Police Scotland Archives

Police Scotland

Near Miss of the Day 915: Cyclist slams on brakes to avoid driver who ignored him and turned across… but says “no point in reporting” due to Police Scotland’s lack of online close pass portal

"I'm not sure if they'd do anything even if I went to the station to report it," said the cyclist, once again highlighting the lack of an online reporting portal for cyclists in Scotland to report close passes

Close pass operation (Police Scotland Greater Glasgow)

Police claim they don’t carry out close pass operations on A roads due to “safety element involved towards police cyclists” — after cyclist complains of dangerous driving and “20 closes passes in a day” on national cycle route

The response came after a cyclist contacted them to alert about dangerous driving on an A road — that is also part of the National Cycle Network — where he was close passed by several drivers

near miss of the day 908 – screenshot via David Brennan on X

Near Miss of the Day 908: cyclist praises swift punishment of driver after shocking close pass but slams “sorry state of affairs” with third-party reporting in Scotland

Although police were quick to deal with this particular incident, the apologetic driver receiving three points and a fine, David Brennan says Police Scotland are behind the times when it comes to dealing with footage of law-breaking driving

“If police don’t get it, it’s no surprise that many others don’t”: Cyclist close pass operation questioned as chief inspector from another force points out problems with “overtaking distance” mats used

Cyclists raised numerous issues, not least the bike being positioned in the door zone of parked cars — a chief inspector from Sheffield making the case for the mats to be updated to reflect the Highway Code

Cycling Scotland Leave Space for a Life campaign (Cycling Scotland)

Over a quarter of motorists in Scotland don’t know driving dangerously around cyclists could lead to driving ban or prison sentence – and over 50% say more cameras would “change their behaviour”, new survey finds

58 per cent of drivers said that knowing they were being filmed would change their behaviour around people cycling, while 62 per cent said the risk of killing someone would make them drive more safely

Cycling in Shetland (Credit: Simon Parker)

“Long lines” of cyclists arriving on cruise ships – including groups containing 50 riders – causing havoc for drivers on roads, locals claim

A Shetland Islands councillor said cyclists should be encouraged to explore the archipelago by bike, “but ensuring that this doesn’t unacceptably impact on other road users is important”

Driver in cycle lane, Glasgow (screenshot from Reddit)

Cyclists bemoan missing bollards and poor layout as footage shows motorist driving down a cycle lane

“You want a design that keeps everyone separate to prevent the worst driver from doing harm and allows the most vulnerable person to cycle safely”

Police “refuse” to take cyclist’s statement after near miss with motorist (Alan Myles, X)

Police “refused” to take cyclist’s statement after near miss with motorist – because they believed the cyclist was “speeding”

The cyclist was travelling at up to 24mph when a driver pulled out in front of him, with Police Scotland later admitting that the officers were “wrong” to dismiss his report

HGV driver close passes cyclist, before cyclist is pulled over for ‘phone use’ (Liam, Twitter)

“Can’t the police use Google?” Cyclist mistakenly pulled over by police and threatened with ticket for “using phone” – and then gets lectured by officer for not wearing helmet or hi-vis

The cyclist, who was spotted by the officer saving footage of a lorry driver’s close pass on his bike camera, was told that not wearing a helmet or hi-vis could lead to him being “killed or smushed”

Illegal e-bikes (Police Scotland/Twitter)

Police crackdown on dangerous delivery cyclists after cycling charity urged companies to do more following cycle lane crash

Last week, a cyclist said he had been left "terrified" by food delivery riders using illegal e-bikes at high speeds in cycle lanes, Cycling Scotland calling on companies to check the bikes they ride "are legal and road worthy"