Police post close pass sting on Strava, prosecute four drivers

Four people have been prosecuted after police in Sheffield undertook a close pass operation on a hazardous section of road in their area.

They've also posted their ride to Strava, showing they rode 40 miles in just over two hours, saying their sixth close pass sting saw better driving than in previous instalments, yet still resulted in four prosecutions.

"Who thinks this is a great place to overtake? Traffic coming the other way will be doing 50mph if it's obeying the limit," Sheffield police tweeted, before showing a motorist doing exactly that, with a safe place to overtake only being 10 seconds further up the road. They were issued a Traffic Offence Report.

Their Strava ride includes four images showing instances where vehicles passed them too closely on their route into Sheffield city centre.

Members of the public heralded the initiative in the comments, agreeing that it was a "dodgy" stretch of road, and others saying the perilous route was their usual commute into work.

>>> Driver who killed five cyclists found to have methamphetamine in his system

"Thank you for continuing to do these operations. Hopefully, they will make a difference and perhaps encourage other Sheffield area teams to also take part," another said.

Operation Close Pass was launched in 2016 by West Midlands Police, the goal being to identify and educate drivers who pass too closely to cyclists.

Plainclothes officers are equipped with helmet cameras and use video evidence to educate motorists at the side of the road as well as prosecute repeat offenders. Members of the public are also able to submit video evidence.

West Midlands Police say they've seen a 20 per cent reduction in the number cyclists killed or seriously injured in the first year of the initiatives, with 13 drivers prosecuted and hundreds of others fined or given points on their licence.