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Essex Police have been criticised for appearing to dismiss a cyclist’s concerns about a shocking close pass – because he swore at them on Twitter.
Cyclist Tony was left “absolutely fuming” after a driver only received a warning letter for committing a reckless close pass which forced him to swerve towards the grass verge to avoid being hit.
“I had just exited a roundabout and was reasonably far out from the kerb, when the Range Rover driver decides to overtake ignoring the oncoming traffic,” Tony told road.cc of the incident, which occurred near Grays in Essex.
“They then drive closer to me, squeezing between myself and an oncoming vehicle, forcing me to swerve hard to my left to avoid being hit.
“You’d think this was a clear cut ‘send out a NIP’ for the police, but nope, their response was to send a warning letter.”
After hearing the news, a clearly disgruntled Tony took to Twitter to complain about the rather questionable outcome.
@SaferEssexRoads @EPRoadsPolicing @EssexPoliceUK @CyclingUKEssex @EssexPFCC Anyone care to comment on how this dangerous driving, with driver purposely getting closer as they are alongside only warrants a warning letter, do you just not give a fuck about the safety of cyclists?
— CykelTony (@tony_eh) July 28, 2022
“How the hell this only warranted a warning letter from Essex Police I don’t know,” he wrote.
Then, tweeting Essex Police, as well as their Roads Policing Unit directly, Tony said: “Anyone care to comment on how this dangerous driving, with driver purposely getting closer as they are alongside, only warrants a warning letter.
“Do you just not give a fuck about the safety of cyclists?”
The response? Well, let’s just say Essex’s Road Policing unit got to the heart of the matter:
Once you remove the offensive language we will engage with you, but not via this platform.
— Essex Roads Policing (@EPRoadsPolicing) July 28, 2022
That rather taciturn reply didn’t, surprisingly, help matters, with Tony and a number of other Twitter users sharply criticising the police’s dismissive response:
You’re kidding right? I’m absolutely fuming over this, this driver wilfully put my life at risk and you’re telling me off for a bit of swearing!
— CykelTony (@tony_eh) July 28, 2022
Are you serious? This was a deliberate assault! You expect him to say “Oh dear”?
— Peter See (@PeterSee8) July 28, 2022
Not a great response, I think the public have a right to know why this decision was made. It shows the extra eyes service in a very poor light. I can understand the bad language, as can you.
— Makecyclingsafeagain (@Makecyclingsafe) July 28, 2022
Language aside, the public has an interest in understanding @EPRoadsPolicing’s policy with regards to taking action through #3rdPartyReporting, so if you could explain more generally in what circumstances a NIP would be issued rather than a warning letter it would be appreciated.
— Cycling Surrey 🇺🇦 (@CyclingSurrey) July 28, 2022
Let’s get this straight, you want him to remove his offensive language from this platform but still won’t engage with him on this platform irrespective? So, you are going to ignore any other formal complaint or correspondence until he removes this? Are you serious?
— Jonathan Stone 🇺🇦 (@JonnyStone) July 29, 2022
Tony tells road.cc that he intends to appeal the outcome of the case.
“I can usually brush off close passes quite easily, but this one actually left me quite shaken for several hours,” he says.
“I fully intend to raise an official complaint regarding the outcome and then appeal to the PCC when they brush it off.”
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