[Closed] reporting bad driving to the police.

You can go to the local police station.
They won't give a toss.
Sorry.

Maybe more details required but if the parked car is your side then the on coming traffic has right of way I reckon.

parked car, me and the overtaking car on the same side of the street.

I slowed for an oncoming car then as i went to move out past the parked car, the guy behind pushed through, forcing me to have to emergency stop behind the parked car.

I was in the right.

perhaps he thought you were parked/parking up?

were you? sounds like your path was blocked and you tried to cut him (already having road position) off. He could obviously have been more considerate, but I'd say its a long way from 'bad driving'

Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.

I has a similar incident recently with a bus driver.

Riding down a road with parked cars on the left so I held the middle of the free lane. That was not problem until there was a gap between cars of about 75 yards. Rather than pull in I carried on holding my line as I was travelling at a decent speed. Bus driver took offence to this and started beeping his horn telling me to get out of the way.

As he overtook me he cut me up and then braked hard in front of me. I followed him to his next stop and took photo's of Bus reg, route number and driver and pointed out that I would be reporting him to the Police.

Went down to the local Police Station to report him for dangerous driving but because there were no witnesses (bus was empty) they wouldn't do anything. Absolute waste of time.

Should've told the bus company as well, they take that sort of thing pretty seriously as it affects their image.

either i've not made myself clear or i have no idea what i'm doing on the road.

I am cycling down a road - car behind me. we are approaching a parked car. I slow to allow an oncoming car past. as i pull out around the parked car the car behind me speeds forward past the parked car leaving me with nowhere to go.

How am i in the wrong?

There is very little you can do in the first instance without witnesses / reg no / CCTV.

Let it spoil his day more than it spoils yours - don't get angry and learn the lessons - think how to alter your road positioning so that this cannot happen again

MM- its always worth reporting bus drivers to the bus company

You are living in an age where the serving Prime Minister's political party openly takes large bribes from the building industry and the Prime Minister then reciprocates by bringing in new legislation to assist the building industry earn loads more money by building all over protected landscapes throughout the country.

You are living in an age where the Top Policeman in the country thinks nothing of hob knobbing with the chief executives of an organisation which was/is being actively investigated for systematic multiple criminal behaviour, and then thinks nothing of accepting thousands of pounds worth of gratuities from this same organisation. AND "coincidentally" the investigation into the organisation's activities became somewhat muted.

You are living in an age where another recent Prime Minister's Department was clearly involved in falsifying a dossier of evidence to justify a war and the killing of numerous people.

All these things were done in the full glare of the public view. Ask yourself this. Have any meaningful sanctions been applied to these folk for their activities? Allowed to resign on full pension, Whoooopy Dooooooo!!!!!!

What chance do you stand of achieving any sort of justice for some minor incident that happened in a minor side street where nobody actualy got hurt?

The Country is busted, man.

Should've told the bus company as well, they take that sort of thing pretty seriously as it affects their image.

MM- its always worth reporting bus drivers to the bus company

I have before when a double decker bus overtook me leaving me no room and forcing me into the kerb.

Phoned them when I got to work, gave them the time, location and bus number and their response was that they'd put a notice up in their staff room to let them know to drive with more care and attention, hence why I went straight to the police this time.

I think the only way now is to invest in a video camera.

There is very little you can do in the first instance without witnesses / reg no / CCTV.

i've go the reg number - but i'm pretty resigned to not doing much. I'm a bit calmer after a coffee.

think how to alter your road positioning so that this cannot happen again

what do you suggest? i thought i was doing it ok.

EDIT: when i have complained to local bus companies they appeared to take it seriously. kept me informed of what had happened etc.

Further out into the road? its very hared to tell without being there but you have to control when cars can pass - if there is no room for them to pass safely then make sure its obvious there is no room.

So as the car that is coming the other way clears you immediately move out right into the middle of the other side before the car behind can try to squeeze past?

