Everything about this close pass of a cyclist case in Britain highlights just how much ground the authorities in the Republic of Ireland need to make up.
It’s much too hard for Ireland to enforce, apparently, but here’s how close pass offences are prosecuted by some British police forces; summed up in one video.
The driver in the clip below hurriedly overtakes a cyclist just before a mini traffic island.
While the move would be dodgy enough in itself, the fact the motorist is driving a car that’s towing a caravan puts it on a whole new level.
And because Warwickshire Police – like most police forces in England and Wales – is willing to accept video evidence like this, the case was straightforward.
The driver was ordered to pay a fine and ordered to undergo a driving improvement course.
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And in a follow-up to the case, the police force has Tweeted the video and the outcome of the case.
The social media output will encourage others with video evidence to come forward.
And, with that in mind, Warwickshire Police have also included a link to the portal through which video evidence can be submitted.
It’s interesting to contrast this approach with the Republic of Ireland at present.
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The Garda has recently said that video evidence is useless – and won’t stand up to scrutiny as evidence – unless the cyclist who recorded it has independent proof of where and when their footage was recorded.
There is also no facility to send on video to the Garda; indeed no facility to report crime online at all.
And while the Government had promised close pass legislation – creating a new offence of passing cyclists closer than 1 metre or 1.5 metres; it has broken that promise.
Minister for Transport Shane Ross has, however, agreed to create a specific new offence of dangerous overtaking of a cyclist.
So the incident in this clip would be prosecutable under that new law.
However, whether an incident like this qualifies as “dangerous” will come down to the judgement of the investigating garda and the courts.
But even when the new watered down close pass law is introduced, there will still be no way of submitting video evidence online.
And the value of cyclists' video footage as evidence will still be extremely low under the Irish system, even though British police forces have no concerns about it.
Taking a risk? We can’t be everywhere, but cameras can; dashcam, helmet, mobile phone or even helicopter. Driver in this clip had to attend a Driver improvement course, costing £85 Don’t risk it#cyclinguk #closepass #OpSnap #ThinkSaferRoads #BadDriving
https://t.co/xvRohVuWpK pic.twitter.com/SGSp5ogOc9— Warwickshire Police (@warkspolice) January 23, 2019
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