54.Because cyclists are vulnerable road users, and an accident involving a cyclist is more likely to lead to an injury than one only involving cars or goods vehicles, cyclists will be more aware of careless or dangerous driving around them. A cyclist is, therefore, more likely to report such a case to the police. Evidence given by CTC’s Paul Keasey indicated that there was a “corroboration issue” when dealing with such reports, even with video evidence being present, adding that this is “just like it would be for one person driving a car against someone driving another car.”
90 Garry Forsyth said that the police will consider evidence “in terms of putting a case forward to the Crown Prosecution Service”, who will “consider the quality and continuity of the evidence”.
91 The matter of the CPS was also referred to by Martin Porter QC, who referred to three cases that were reported to police forces but, relevant files not passed to the CPS.
55.The vulnerability of cyclists provides a particular road enforcement challenge. A “near miss” involving a cyclist can be close to a fatal accident, and “near miss” reports involving cyclists should be considered in that light. It is clear that there is a problem with the actual and subjective safety of the roads for cyclists, as well as the perception of the likely result of reporting offences to the police. The level to which cyclists feel unsafe on the roads due to a perceived failure to enforce traffic law is at odds with the Government’s aim to promote cycling, and must be addressed.
56.We recommend that the Government’s strategy should not only promote cycle use, but must do so whilst reducing theproportion of people who consider that it is too dangerous for them to cycle on the roads.
57.There appears to be substantial feeling that collisions or near misses involving cyclists are sometimes not effectively handled. More generally, there is great variation between police forces in how a road user is able to report near misses, and thedevelopment of best practice would be of benefit to all road users. We recommend that the Home Office commission research on how collisions or near misses are handled by the police, particularly how this varies between each force area, and how this impacts the proportion of people who believe it is too dangerous to cycle on the roads.