Look him in the eye and signal right?

i probably was a little lazy with my assertiveness.

thanks tj. 🙂

this thread has been cathartic for me - helped me to to play out what happened.

thomthumb

I really think ( and try to live to it) that letting it spoil his day more than yours Ie let him get angry and then laugh at him and looking for lessons to learn to try to avoid it in future is the way to go. Of course sometimes we do get angry and sometimes there is nothing you could have done differntly.

Rozzers can do little to nowt without some evidence, So its Helmet cam time I reckon...

But then if your gonna record the tossers it may be better to stick it up on youtube and let the "court of popular opinion" decide...

3 points and a telling off Vs all your work colleagues, Family and 127000 judgemental strangers being emailed a link to a clip of you acting like a prick...

In Lancashire you can dob them in to a web page which means they will get a producer next time a policeman sees them on his special camera.

All too a familiar story - you never know he may think twice but trying to change a leopards spots is difficult - trouble is without witnesses your stuffed I reckon 🙁

I do now follow TJ's recommendation of being aware and taking your lane and have very few altercations 🙂

reg no.,trace,bombers.it's the only way.

I called the rozers as I followed a clearly pissed driver who was crashing into parked cars, overshooting traffic lights, forcing cyclists to jump out of his way, and they did NOTHING other than text me a non-emergency number to use next time.

I can only speak from personal experience but every single experience I've ever had tells me that the Old Bill are a useless shower of shit.

The Police don't have enough officers to patrol and stop dodgy-looking cars. They rely on the public and technology to catch bad drivers, or bad drivers making a mistake and crashing.

This means you need to get a report attached to the car reg on the PNC so that next time the car is seen by a Police car equipped with ANPR they will stop the driver and check him out. Ring the non-emergency number and ask them to take a report. they won't do it unless the reg, the make and the colour are right.

The most frustrating thing about bad drivers, is that 99% of them just drive off, leaving you ranting and raving at the side of the road. You never get the last word....

So..."The London Solution":

[b]ONE OF THESE...[/b]
[img] [/img]

[b]FILLED WITH THIS...[/B]
[img] [/img]

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the above, but for some people I'm sure it presents a satisfactory solution.

On a serious note, most PSVs are fitted with CCTV now, inside and outside. If you get chopped up by a bus, and you get it's registration number - make a complaint to the bus company. If they just fob you off, serve them with a freedom of information request and demand a copy of the CCTV footage:

[url] http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/governmentcitizensandrights/yourrightsandresponsibilities/dg_4003239 [/url]

The bus company have a legal requirement to resond to your FOI request within 20 days. This is a real pain in the backside for the bus company, so most of the time they will cave in and issue you with an official apology, and / or at least deal with your complaint seriously.

Likewise, if your incident was within sight of ANY street CCTV, you can make a FOI request to the Police for a copy of the footage. In complying with your FOI request, they will inevitably view the footage. If the footage does show any criminally bad driving, they will have a duty to follow it up for you.

As for car drivers who leave me fuming - I try and catch up with them at the next set of lights (Which I usually do). They are usually absolutely horrified when, trapped at a red light, you pull up to their drivers window and ask for a polite chat. I smother them with kindness, call them Sir, or Lady, and generally give them a hard time about their bad driving, with impeccable grace. I like to think they may remember the experience, rather than simply dismissing me as just another angry cyclist.

P.S. I've got one of these on my commuter:

[img] [/img]

Its great in traffic, really suprisingly loud, and unlike air-horns, it sounds like it belongs on a motor vehicle. This suprises many drivers who have simply not looked / not seen you, and a sure-fire way of letting bad drivers know your feelings. I find it most useful as a preventative measure, if I see someone about to cut me up, I give them a blast, and quite often they have second thoughts about what they are about to do.

We all do stuff in our cars that's slightly dubious as far the law is concerned, don't we (think speeding).

Soak it up and move on...

Sometimes the best thing to do is report it to the police. As long as you have done this you have made an effort in case it comes back to bite you but as he hasn't got contact details for you it would be hard pushed. I've been in the same position as you before where a car has tried to overtake me when I'm about to overtake a parked car, providing I'm in front it's my right of way so the car behind will have to wait or go around me if it's free. So think you were right with what you had done.

