Produced by /cycling/helmet_cam/survey/analyse_snap_survey.py at 2021-12-27 11:28
Note: these results are provisional as we are awaiting D&C Police's confirmation that we have correctly recorded their action against each incident.
In December 2021 an on-line survey was undertaken to see how cyclist’s assessment of road incidents compared with that of the Devon and Cornwall Police’s SNAP Team.
Cyclists (and motorists with dashcams) submit videos of incidents of concern to Operation SNAP. The SNAP Team review them and initiate one of the following actions
A set of eight videos which had been assessed by the SNAP team were selected. The outcome of these assessments covered a range of the possible outcomes above (from No Action to NIPs).
Cyclists were invited to view the videos (without knowledge of the SNAP Team’s assessment) and to indicate what action they think would be appropriate.
The Survey is available here.
The results are presented in order of the 'size' of the difference between the cyclists' and the SNAP Team's assessments.
Each possible sanction is given a score as follows: None = 0; Warning = 1; Course = 2; Penalty = 3; NIP = 4. From these an average 'cyclists' score' is calculated.
For each video a bar chart shows the number of respondents recommending each possible action. Thus for video C (immediately below) 9 cyclists recommend a NIP, 5 a fixed penalty, etc. The cyclists' 'average score' is shown by a small grey arrow (in this case in the Fixed Penalty box). The SNAP Team's judgement is shown by the larger black arrow (alongside None).
Number of cyclists' submissions: 23
Cyclist's video: video-C.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 0.0 Cyclists: 2.9 Difference: 2.9
Comments:
Clearly too close and unsafe - and the driver clearly knew what he was doing. Prosecute.
Van crossed double white lines and into oncoming traffic
Clearly dangerous and intentional.
The driver should have waited until there were no oncoming cars before overtaking.
Again, driver too impatient to wait until oncoming traffic had passed. Cyclists can't win because the only way to prevent drivers doing this is to take the primary position and then they get even more annoyed with you.
Crossed the white lines into oncoming traffic, potentially serious consequences
An impatient pass and too close. Not driving with sufficient care.
So much wrong with this, driver awareness course for education seems needed but also somehow not enough?
Driver crossed double white lines in order to overtake cyclist with an oncoming car
Very close to rider and oncoming vehicle - well under 1m space and a big vehicle. Also overtaking on double white lines. Just couldn't be bothered to wait for even an extra second to perform a safe overtake. I'd say careless - very close to hitting oncoming vehicle or rider - oncoming vehicle's brake lights are on maybe in response to the lorry-driver's actions.
Little if any spacial awareness of either the cyclist or oncoming vehicle. Only a slight delay would have enabled a safe pass.
Cyclist's video: video-H.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 0.0 Cyclists: 2.8 Difference: 2.8
Comments:
This is an obvious prosecution on every level. The driver has broken the basic safety code, that where space is limited, the larger vehicle should stop, to allow the vulnerable road user to pass and clear the hazard, before moving off. That the cyclist had to take evasive action shows just how dangerous this pass was.
Little attempt to accommodate the cycle, or slow down. The correct way would be for the van driver to, pull right into the side of the road, stop and allow the cycle to pass safely.
Just ridiculous driving leaving zero space for the cyclists.
In my experience, the vast majority of drivers stop and give way in very narrow lanes like this, although I have experienced occasions when they don't. It's extremely disconcerting to be passed by inches by any vehicle, let alone a large van. This driver carries on regardless of the welfare of more vulnerable road users, forcing the cyclist to stop. Careless driving.
That's aggressive and bullying driving. When confronted with that a cyclist has no choice but to get out of their way- as clearly happened to both the camera wearer and the person behind.
All of the above have happened to me, whilst out cycling. I believe a drivers awareness course generally the best course of action, if they are running in Covid times. In each case the motorist has to give up time and think about their driving. A fixed penalty notice would appropriate in the case of the driver who passed blind and meant the on coming driver had to stop, as well as training. Difficult in the last video to see the speed of the van. If he slowed to accomadate the cyclist who had stopped then ok. If not prosecute for driving with output cate to life.
Extremely inconsiderate driving. The van driver should have stopped as the cyclists approached to let them go past safely instead of feeling threatened
Van should have stopped to allow cyclist to pass.
Low speed, but the driver's assumed right of way over the cyclists is irksome.
Complete bully and total disregard for the cyclists, disgusting.
If cyclist hadn't stopped and gone onto verge, they would seemingly have been knocked off their bike
Very close, but low speed (compared to others here). I was about to select the awareness course - but if a rider had wobbled when stopping in the verge they would have been under the wheels. The "what if" is a good question to have in mind when looking at these videos, IMHO, as sometimes the footage doesn't easily convey how close/fast things felt.
