You might have read our story by now...
Yep, it's the news that according to data released by the force which pioneered 'close pass' policing, 213 reports of careless or dangerous driving around cyclists last year resulted in no further action being taken. Just one resulted in prosecution...
Those numbers come despite West Midlands Police receiving 5,551 submissions of video evidence relating to potential driving offences, over 2,000 more than the number submitted in 2020, and almost 1,800 more than 2021.
While it might be a stretch to say the news has taken anyone by surprise, it has not gone down well...
Dr Robert Davis, the chair of the Road Danger Reduction Forum suggested the "whole third-party reporting system needs to be properly sorted out. Properly."
CyclingBirmingham said the figures were "unbelievable". "What a waste of our time and a disregard to our safety," they said. "Hundreds of people, put in danger, hundreds of people doing their part to try and bring justice to make cycling safer and hundreds of people disregarded."
Local riders who have been submitting footage to the force expressed disappointment, one saying they had submitted around two per ride and ten per week, "I've been wasting my time trying to make the roads safer for all of us," they concluded. "West Midlands Police really doesn't care about road safety."
"This is not surprising at all. I stopped reporting to them after they ignored several very clear videos and told me a death threat I received was my own fault," another local rider added.
I’m not surprised. I have submitted close pass videos to West Mids Police and never hear about the outcome however @warkspolice always let me know what action is being taken.
— Cycling Chris 🇺🇦 (@cadencechris) April 12, 2023
Just pathetic
— 〰Stefan Gigacz (@cnresearch) April 13, 2023
One prosecuted that is totally unacceptable
— Merseyside Have Your Say (@MerseyRoads) April 12, 2023
We'll hopefully hear back from WMP today and bring you their response...