[url= http://www.phased.co.uk/index.php/blatherings/85-writing-the-book-week-forty-five.html ]If you can be arsed to read this I had an entertaining stand off with a mobile phone using driver[/url]

If you can be arsed to read this I had an entertaining stand off with a mobile phone using driver

DavidB - Just read it - Highly entertaining!

Reminds me of a very posh lady I know from Oxford, who once confiscated a mobile phone from a 'yoof' in a cinema. The Yoof in question was a teenage girl who had been making phone calls and sending text messages during a film. My friend had already asked the girl three times to swith the phone off, but she was ignored the first two times, and received a snarled "Eff-off" at the third request.

Not being one to mess around, my friend snatched the phone off the girl, switched it off, and then gave her a good old fashioned b@ll@king, telling her she can have the phone back after the film has finished.

The girl, rather than rising to the challenge, recognised she had met her match and remained quiet as a mouse for the rest of the screening.

Just goes to show, just like the car drivers who swerve, honk, and barge their way past cyclists, shouting abuse from the safe confines of their cars - When the recipient of their abuse suddenly catches up at the traffic lights and enters their sacred comfort zone, all of a sudden the tables change...

[edit] Actually, come to think about it, whilst I'm sure 90% of the abuse you get from motorists is probably puff and wind, and they soon back down if you confront them with a "meaningful conversation" about their motoring skills.... there is always that other 10% who are probably confirmed serial killers, and wouldt't think twice about punching your lights out in a traffic queue, .....regardless of weather or not they happen to be stopped in the green cycle-only box.

So, in hindsight, I would suggest to check their back window for Martial-Arts club stickers, or Millwall scarves first, before knocking at their window to politely discuss their bad manners.

"You can go to the local police station.
They won't give a toss."

Yup.

Idiots threw a glass bottle at me from a van [i]outside a police station.[/i] I went straight in with the van number and descriptions.

"Yes sir we'll look into that and get back to you" Now I'm not ruling it out but after 6 years I think it's unlikely.

When I reported some deliberately dangerous driving, the police did a search on both the car and the registered keeper to see if there had been other reports. As there hadn't been, they didn't do anything, but they kept that report on file, so any future searches would bring it up.

We all do stuff in our cars that's slightly dubious as far the law is concerned, don't we (think speeding).

Soak it up and move on...

As someone on here once said, "most cyclist drive cars, but very few drivers ride bikes".

In the past I've phoned my local police station and delt with it over the phone.

Trying to get your local police stations number can be difficult.

The police are launching 101 across the contry next year, but if you happen to live in the right place at the moment, you can report stuff using this number.

[url= http://www.police.uk/101 ]http://www.police.uk/101[/url]

I had a truck driver hurl abuse at me once for having the audacity to use a pedestrian crossing thus causing him to slow down and stop. I noticed on the front of the truck was a big Leeds City Council logo.

I dropped in a complaint to the council and expected to hear nothing more on the issue. However a few weeks later I got a very apologetic letter notifying me that the driver had been disciplined and due to previous 'stuff' had been dismissed.

I felt bad about this, but then he was driving something upwards of 10 tonnes in a fairly unsafe manner.

EDIT: I should point out that I wasn't on the bike when crossing.

[i]how on earth do you report this stuff to the police? [/i]

Ooh, now, that's an interesting question. How WOULD I report something to the police? You know, I'm not sure, that's a tough one. You'd have thought they'd have a number you could ring, or a nearby office you could pop in to 🙄

Good tip dan1980. That web site suggests that by now it's launched just about everywhere except Scotland.

Ooh, now, that's an interesting question. How WOULD I report something to the police? You know, I'm not sure, that's a tough one. You'd have thought they'd have a number you could ring, or a nearby office you could pop in to

The 101 number as mentioned above sounds like a great idea but it is hard not be to cynical with any new gimmick the police wheel out. Can't believe you have to pay for the call yourself though (even if it is only 15p!)

