South Yorkshire Police says no to close-pass initiative – cites low number of cyclist fatalities in the region

TVL, that one was bad.  How on earth could any officer of the law judge that to be in any way safe.

If I were you I'd be thinking of a complaint to your Police and Crime Commissioner.

Avon and Somerset have been talking to the West Midlands guys.
Email the commissioner, perhaps more people asking for it will help
pcc [at] avonandsomerset.police.uk

I'm constantly amazed that responses like this focus on planning infrastructure rather than driver training, especially in the Outdoor City. I ride for sport, not transport. I suffer a close pass or two on most rides. Some ignorant, some deliberate. Luckily I'm not dead yet. Infrastructure is hardly going to help. Cycle path through Strines? Come on...

Infrastructure is static, expensive and takes years to deploy and sadly only driven by statistics.

Training and awareness gives immediate impact and is portable and transferable.

Attitude needs to change, not just infrastructure. Disappointed.

used to live in Sheffield and even before resources became limited  SYP would routinely oppose reductions in semi-urban area speed limits on the basis that they were unenforcable - meanwhile adjacent counties were being much more pro-active in reducing speed limits to make roads more pleasant places for vunerable users

quoting cyclist fatalities as a sole measure isn't really acceptable - not seen data for South Yorkshire trends but nationally cyclist fatalities are declining but serious injuries to cyclists are increasing year on year and these are often life changing injuries

not 100% sold on the west midlands iniative but hope the publicity surrounding it has made those drivers that do care think a bit more about safe passing - meanwhile South Yorks is a safe place to cycle - no problem

Because the Police shouldn't have to do anything about threats to kill, only actual murders, right?

Muppets!

“Enforcement should probably be used as a last resort to improve road safety…”

F..k me, what an incredibly shit-stupid thing to say!

South Yorkshire 2015 road casualty statistics [source]:

• 49 deaths  (13 more than in 2014)
• 352 seriously injured
• 4,000 slightly injured

Each fatality costs the taxpayer £1.7 million. Surely enforcement isn't solely about safeguarding those pesky cyclists?

Maybe when 96 cyclists are killed in one go they'll do something......oh hang on....

It's SYP, history proves they will go the extra mile to victim blame

I wonder if SYP have stopped to consider that the low fatality rate is because people are too scared to cycle in the first place?

SYP goes on to say that “… the most sensible solution would be to look at addressing the root causes of the problem – one of which is the layout of the roads. By creating segregated or shared cycle/pedestrian routes, improving lighting, awareness and signage, cyclists can use the roads with the confidence that they are safe to do.”

The police clearly are as clueless about infrastructur improvements as they are about the value of, and actual duty that have to, enforce the law. 

"shared cycle/pedestrian routes" ! Just the thing to get the inconvenience to the motorist out of te way. 

Even if they had a clue about which infra works best, and to be fair, they do at least mention segregation, SY police are hardly the people to recognise that nothing short of a network of cycling routes is required ie. in town, you keep the motor traffic to the trunk roads - you filter all side/residential roads to create 'access only' for all motors. That's about it.

If they are serious about their suggestions for real cycling provision, then they should be questioned further on this.

'We have limited resources and have to prioritise' - fair enough. But wait...

'We need more cyclists to die before we prioritise dangerous anti-cyclist driving'. Nice. Fuck off and die yourselves.

Bad driving is bad driving.  I'm guessing the ones disregarding the laws concerning behaviour around vulnerable road users are ignoring the laws concerning speed limits, phone use and drink driving.  

It will take quite some time to get the perfect cycle infrastructure that they seem to be dreaming about, until then enforcement is the only thing that can be done.

I'm sure that we will get a few links to Youtube clips from the helmet cam cyclist of South Yorkshire over the next few days.  I'm wondering if they have an easy reporting system for videos.  If not they may be underestimating the levels of bad driving around cyclists.

Target setting and metrics have led to some "under reporting"of some crimes.  Not that I'm suggesting that there is any massaging of statistics in this case.

If SYP say 'resources are carefully deployed' as a result of austerity why would they be looking to send officers down to Birmingham to the workshop when they have already stated they won't carry out any similar initiatives.  Perhaps Cycle Sheffield should ask for an explanation on that point and how much the time and travel expenses will be for such a futile visit.

“Enforcement should probably be used as a last resort to improve road safety…”

Odd - enforcement, draconian enforcement, is probably the quickest way to improve road safety... Laissez faire helps nobody apart from the wrongdoers.

Yeah right, spend billions on segregated infrastructure, in the process convincing nearly everyone that it's unsafe to cycle elsewhere, or get drivers to respect cyclists by sufficient enforcement of the law.  Driver behaviour is easily changeable, you just have to spend quite a small amount on enforcement, some of which is offset by fine income. If you don't think driver behaviour can be changed, consider the effects of serious enforcement of drink-drive laws from the 80s onward, the seatbelt law, and the introduction of speed cameras. I would argue that traffic law enforcement is by far the most cost-effective way to improve cycling conditions.

Basically they don't want to enforce the law or do something proactive themselves.

Im not sure what cycle infrastructure is like in South Yorks, but here in Suffolk, most of it is terrible and what little there is, is disconnected from the rest meaning long sections on the road. Personally I don't think that infra is the answer except in cities and big towns.

The worst drivers are often the ones who don't think they are bad drivers and so ignore any media campaign. The only way to reach those people is with law enforcement. Carrot and stick is the answer, and lately there has been too much carrot and not enough stick... or should that be taser?