Extraordinary tweets from Cambridesire Police

I wonder whether how Cambridge Police have been tweeting is in any way related to my suggestion that we should report more incidents to them?

It isn't unusual for cyclists in the UK to complain that the Police don't seem to take complaints from them seriously - its something repeated so often as to become almost a cliche. Its not surprising really - its an over-stretched service, a thin blue line, apparently. And I wouldn't go out of the way to give them a hard time for it, I know that they can't do everything.  I do question their priorities though.

But a fairly mundane comment on twitter has escalated into a quite extraordinary response from them.

To recap, as part of a discussion I pointed out incidents like this - and note, two PC's  (or a PC and a PCSO? It was a long time ago) came to my house to see this video, and told me that they didn't think it was dangerous so said they'd do nothing:

And their response?

Here. Have a look. And at this one too. 

So to recap, I've used examples some of which our police service have refused to do anything about where motorists have passed closely in a way in which most cyclists would view as probably aggressively, and in response I'm being told its too late (despite trying to report such incidents at the time) and that I need to back off.

I'm not the only cyclists tweeting at our police force telling them the view from our saddles makes it look like they're getting things wrong. The annoying thing is, none of the cyclists talking to Cambridgeshire Constabulary are looking for any trouble - they're looking to get reports of dangerous driving taken seriously. Or taken at all, for that matter. And the response? Denial. Flat denial that there is a problem.

There are some good folk at Cambridgeshire Constabulary but looking through their twitter feed they're getting very 'us' and 'them'. I wonder whether they're interested in having any kind of constructive relationship with cyclists - it doesn't look like it to me.

I'm left wondering only one thing - how far are they willing to go to not police motorists endangering cyclists?

Please, if folk from Cambridgeshire Police are reading this, try to take a step back and ask what relationship you want with cyclists in the county. Do you want us to report incidents of dangerous driving? Mobile phone use at the wheel? Aggressive driving? Yes or no? We're in the ideal place to see these things - and I'd argue that we'll all be better off if cyclists DO choose to make more such reports, and you'll have a far better picture of which sections of road are most hazardous for vulnerable road users so you can target your resources more effectively to keep everyone safe, to really reduce the rate of injuries on our roads. Thats certainly what I want - why isn't it what you want? 

Zero Tolerance Spot for January, Coming to Your Town?

I want to lay down a challenge.

Talk to the other cyclists in your town, find a place you all agree is dreadful because of how motorists behave there. Is it a junction where 'they' always jump red lights? A place 'they' always pull out of without giving way? A pinch point where 'they' always drive straight at you? Take your pick, but do please choose one.

You've got a month to put the word out that this location is your target. This is where you're going to make a change. I want you, and all of the other cyclists there, to report every rule infraction you see, by every motorist, to the police. I want you to get incident numbers for all of them. Heck, if you can strap a camera to your helmet or your bike and record the problems you have there so much the better!

Lets make a difference in the New Year. Lets stop allowing the Police and Local Authorities to fob us off, one at a time, incident by incident. Lets make it absolutely clear - enough is enough, its time for us, the Cycle Lobby, to start getting shirty about how they've been treating us.

Cambridge Cyclists - Magdalene Street, the 'narrows' where bus and taxi drivers do not give way to oncoming cyclists, driving straight at you with the expectation we'll somehow disappear. Every event, every time 'they' endanger us, we'll report it. All through January. And in February? Pick somewhere else.

Are you all up for it? Can I get a 'HELL yes'?