Undercover bike cops launch 'best ever' cycle safety scheme in Birmingham

Campaigners hope the operation, that sees plain clothes police on bikes pull over drivers that pass too close, will be taken up across the countryWhen Mark Hodson gets on his bike in the morning, like many cyclists in the UK, he has come to expect a few close calls. Perhaps drivers will whizz past him too close, or someone will even try a 'punishment pass'.Luckily, Hodson is a West Midlands Police traffic officer, albeit in plain clothes, and just yards up the road a colleague in a police car is waiting to pull over drivers that give him less than 1.5m space when overtaking (a distance that increases for faster speeds and larger vehicles). Continue reading...