[i]Well you can't phone 999 as it isn't an emergency and if your local police station is anything like mine it seems only to be open for 15 mins every other Tuesday!![/i]

Yeah, fair enough, but, come-on, if someone wants to report something to the police is it really that tricky for them to work out how they might go about it?

Can I ask what is that blue horn pictured above? Looks like a great commuting accessory.

use a head cam.
report it on ctc website on the "stop SMIDSY - report bad driving", and tick the box that says happy for them to contact police
go to local police station and make an "accusation of dangerous driving"
practice memorising number plates, (i can now do it in one glance) and vehicle types and colours

Print out several copies of the relevant sections of the highway code on rule 163 and other sections on VRU's and general overtaking, then hand them to the driver in question.

learn karate and practice your 1" punch on the driver's nose.

accidentally un-clip your shoe resulting in a scratch on the car - if they had left sufficient space as required by the highway code that could not have happened, so either they conciously drove too close (dangerous) or they accidentally drove too close (driving without due consideration), sometimes cyclists swerve to avoid pot holes (rule 163), so you are entiteld to the entire lane, command position.

even if you were blockign him deliberately, he is not entitled to use his car as a weapon and drive you off the road - if you had a 'trained witness' he'd struggle to defend a dangerous driving charge.

if we span his wheels as he left you, he was not in proper control of his vehicle, and I'll bet there are several other things he failed to do. again if the police wanted to get him they could charge him with not being in control. if he was deliberatly not in control near a VRU and he knew you were there (and he did cos you had a conversation with him) then that is dangerous driving.

But having said all this, you won't win, you are a cyclist, and the driver has a big heavy car. he/she has long forgotten the HWY code afterall when was the last time most people on here read it? unless you are very diligent in your evidence gathering kit and practices, the police won't bother coz they'd never get a conviction. even if he killed you it would be considered an unfortunate accident, even though, almost by default you as a VRU have an implied right of way.

also on the horn front, unless it clearly sits within the rules, beware that it can be constued that you caused alarm and so caused an incident that subsequently took place. I was warned of this by a friendly copper and the same applies to bright head mounted lights, they can claim they were dazzled so didn't see you.... hmmm

i really think someone should produce a cyclists evidence camera kit (front and rear looking) with enough resolution for number plates and time date stamping, and tamper proof recording to make it evidence submissable, mind you we'd need to carry "beware CCTV" signs so they are warned, soemthing to do with submissable evidence or sommat in the CCTV regs.

so actually (as my girlf is trying to teach me) stay calm, realise you can't win, and just smile everytime you see a traffic jam.

oh and don't jump red lights, coz it destroys all hope cyclists have of any public support.

tum te tum...

Blimey that was a long ramble
apologies...
best add more words then...

Come on dogcamsport, put together a cyclists evidence gathering kit, you'd sell a few I'll bet.

were you? sounds like your path was blocked and you tried to cut him (already having road position) off.

WRONG.

The car driver should have given sufficient space to allow the bike to move out as stated in the Highway Code; this is a classic case of crap observation on the part of the driver. What did he expect you to do, ride into the back of the parked car?

i really think someone should produce a cyclists evidence camera kit (front and rear looking) with enough resolution for number plates and time date stamping, and tamper proof recording to make it evidence submissable, mind you we'd need to carry "beware CCTV" signs so they are warned, soemthing to do with submissable evidence or sommat in the CCTV regs.

We all no doubt have, but to intentionally endanger a cyclist on the road whilst you're driving? I wouldn't have thought so.

Are you implying the act of the driver was malicious...? I'm not getting that from the OPs posts, merely an ignorant and careless individual. Like I wrote, something we all are from time to time especially when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

I think if he'd deliberatly tried to crush the guy between his car and the parked one then yes, maybe report him, but IMO it would be an over-reaction in this instance. From what I've gleaned at any rate...