaning that you can be given 24 hours to upload the video or Thames Valley Police will not consider it.

"In all of the above reports it has never got past this stage as the complaint and evidence are with the 'processing officer'. Previously, last year, I got a text message to say the driver had been sent a letter and the police would not prosecute on this occasion. 

> Cyclist fatalities fall by 4% to lowest ever recorded level, but cycle traffic down 7% and serious injuries higher than 20 years ago, new government figures reveal

"In relation to the third offence, given the behaviour, I asked for it to also be considered as common assault. I received no communication or acknowledgement of this complaint either. To date I have not had a phone call or even a visit from a police officer, I have had no support and I just don't know how to comprehend this. I just feel they do not care."

In reply to multiple emails requesting an update on the reports, Thames Valley Police told Paul there is a "small backlog" and a "slight delay" that officers are "battling through". Paul then raised the issue in a complaint to Police and Crime Commissioner Barber.

"He advocates strongly how many more police officers we have recruited and also his tough stance on road safety," Paul continued. "I have now received a response confirming that the team is under resourced, they are recruiting and it's essentially unfortunate these haven't been actioned. Future reports may be but it depends on the demands on the team."

The full response from the Police and Crime Commissioner's office, seen by road.cc, accepts Paul's concerns are "very valid" and states that Barber too is "concerned that the shortage in resources means that, on occasions, Notice of Intended Prosecutions are not able to be sent to the offending driver within the legal timeframe of 14 days from the incident occurring."

Barber's office added: "It was agreed that an increase in staff was required. Recruitment is actively being undertaken at present which we do appreciate does take time but is the step needed in order to address this issue. Whilst recruitment is underway, the Traffic Team have also implemented processes which identify these specific cases in a more prompt manner enabling them to be dealt with as priority but in line with other competing demands on the department.

"Whilst I appreciate this does not fix the matter instantly, I would like to assure you that there are steps in place to make the reporting and investigation of these matters much more streamlined and to enable the team to address the concerns raised within the legal timeframe for such offences."

This has, however, done little to reassure Paul that he will be safe cycling on Oxfordshire roads in the meantime. He continued: "These passes were horrible and no action will be taken against the drivers. I've never felt so alone or so unsafe on our roads. It is hugely distressing and makes me feel that not only am I fair game if I cycle, but I will at some point join the ghost bikes around Oxfordshire. We literally could be killed out there and it feels as if this does not matter. I honestly agree with statements of some cyclists now that it is no longer if, it is when. 

"The abuse in relation to the second offence really upset me, as did his driving at speed towards me and yet these feelings of distress are essentially being condoned by TVP and this dangerous behaviour is fine. Also the first close pass was hugely dangerous and could have easily ended my life, but both of these drivers are unaware that I have made a complaint and are none the wiser. 

"My friend was hit off her bike last year and now does not cycle outside due to it. Every cyclist knows someone that has been hit. In addition a lot of my friends that used to cycle will not now, due to the dangers. 

"I have raised this with my local MP, who says he is aware of other constituents being close passed and he himself is, but I understand he is yet to meet Barber and raise these issues. In the absence of any real infrastructure for cycling outside of Oxford, which is finally moving in the right way due to Oxfordshire County Council, and the police simply not caring — I think it has never been more dangerous to cycle in Oxfordshire. 

"Unless there is real change in the culture of Thames Valley Police for cycling safety we will keep being hit, injured and assaulted for riding a bike."

road.cc contacted Thames Valley Police for comment and we received the following reply: "Thames Valley Police does not comment publicly about grievances, as it would be inappropriate to do so. The individual(s) in this case has not made a formal complaint to the force, but we would encourage them to do so if they have concerns about the force's actions.

"The force has a complaints procedure, which allows members of the public to make a complaint about the force or a member of our workforce. All complaints are thoroughly investigated and the complainant(s) is/are updated throughout the process. Details of our complaints procedure can be found via our website."

Additional reporting by Adwitiya Pal.

Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.

Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.

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14 comments

Avatar
Jaijai | 2 weeks ago
0 likes

Police Scotland are much the same 20 incidents reported not 1 letter sent

Avatar
EM69 | 3 weeks ago
3 likes

Can't say they are under staffed, just post a hurty tweet and see how many turn up.

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Rendel Harris replied to EM69 | 3 weeks ago
10 likes

EM69 wrote:

Can't say they are under staffed, just post a hurty tweet and see how many turn up.

Amazing how many people still seem to believe the police just go after "hurty words". Actually they go after people who make death threats against others, promote and encourage rioting and the destruction of property, who encourage or applaud the burning of immigrants in their hostels, threaten women with whose opinion they disagree with rape and so on. If you don't think people should be punished for that sort of thing then fine, but at least be honest about what they are actually doing rather than just dismissing it as "hurty".

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bensynnock replied to Rendel Harris | 3 weeks ago
2 likes

Well said.

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Jaijai replied to Rendel Harris | 2 weeks ago
0 likes

Which force do you belong to Rendel ?

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IanMK | 3 weeks ago
1 like

From what I've gathered I believe TVP have had a large turnover of staff in the last 12 months. They do seem to use officially retired police officers who may leave at short notice. They have been working through the back log of submissions but as these are over 6 months old will only result in a letter. I've had some conversations with them on how they might keep people better informed without over using resources to do so.
On a positive note I have one close pass going to court later this month.
Also my understanding is that all the submissions are dealt with by the office in Kidlington, but I might be wrong.

Avatar
Velo-drone replied to IanMK | 3 weeks ago
2 likes

Submissions that are 6 months old should be abandoned, and they should focus on keeping on top of current flow.

A letter six months after the event, the driver is prob not even going to remember the event, still less to make any connection between their actions and the consequence ... especially when the consequence is .... a letter

Avatar
HoarseMann | 3 weeks ago
1 like

Even Oxfordshire County Council are unhappy with Thames Valley Police's enforcement of road crime:

https://news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council-urges-thames-valley-police-to-he...

I've also experienced a very poor response from TVP with the handful of incidents I've reported over the last couple of years. This included one where I also felt it was assault. Despite being given good video footage, their response was 'not enough evidence'.

Avatar
wtjs | 3 weeks ago
6 likes

The combination of an inept and anti-cyclist force and a PCC which shares these views and showers the police with excuses is a particularly malignant one

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kaz4den | 3 weeks ago
10 likes

I'd recommend TVP area residents concerned about the PCC's spurious " no resources" excuse ask how come there's a ton of resource for finding drivers stolen prestige cars* but zilch for protecting vulnerable road users. It's almost as if the PCCs office were too bungling/bigoted to understand the indirect discrimination implications of financially prioritising drivers property far above  VRUs lives...*numerous Google articles on TVPs road crime prioritisation of property (..over people)

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Secret_squirrel | 3 weeks ago
4 likes

TVP is such a big area that I find it depends what regional team you get.

I've had really good and supportive results from the Henley area, bare minimum from Reading, and been utterly ignored by Windsor area.

(Not sure how TVP regions actually work - but above is my experience) 

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the little onion | 3 weeks ago
11 likes

institutionally anti-cyclist

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Secret_squirrel replied to the little onion | 3 weeks ago
0 likes

Did you even read the article before coming along to spout unfettered crap?

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bobbinogs replied to Secret_squirrel | 3 weeks ago
13 likes

I did, in full, and find his concise conclusion valid. In addition, PCCs are (in my unfettered opinion) an utter waste of money. They're about as effective as the IOPC, or coppers' mates org as they seem to be.

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