The cyclists appear to pull close into the side of the lane in good time giving indication to the vehicle driver to continue passing. The driver was going well below the speed limit for the lane but it would be better to stop the vehicle to allow the cyclists to pass safely.
Cyclist's video: video-B.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 0.0 Cyclists: 2.5 Difference: 2.5
Comments:
The driver has assumed that the cyclist will not cross the white line. And the cyclist didn't. The cyclist could have signalled his/her intention to pull out, to stop the unsafe overtake. As it stands, there was adequate space for both, but the overtake was both unsafe, and inadvisable.
Very dangerous, to overtake a vehicle (bicycle) which itself is overtaking another vehicle
Clearly dangerous and intentional.
The pass was only nor more hazardous as the cyclist took evasive action moving back from intended line
No regard for the cyclist's need to pass the parked car. Thoughtless, if not careless, driving.
It's not the worst I've seen, but the driver, as so many others, was so impatient to pass they ignored what the cyclist was doing.
No need to pass here. Plenty of space 10 m ahead. Thoughtless. Not driving with sufficient attention
For the sake of saving 10 seconds of their own time the driver could have taken someone's entire life. An unfortunately typical example of thoughtlessness and dangerous driving.
Driver seems oblivious to what the cyclist is about to do, ie, move out to overtake, and appears to assume they have right of way. Again, driver education.
Driver forced cyclist to slow down
Definite "must get in front". Collision only avoided because the rider took evasive action and relinquished their priority to perform a safe overtake. Less than a metre of space - easily a nasty collision under different circumstances. Not sure if NIP would be successful, hence selecting a Fixed Penalty. Perhaps that says more about me than the system though.
Cyclist's video: video-F.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 1.0 Cyclists: 3.3 Difference: 2.3
Comments:
Inadequate space to complete this maneouvre could clearly be seen by the overtaking driver (CY57EVC) and yet the driver still makes the unsafe pass. Prosecution should follow.
Extremely dangerous driving, overtaking with insufficient space to comply with Highway Code Rule 163
Clearly dangerous and intentional.
The second driver overtook in a pinch-point and could not have been 1.5m away. This is far too common in my experience and I now take a 'primary' position in such situations further out from the curb.
Driver overtook far too close and should have held back as there was obviously not enough room to give adequate space for the cyclist. Clearly dangerous driving
Close pass. No attempt to provide space for cyclist or wait until it was safe to pass
Overtaking when passing through an island - far too narrow
Way too close. If the cyclist had so much as wobbled it could have been a nasty accident.
Very dangerous and so obviously wrong, driver should anticipated the island well in advance
Too close at a pinch point. No attempt to wait in the gap between riders or even to slow down when passing - a "must get in front at all costs, mainly yours". Had the rider swerved or come off that would have been very nasty. Very poor driving
Is it any wonder that cyclists ride two abreast, to reduce the possibility of such situations, but this should not be a mitigating factor in the drivers decision.
Cyclist's video: video-G.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 0.0 Cyclists: 2.3 Difference: 2.3
Comments:
Oddly this looks unsafe but there is actually adequate space on the road with 3 lanes marked out and provided that the double whites have been crossed in accord with the highway code (cyclist progressing at less than 10mph and it being safe to cross the double whites). But this is typical of everyday issues on the road, where drivers treat driving with complacency, instead of, where hazards exist, with a little more caution and a bit of plain humanity.
Overtaking by crossing double white lines, potentially into the course of oncoming traffic
Difficult to judge how much space available at the start of the opposing two lane section.
It's hard to judge distance on this video. The cyclist clearly felt threatened by the proximity of the second car that passed at the same time as the oncoming bus. It looked like there might have been more room on the bus's side of the road. Passing a slower moving vehicle on a double white line is not acceptable in htis circumstance in my view.
While it's probably illegal to be crossing the white lines ( it's surely impossible to judge how fast a cycle is travelling from a car?) but I'd prefer that to still trying to pass without crossing them.
Crossed double lines into the hatched area against an oncoming bus. With a child involved as well, driver should have exercised more care and patience
Both passes could give more space. A child carrier on the bike should give these drivers cause to be particularly careful.
Because of crossing a double white line
I've assumed the drivers paid attention and saw a clear oncoming lane, however, they ought perhaps still to consider how threatening it might feel to a cyclist on the edge of 3 lanes of fast traffic.
You should never cross white lines with an oncoming vehicle
From what I can see in the rear view, the oncoming bus has no impact as it is on the inside lane of the opposite dual carriageway or there is hatching in between as the single oncoming lane goes into two. However, both vehicles do not make use of this extra room and barely cross the double white lines, and so give a close overtake to a rider pulling a child trailer (presumably occupied) at speed - the gap given is around 1m or less. The rider's impression of the overtake can be heard as being a surprise and hence closer/faster than appropriate for the conditions. As a cyclist, I'd rather someone cross over the double white lines completely (all 4 wheels) and give me space, than "only just" with the outer two wheels and pass closely. And presumably drivers do this because they feel it's a smaller transgression to only partly cross double-white lines. Rule 129 already gives exception here, so drivers could be reminded of that more strongly. But here the impact (close and fast overtake) is such that FPN makes more sense.
