Devon & cyclist related news item – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-28106723

One thing not mentioned so far is that going on one of the courses isn’t a “do and forget”, if you re-offend within three years then you can’t be offered the course again and the previous offence (which you weren’t punished for) is taken in to consideration. It’s a bit like being on probation for three years.

Glad to hear you are having a positive experience with D&C Police it makes a change from the usual abuse we get.

The advice you have received on here seems pretty fair but for what its worth I would strongly recommend the driver awareness course. Although the driver has had a bit of a wake up call, we could all do with giving our driving a some extra thought now and again. The courses are very useful and will look at the whole way he approaches his driving. It will also be relevant to the incident you described and is different to the speed awareness courses many people will go on. It focuses on hazard perception and anticipation. I believe he will also get the chance have some practical experience driving with the instructor. £150 is actually great value for level of instruction he will receive (although he may no appreciate that at the time).

Sorry for the blatant advert but as a fellow D&C officer too often we see the consequences of a moment of madness or even a simple lapse in concentration. Contrary to what the Daily Mail would have you believe we are not all corrupt motorist hating fascists and we would rather just help people improve their driving than hit them with a big stick.

Thanks for posting compass81, the officer I spoke to did say the course would be relevant to the incident and focus on observation/awareness etc. but it’s good to hear it from someone else in the know 🙂

Given all the negative press and stories of ‘police couddn’t be bothered etc etc.’ it’s nice to have an experience which contradicts this and hopefully re-enforces that the complaints are the exception rather than the norm.

OP. Interesting thread and dilemma.

It depends on your view of the objective – punishment or prevention. there are arguments both ways. Personally I would go for the course option in this case partly as the guy spoke to you and was remorseful (although clearly he could be blagging but trust is a strange thing) and also if this does impact his work he may actually be resentful of cyclists in the future. it’s interesting you have chosen this route.

Also what @compass has said, we (as road users be it on bike or car) are capable of making mistakes not least not paying attention from time to time.

Update for those that were interested…

received a letter from the collisions investigator last night saying that they have decided no further action to be taken, as apparently not in the public interest to proceed.

No information as to whether my discussion was a factor in that decision or not.

Does that mean the guy still has to attend the course ?

IT said “no further action” so my guess is no.

The guy who turned across me in May 2013 was initially going to get an awareness course which I agreed to, it was a mistake on his part not a deliberate hurt a cyclist action.

Turned out in the end that he’s only just wiped off the points he’d had for driving with due care and based on that and his 6 points for speeding the police took him to court and he got a ban and a fine.

Interestingly the police officer rang me to tell me this even though he wasn’t obliged to do so. The police were excellent throughout.

not in the public interest to proceed.

Do we get to vote on that?

Do we get to vote on that?

no. If the evidence was “word on word” , then the CPS view would be to drop it, if it ever got to the CPS from the Collision Bureau. If the guy knows this and has decent advice, he will choose the court route when given the option. Without independent witnesses or an admission by the driver the case is dead in the water. Even if the guy has made a full and frank admission on interview, then the expense of taking it to a court may mean that it is not “in the public interest” (which in these days of bean-counting is a weigh up of cost v benefit)

Awareness courses are available to drivers who admit the offence and agree to go on them. No matter what the OP’s opinion is, it is still up to him to take that option. The only input the OP actually had was to agree that he would be happy to let the police make that offer.

So, perhaps a lesson to us all. The driver may have appeared all contrite at the time, but probably took a gamble when faced with the choice of losing a day’s pay plus the cost of an awareness course, or a three pointer and less than half that in fines. If my licence was clean I’d opt for the points, especially knowing what I know about the appetite of the CPS to prosecute minimal injury accidents.

Now, Restorative justice is another matter. I might be tempted to suggest he could “walk a mile in my shoes”, and join me on a rush hour commute. He may learn to respect bike safety a bit more after ten miles of being buzzed by private hire drivers, buses and other blithe morons.

If the evidence was “word on word” , then the CPS view would be to drop it, if it ever got to the CPS from the Collision Bureau. If the guy knows this and has decent advice, he will choose the court route when given the option. Without independent witnesses or an admission by the driver the case is dead in the water.

FWIW, it wasn’t word on word, as I mentioned earlier I had an independent witness who co-operated with me, and the officer who investigated, and the driver also did admit fault.

The letter said it did make it to the CPS but they decided not to proceed as not in public interest.

The police investigated in a timely manner, kept me informed, and I am satisfied that the driver and I sorted things out between us amicably. Overall I am reasonably happy with the outcome, maybe I would be happier if he had gone on the course but I’m not bitter that he hasn’t, I believe that he got the kick he needed and was genuinely remorseful.

Now you raise hell. He has got away with it and there is good chance that all he has is a big smug smile.

My answer was going to be the course, being that the penalty doesn’t solve the issue, though discourages doing it again but if he’s not sure what he did or failed to do then it doesn’t help.

But if he’s let off with nothing then that’s even worse.

Daft that’s it’s not in the public interest for a case like this, but dare to do 35 in a 30 and instant fine / offer of a speed awareness course, either way near £100 in their pocket.

brooess – Member
OP – whilst I endorse the comments on here about the speed awareness course being very thought-provoking and having a long term effect, when I went on mine it was about general driving, very little focus on how to drive around cyclists.

Mine made it quite clear it’s not about how to get past those pesky cyclists, but about awareness of them in the first place and not being in such a rush, taking more care. Most the incidents aren’t on overtaking them anyway but at junctions, and the observation videos pointed this out. They also stressed the “it’s fine if bikes are two abreast” and how that’s better for overtaking if it’s a large group of them. Though there was a lot of anti-bike hate in the group I was in and discussions about cyclists weren’t positive.

Not that mine was anything about crashing into cyclists, it was just speed awareness after getting caught speeding down the M4… to get to BPW to go riding 😀