Economy meltdown = lethal driving? (+Surveillance camera Laws?)

this is uk!! you're alive, move on.

this is the UK, my friend..

this is uk!! you're alive, move on.

I probably will 'just move on'

but it was such an extreme incident, it would be good to be able to see & share the footage as I know it exists.

See if tynan's got anything. Pretty good odds.

This is probably a fair point, i could see how there may be a link between status of economy and stress levels in people. you're still alive, learn from your experience and keep cycling.

i don't think people from Brum are used to cyclist at all, so extra caution is required.

Just as an aside to the above, you should use the Data Protection Act rather than the Freedom of Information Act to apply for CCTV footage. You should make a data subject access request under Section 7(1) of the DPA.

+1

What the fricking Brick said.

1. This was not a 999 emergency
   
2. When I reported my recent incident to the coppers (and in 20 years I've never done so, I must be starting to value my life or something) they said they couldn't do anything if there was no collision. Well, "no shit" I thought, "I was a skilled mofo and avoid the car/death. That's the idea, right?!".
   
   

Anyway, I said the guy's wing mirror hit me (the scratch had faded from Thurs already) and the copper (she was really nice about all this) said "well, that's your collision isn't it". The guy's car hit me so I get to fill in a FORM 207 - ROAD TRAFFIC COLLISION/ACCIDENT form.

ie. tell them the car hit you and report the fscker anyway.

Reminds me.. I have to fill out this poxy form..

I have said it before but its the whole ethos of driving in this country that makes it so dangerous to be a cyclist. Other countries in Europe consider cyclists/peds in a whole different way, here motorists don't give a shit. You are just another inconvenience to them thats gonna make them late. They want you off the roads, off the pavements and out of their lives. That is until they buy their 10 year old a bike for christmas or a birthday then their attitude changes. If you are gonna ride on the roads here you must consider all car users as arseholes and treat them accordingly.

I agree to your points P!mp but not the bit on "all car users are arseholes and treat them accordingly". Same as car users saying "all cyclists are arseholes and treat them accordingly".

Ride well, ride safe, respect people, be polite and stay calm.

this "no damage hence nothing to report" policy is fckd up. this means that everything on the road is seen in terms of their commercial value, nothing more. this ignores the fact that lives (more so for peds and cyclists) are at stake.

drivers attitude toward cyclists wont change, until this policy is reversed. at the moment, bad drivers get a way with near misses. and those who do manage to kill, get a slap on the wrist.

I agree to your points P!mp but not the bit on "all car users are arseholes and treat them accordingly". Same as car users saying "all cyclists are arseholes and treat them accordingly".

Ride well, ride safe, respect people, be polite and stay calm.

Understand what you mean VeeVee but unfortunetly the good ones dont have ' I'm a Considerate Driver' stickers on their cars. So treat them all as arseholes and be safe. Some motorists are very considerate I know, the same as there are a lot of very good cyclists on the road. The problem is that in that split second of making a decision which way do you go? Expect nothing and you don't get disappointed or run over.

...at the moment, bad drivers get a way with near misses.

In the oil and gas industries (and soon on-shore construction) they have a new policy of gathering intelligence on 'near misses' (they ordinarily went unreported) but near misses eventually lead to 'direct hits' and that's when we see fatalities or serious accidents.

By clamping down on near misses (often a result of poor H&S culture or someone being a wanker) reporting them and altering the culture that leads to them, actual accident rates drop massively. In fact, in the oil and gas sector they have a website in which they are reported, based on a voluntary system.

I understand roads are infinitley more complex than the O&G industry...but it might be useful to see how other people report and approach this sort of thing without the use of the police/HSE etc.

I think businesses should be targeted more heavily about their drivers too...and I know that recently the law was changed to make the employer more responsible/accountable for their staff when it comes to driving.

Oh,

does anybody know how to get any useful details from a license plate number?

The one in this incident was:

DV55 VMU

The police will only give details if there has been an accident.

V888 form allows you to ask the DVLA for driver details when following up a minor accident civil claim thingie. Just fill it out using your newly created fake ID and then kill them around 4am Tuesday..