Police officer tells cyclists about the Highway Code

[Spike]

[‘Keep well to the left’ and ‘ride in single file’ would seem to have been
appropriate here. Exceptions apply but apparently not in this case. Pedal
cyclists need to understand that the Highway Code contains more than just a
list of their ‘rights’. Some pedal cyclists appear to believe that what
they mislabel as the ‘primary position’ is in fact a secondary one.]

Ironically Grahame Cooper was on a Critical Mass ride in Bolton, Greater
Manchester on Friday evening when a police van pulled up alongside his
group and wound down the window.

"You can't ride out in the road like this" he says, before adding that the
cyclists "have to ride next to the kerb" and are "supposed to ride in
single file."

Grahame tells the officer that in fact – as the Highway Code now makes very
clear –the group do not need to ride in single file, adding: "Talk to the
people in your traffic division... they'll explain to you what correct road
positioning is for cyclists."

Grahame told road.cc that after notifying Greater Manchester Police of the
officer's incorrect assertions, he was very satisfied with the response the
next day, with GMP apologising and saying the officer would be educated on
traffic laws.

An officer at GMP told Graheme: "I have reviewed your complaint and the
video footage and would like to apologise on behalf of GMP and the officer
that had spoken to you. I am a cyclist myself and can understand your
frustrations.

"I will ensure words of advice are given to the officer along with some
education around traffic offences/ cycling legalities."

He told road.cc: "I then suggested wider guidance to officers might be good
and got the response: "I will be sure to make staff aware during briefing
due to the changes in the highway code in the past 12 months"."

GMP also promised to make all staff aware of the Highway Code in a briefing
to avoid similar situations in the future.

This isn't the first time we've reported on serving police officers who
need to brush up on their Highway Code: in March of this year a cyclist
told of how she was pulled over by two Metropolitan Police officers for
“putting [her] own safety before cars” and not riding "courteously" after
she was close passed by a motorist.

In 2019, a cyclist who submitted close pass footage to to the Met Police
was threatened with prosecution himself for riding on a footpath, when the
stretch of path he was on was clearly marked as shared use.

“It highlights how clueless police are about cycling and to me seems to be
an attack on cyclists”, said road.cc reader Giles at the time.

https://road.cc/content/news/police-offi

--
Spike

[Mike Collins]

On Sunday, 2 October 2022 at 11:34:03 UTC+1, Spike wrote:
> [‘Keep well to the left’ and ‘ride in single file’ would seem to have been
> appropriate here. Exceptions apply but apparently not in this case. Pedal
> cyclists need to understand that the Highway Code contains more than just a
> list of their ‘rights’. Some pedal cyclists appear to believe that what
> they mislabel as the ‘primary position’ is in fact a secondary one.]
>
> Ironically Grahame Cooper was on a Critical Mass ride in Bolton, Greater
> Manchester on Friday evening when a police van pulled up alongside his
> group and wound down the window.

Did the driver of the van keep a 1.5 metre gap from the cyclist?

[Grahame Cooper]

Yes, there was loads of room to carry out a safe overtake and he would have done if he hadn't stopped on the other side of the road to give out his nonsense "advice".

[Grahame Cooper]

And if anyone is interested, here is my previous analysis and response to the kind of assertion made in the OP. http://www.happycyclist.org/?p=2923