Safe cycling initiatives planned by South Wales Police

There has been communication this week from the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, indicating that the long awaited safety initiatives will be coming to the streets of Cardiff.

Operation Close Pass

The close pass initiative was pioneered by West Midlands Police, and involves plain clothes officers riding a bike and radioing ahead to colleagues if they’re passed dangerously by motorists.

According to figures, during the 12 months since the initiative started the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on their roads has been reduced by a fifth.

The statement from the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales states that:

“Operation Close Pass is being implemented by South Wales Police, having visited West Midlands Police to take on board their experiences as early users … we are investigating a number of recent fatal and serious collisions involving motor vehicles on the road and working with the three other Welsh forces to instigate a Fatal Review Board, which will help us understand and map out problem areas and trends to put more emphasis into the right areas for prevention.”

Operation Close Pass is being planned now, with equipment arriving and training being completed during December to tie in with the other initiatives, then it will be rolled out officially in the New Year.

Operation Snap

More and more road users are carrying cameras and capturing valuable footage of dangerous driving and motorists’ law breaking, but in the past there has not been any set process or procedure for the police to store the media and then deal with any apparent offences.

Operation Snap is a way for members of the public to submit their footage, to allow the police to deal with driving offences such as driving without due care, dangerous driving, mobile phone use, and people being distracted whilst driving.

“If you were to consider fitting a camera to your helmet or handlebars and were able to capture dangerous driving, South Wales Police will be only too pleased to review the footage and take appropriate action.”

Operation Snap is due for official launch on the 7^th December via Welsh Government, however, the website is functional now.

Go Safe Casualty Reduction Partnership

If you are concerned at the speed of vehicles using the roads then you can visit www.gosafe.org and click the ‘contact us’ link in order to submit your concerns. These will then be considered, evaluated and if appropriate, enforcement action may then follow at the location.

Many thanks to local cyclist Alistair Gibbs for pursuing this topic with the commissioner’s office, and forwarding us the email communication.