It seems the following drivers did initially slow behind the cyclist but still could have given the cyclist more room when passing.
Cyclist's video: video-D.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 0.0 Cyclists: 1.6 Difference: 1.6
Comments:
Overtaking vehicle is unnecessarily close - the driver had more room available. But the cyclist is also, at times in this video, close in to the verge, which sets up the scenario for a close pass to occur. This is a driver education issue.
Fairly close passing, with insufficient room to safely pull in if oncoming traffic appear
Probably not intentional but still dangerous.
A common example in my experience of a driver failing to use the available width of the road to overtake a cyclist. Relative speed to that of the cyclist also an issue.
Too fast for the space given.
Passed too close and fast although nothing coming the other way. Could have pulled further out
There is more space here to give greater space when passing
The speed of overtaking is totally disrespectful to the cyclist
Unnecessary close pass - plenty of space to go fully over to other carriageway. Rider was wobbling because of slope (not unreasonably), so more space should have been given (and available) and clear view of road ahead to do so. Spacing is less than 1m (the tramlines help!) and for that the speed is high.
There is clearly sufficient room to pass on the other side of the road.
Cyclist's video: video-E.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 4.0 Cyclists: 3.0 Difference: -1.0
Comments:
Whilst not particularly close to the cyclist, the overtaker's maneouvre cannot be completed without another road user taking evasive action. This places the safety of all road users in jeopardy. The oncoming vehicle could clearly be seen by the overtaker, so the driver's action was deliberate and unsafe. A prosecution should follow.
Car overtook despite an oncoming car in view, causing the other vehicle to perform an emergency stop
Saved by approaching car coming to a stop. Dangerous and intentional.
Worse trouble seem to have been avoided by the oncoming driver slowing
Another very common incident in my experience. Q. When can car drivers see round corners? A. When they're overtaking a cyclist. The driver caused the other vehicle to stop. A clear case of careless driving.
Again impatient driver can't wait 10 seconds.
Overtaking on a blind bend, into the path of an oncoming car and uphill into the sun. No thought for the cyclist or even the driver's own safety
Gives probably enough space to person cycling but this is done approaching a bend, causing oncoming driver to have to break
Car on opposite side had to stop
Terrifying. Thank goodness the oncoming vehicle stopped so quickly to give the passing car room to carry on before pulling in. So many ways in which this could have been terrible, mostly for the person not protected by a big metal box.
Unaware of dangers of their actions, driver awareness course
Oncoming car forced to stop as driver overtakes cyclist
There was no visibilty around the left hand bend, such that the overtake was done without sufficient clear road - the oncoming vehicle had to stop. The overtake gave reasonable space and wasn't at excessive speed in my view. I might be happy with an awareness course for this one, but not sure how much deterrent that is.
The oncoming driver can be heard to stop abruptly to avoid a possible collision with the passing vehicle.
Cyclist's video: video-A.mp4
Assessments: SNAP Team: 4.0 Cyclists: 1.9 Difference: -2.1
Comments:
Driver education needed. There is adequate space which the driver has not used.
Probably not deliberate but inconsiderate and dangerous.
The car driver should have avoided overtaking just when the other car was passing the cyclist from the opposite direction. It's hard to judge from a video but it seems that the speed of the car relative to that of the cyclist is also a factor here. 1.5m might be the 'permitted' distance but it doesn't take into account the difference in speed. On a narrow road, or when cars are approaching from the opposite direction, 1.5m might not be possible so cars really do need to slow right down.
A pass like this will happen probably every time I cycle. I'm so used to that I'm not sure I'd do anything. The trouble is my wife would be scared by that and it's likely to put her off cycling; quite the opposite of what we need for active transport.
Plenty of space to overtake better. Only little attempt made to pass with adequate space
The car should have slowed down and overtaking wider
The driver would rather pass cyclist close at speed rather than fully go onto hashed area and slow down, relevant driver education seems the best approach.
Especially as there is a child trailer (presumably occupied), and plenty of carriageway to give more room by using the hatching, this isn't an acceptable overtake. It looks as if it was about 1m of space - not enough to take avoiding action if needed. However, difficult to judge from just the rear view and only on a single watch. I did 2-3 watches and trying to place myself in that situation to think how it would feel to me as the cyclist - and then upped my assessment severity as a result.
The driver was able to cross into the hatching and could have given sufficient room when passing the cyclist.
