A POLICE operation to improve road safety for cyclists on Tuesday (Nov 20)nabbed 34 drivers who had been spotted driving too closely past people on two wheels.

The exercise, called Operation Close Pass, took place in Trowbridge, with the motorists being asked to drive to the Trowbridge Fire Station for vehicle and legal checks and an education chat with officers.

Sergeant Simon Drewett, from the Wiltshire Police Road Safety Unit, hailed the operation as a success, saying: “It was very reassuring that our awareness and education messages are having an effect and bearing fruit.

“We stopped 34 drivers and all went through the legal checks, eyesight checks and the education and awareness sessions.

“We also dealt with several minor road traffic matters involving defective exhausts, defective tyres and having no MoT.”

The operation took place during National Road Safety Week, run by Brake, which this year has the theme Bike Smart.

Operation Close Pass aimed to raise awareness of cycle safety and crack down on motorists who drive too close to cyclists.

It was staged in partnership with Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Angus Macpherson, Wiltshire Council’s road safety unit and Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, whose staff from the road safety unit, together with both officers from the Tri Force Road Policing Team and representatives from the Swindon and Wiltshire Road Safety Partnership, conducted the checks after stopping vehicles deemed to have passed too closely to a representative pedal cyclist.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “The ‘close pass’ scenario is the biggest deterrent to cyclists using the region’s road network.

“It is apparent that drivers simply do not give cyclists the time and space necessary to complete their journeys in a safe manner.

“Drivers are often unaware of the correct passing distance of 1.5 metres to be given to a cyclist and therefore they carry out a manoeuvre that compromises the safety of both themselves and the pedal cyclist in question.”

The drivers taken in for checks were reluctant to give their names, but most agreed the awareness and education sessions had been a valuable lesson in improving road safety.

One driver was on her way to a Citizens Advice conference in Trowbridge when she was stopped. she said: “I think it was worthwhile. I was not actually aware that I had gone too close to the cyclist. I have learned that I’ll have to give them more space in future.”

In 2016, 18,477 cyclists were injured in reported road accidents across the UK, including 102 killed and 3,397 seriously injured.

In Wiltshire in 2016 47 cyclists received slight injuries, 10 serious injuries and two were killed as a result of accidents involving motorists.

The police said: “Analysis shows that just under half of all pedal cycle fatalities occur either at or within 20 metres of a junction, whilst for all pedal cycle casualties, this figure rises to 75 per cent.

“Junctions and roundabouts are particularly dangerous for vulnerable road users where the level of interaction increases.”