“Read the Highway Code – that is not a safe pass”: Police say post advising drivers to give cyclists “an arm’s length” of space while overtaking was published “in error”

Thames Valley Police have apologised and issued a reminder to motorists that they should leave cyclists at least 1.5 metres of space while overtaking, after a social media post and image appearing to advise drivers that an “arm’s length” of space was enough to pass safely was fiercely criticised by cyclists – prompting the force to claim that the advice was posted “in error”.

On Thursday morning, Thames Valley Police’s Roads Policing Unit posted on X, formerly Twitter, that motorists should afford cyclists space on the roads and only pass when it is safe to do so.

However, the image published alongside the advice provoked quite the stir on the social media platform, with Thames Valley Police sharing an image of a cyclist standing beside a car with his arm outstretched, appearing to indicate that a solitary arm’s length is enough for motorists to pass safely – despite the Highway Code instructing drivers to leave at least 1.5 metres (and more at higher speeds) while overtaking cyclists.

“Is this a close pass?” one road.cc reader who got in touch with us asked of the image. “As one commentator has put it, the average human male arm length is 78cm – but this seems to be condoning an arm’s length as a proper passing distance, which is weird to me.”

In response to the police’s post, Cycling Mikey – the cycle safety advocate and camera cyclist – wrote: “This is not a safe pass – Thames Valley Police are showing here a dangerous close pass. The Met have prosecuted many similar passes as a result of my videos.”

Mikey, along with several other cyclists on X, shared a photo of a safe pass on a cyclist illustrated in the Highway Code, which the cycling campaigner noted is “closer to 2m than the 0.7m the Thames Valley picture wrongly shows as a ‘safe pass’.”

This is the room the highway code suggests, and it's closer to 2m than the 0.7m that the @tvprp picture wrongly shows as a "safe pass". pic.twitter.com/nj1O3XtZef

— CyclingMikey the Unspeakable (@MikeyCycling) June 6, 2024

Others similarly questioned the force’s understanding of the Highway Code’s guidance on overtaking cyclists.

“This is not a safe pass,” agreed Jerry. “The driver has not used the full width of the road nor left an absolute minimum of 1.5m.

“Please read the Highway Code, rule 163, which shows what a safe overtake looks like.”

In response to the criticism, Thames Valley Police deleted the post, which they claimed was “tweeted in error”, and replaced it with one featuring the Highway Code’s recommended image and what the force called “the appropriate guidance”:

We are aware that a photo was tweeted in error yesterday regarding the distance that should be given to cyclists whilst overtaking

Apologies. The correct distance is at least 1.5 metres (150cm) as this photo shows

Always take extra care when driving near vulnerable road users pic.twitter.com/V0rEhgdTDX

— TVP Roads Policing (@tvprp) June 6, 2024

“A post was issued on one of our social media accounts with incorrect information, this has now been removed and updated,” a spokesperson for Thames Valley Police told road.cc.

“We apologise for the confusion the original post caused. Motorists should always give cyclists at least 1.5 metres when overtaking and always be cautious when approaching vulnerable road users.”

> Police social media team face backlash for "victim blaming" posts reminding cyclists to wear helmets

While the decision to replace the advice has earned praise from cyclists on social media, this isn’t the first time that Thames Valley Police have been criticised for their social media output concerning cyclists.

In 2022, the social media team for TVP’s West Oxfordshire branch were on the receiving end of a backlash from cyclists following what many deemed to be their “victim blaming” choice of wording on posts relating to a collision.

The posts said that officers “attended a collision involving a cyclist and a car”, after which the cyclist was transported to hospital by helicopter, and ended by warning those out cycling to “please remember to wear a helmet!”

Many on Twitter criticised the lack of clarification over whether the car was being driven by a person or not at the time of the collision, and suggested that the closing reminder about helmets could be irrelevant, considering that regular cycling helmets are not rated to protect against impacts from vehicles.

“When people get stabbed, do you ask the general public to ‘remember to wear stab vests’?” Freddie Jackson wrote on what was then Twitter in response to the posts.

“I’m sure the tweeter meant well, but it was a misguided bit of advice,” added Simon. “The only situation I can think of where it might be appropriate is if the car was stationary, so didn’t cause the collision, and would have had no driver.”