Is it worth submitting video footage of close passes?
For several years as part of Operation SNAP in England and Wales, members of the public have been able to report and submit digital footage to police forces, including video evidence showing traffic offences, via an online form.
This has been particularly useful for people cycling who have been ‘close passed’ by drivers who’ve overtaken them without leaving enough space. Changes to rule 163 of the Highway Code introduced four years ago advise drivers to:
- Leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds.
- Take extra care and give more space when overtaking motorcyclists, cyclists, horse riders, horse-drawn vehicles and pedestrians in bad weather (including high winds) and at night.
- Wait behind the motorcyclist, cyclist, horse rider, horse-drawn vehicle or pedestrian and not overtake if it is unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances.
People in Wales were concerned last summer when media reports suggested that police forces in Wales had temporarily suspended taking action on close pass footage. There was some discussion at the time about the implications of national guidance issued by both the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Forensic Science Regulator.
Cycling UK’s Head of Campaigns met recently with Chief Constable Gareth Morgan, the Head of GoSafe, the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership, to clarify if anything had changed.
The good news is that cyclists can still submit video footage via Operation Snap, but to ensure that the police can properly consider the evidence submitted it’s helpful if you follow the guidance set out below when doing so.
What you need to send to the police
Firstly, it’s important to remember that there is no such thing as a ‘close pass’ offence. To prosecute someone the police need to prove that someone has driven in a manner which is either ‘careless and inconsiderate’ or ‘dangerous’.
The Highway Code provides guidance regarding the distance a motorist should leave when overtaking, but this is guidance and does not constitute an offence in itself. However, if the police can show that a motorist has ignored that guidance, that can help them prove that a careless or dangerous driving offence has been committed.
Operation SNAP, the online form for submissions in Wales, asks people to fill out a statement describing what happened. That statement is their evidence, which can be supported by any camera or video footage.
However, the police do need sufficient information from you in the text box to explain what happened. You can’t just send in the video footage without further explanation and expect the police to treat the video as the evidence.
That’s partly because there is some rather complex guidance from the forensic science regulator around police enforcement activities. This means that unless undertaken by someone with certain forensic qualifications, police officers should not make a judgement of speed or distance based solely on third-party supplied footage alone.
That doesn’t mean that the video footage can’t be used, just that the police require written evidence as well.
Unfortunately, some people have been sending through video evidence without an adequate statement in support, effectively saying “you can see from the video clip what happened”, and that’s not enough.
What makes an effective submission?
Chief Inspector Morgan asked us to encourage our members to keep making submissions including video footage, but recommends you bear in mind the following points when doing so:
- If the footage shows that either you or another road user has been forced to alter your path or speed, due to the driving of the alleged offender, then they are highly likely to be able to take action.
- If you can provide a statement along with your submission, describing how close the vehicle was in real terms and how it made you feel, the police are more likely to be able to take action. For instance: “On passing me the vehicle was within six inches of my leg. This caused me to panic and I had to stop to calm down, as I feared that a collision was imminent, as a result of which I could have sustained serious injuries”. That’s because in these circumstances they are making a decision on first hand evidence, corroborated by video, rather than having to make judgements of their own, in contravention of Forensic Science Regulator guidance.
While this is specific guidance from GoSafe about submissions in Wales, it is probably relevant for similar submissions to police forces outside Wales.
Carry on sending in your submissions
So, the message from GoSafe is clear: you can still send in your video evidence, just make sure you support it with a witness statement.
The missing piece for safer streets
After more than a decade without a clear plan for cutting deaths and injury on Britain’s roads, the government has launched a bold new Road Safety Strategy. Scotland and Wales continue to have their own strategies for road safety, but this is in the first time in 10 years that there is a plan covering policies which affect the whole of Britain.
It’s a huge step forward, which includes lots of measures that you’ve helped campaign for over many years.
But there’s one thing that’s missing. There’s no plan for Highway Code promotion – even though the majority of people still aren’t aware of the new rules from 2022. Important updates like minimum distances for passing cyclists and who has right of way at junctions aren’t being followed, because people don’t know about them.
This month marks four years since the changes. It’s time to fix that.
Will you send a quick message to your MP and ask them to press the government to finally communicate the new rules properly to the public?
