2009-07-20 - Black Cab hit and run

Can anyone offer any advice / help. I've found the " What to Do in Case of An Accident" thread and it's really useful but wondering if anyone has any experience of accidents where the details of car weren't got because they drove off?

RIding with a friend along Clerkenwell Rd yesterday a Black Cab in lane to carry straight on suddenly decided he was going left and swiped my friend left into Rosebery Ave, clipping his bars which flipped him sideways sending wheel under cars rear tyre and dragged him along on his side. His hub cap popped off in the process making lots of noise, lots of dust and dirt and the cab raced off leaving him lying in the middle of the road. I was just behind and luckily there wasn't any major traffic following so I managed to stand in the road until he could get up.

We think there may have been passengers in the cab too.

All the evidence left was the cab's hub cap.

As for the bike, the front wheel was a right off, twisted stem, lots of scrapes. Helmet, scuffed dented on one side (thankfully not his face instead) He suffered badly gritted hand, scrapes and bad bruises up arm, bruised swollen foot, cut ends of fingers, general bad bruising and aches all over.

Phoned Police immediatley and as we only had one other guy who stopped as witness who only managed to see for definate the first LF03 of the reg and thinks the rest might be OX? the Police said if they attended there's not much they could do apart from fill a bit of paper that would lead nowhere. They suggested if he still wanted to report it then to visit a Police station later.

Very nice lady dropped bandages and wipes and stuff to clean up etc out of her window above but saw nothing.

Bike was sorted out immediatley at Brick Lane Bikes, new wheel etc as he found it hard to walk on his heel, but was ok pedalling.

I've sent a link to him for the "Accident" thread and the TFL report page too. Trying to get him to do those and report officially to Police. I've got a fairly sure feeling that none of it will lead anywhere without full reg plate though. At the time the last thing any of us thought about was getting the reg as the driver was gone so quickly and we just wanted to check he was ok and get him out of the road.

Has anybody got any advice or had any experience of hit and runs with no details? Is there anything he can do?

I want him to find out if he can claim for new wheel, repairs and broken helmet from TFL with just witness reports and no reg details.

Also, I'm guessing I'm not an independent witness as I'm his friend?

I know it's a long shot with not much hope of getting anywhere but if anyone has any ideas / experience that led to something please chip in.

Thanks.

Surely the cab must be caught on CCTV at that junction? If not there, somewhere along Roseberry?

even if you feel that it might not go anywhere, it's still best to report in and such, after all, what has he got to lose during the process?

knowing that junction pretty well, there should be some CCTV, but probably redundant and useless like the death of a female cyclist by a blue lorry despite having CCTV at the spot.

there is a cab licensing authority (don't know what it's called) they may be able to match the number plate to a cab license number. i wouldn't expect them to proffer the information willingly though but the police may be able to get it?

Black cabs are licensed by the Public Carriage Office, http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehire/2807.aspx

See if you can get them to match the license plate.

Do black cabs have to call in before/after each fare, or are they private ventures? If they do, the portion of the reg and the location should be more than useful. Might not have replaced the hub cap if you're lucky.

Black cabs are licensed by the Public Carriage Office, http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehire/2807.aspx
See if you can get them to match the license plate.

They only deal with customer complaints. Traffic incidents with black cabs are dealt with by the police. You need to get the cops onto your side. Request the CCTV.

Interesting - you can use that site to look up partial plates of private hire vehicles but not black cabs.

Black cabs are a nightmare. I had a guy ( with female passenger on board ) who had been driving right up my arse actually bump into my back wheel while I was spinning quite quickly along the Aldwich the week before last. He then tried to drive off, but fortunately no major buckling of my wheel took place and enraged, I set off after him. He tried to disappear of into Theatreland but couldn't shake me - and would not stop despite my shouting into his open window / riding in front of him and trying to slow him down. He even drove along the pavement to try to get past me! In the end he got away and in a way - despite the fact that he could quite easily have killed me - I'm quite pleased because by this time I had lost all sense of reason and god knows what I would have done to him if he had stopped.

Anyway - none of that helps you with your problem, but definately follow it up ( I didn't ) and hopefully get the bastard caught. Maybe you can get his license revoked.

Pluck

Black cabs are a nightmare.

blaming a specific kind of drivers is not the best way to go.

that person is a bad driver, regardless of the vehicle he drive.

blaming a specific kind of drivers is not the best way to go.

that person is a bad driver, regardless of the vehicle he drive.

+1

A black cab drove into the back of a mate of mine at about 20mph on the Mall a few years back, all the witnesses stated he was lucky to be alive and what probably saved him was being thrown over his handlebars, Fcuking nightmare they are. Took a while but we managed to get £5k in compensation.

CCTV is best bet. Have a look around and see what's there. Otherwise, going on experience, nothing will happen - still best to report it as soon as possible if you want to though.

blaming a specific kind of drivers is not the best way to go.

that person is a bad driver, regardless of the vehicle he drive.

On this I think you are wrong.
Black Cabs, by their very nature, are inherently a lot more dangerous than other vehicles.
Every other vehicle is going to a set destination. The driver knows where he is going - some more than others - and will direct his attention to getting to his destination.

Black cabs on the other hand, are being directed by passengers, often on a whim, (whilst directing their attention to being conversational, chirpy, claiming to know the Krays or being casually racist) and when they are not the driver's attention is focussed on getting the next fare. They do u-turns, sudden turns, go for gaps as they see them - the works. And often without so much as a look in the mirror, let alone the indicators.

Black cabs are a nightmare. I had a guy ( with female passenger on board ) who had been driving right up my arse actually bump into my back wheel while I was spinning quite quickly along the Aldwich the week before last. He then tried to drive off, but fortunately no major buckling of my wheel took place and enraged, I set off after him. He tried to disappear of into Theatreland but couldn't shake me - and would not stop despite my shouting into his open window / riding in front of him and trying to slow him down. He even drove along the pavement to try to get past me! In the end he got away and in a way - despite the fact that he could quite easily have killed me - I'm quite pleased because by this time I had lost all sense of reason and god knows what I would have done to him if he had stopped.

Anyway - none of that helps you with your problem, but definately follow it up ( I didn't ) and hopefully get the bastard caught. Maybe you can get his license revoked.

Pluck

They are a nightmare, supposed to be Professional drivers but just too lazy to drive properly. Well done for chasing him, he probably browned his pants :-p

On this I think you are wrong.
Black Cabs, by their very nature, are inherently a lot more dangerous than other vehicles.
Every other vehicle is going to a set destination. The driver knows where he is going - some more than others - and will direct his attention to getting to his destination.

Black cabs on the other hand, are being directed by passengers, often on a whim, (whilst directing their attention to being conversational, chirpy, claiming to know the Krays or being casually racist) and when they are not the driver's attention is focussed on getting the next fare. They do u-turns, sudden turns, go for gaps as they see them - the works. And often without so much as a look in the mirror, let alone the indicators.

Point being, if we stick to the idea that all black cabs are dangerous, then when we see a cab making a mundane honest mstake, we'll automatically assumed that they're dangerous motherfucker who never have consideration for other on the road than just someone who made a honest mistake.

It's always best to keep that assumption away, it also likely to encourage you to not even acknowledge cab drivers who drive sensibly or even give way to cyclists.

it's always easier to blame a specific kind of transport for their mistake, BMWs, buses, lorry etc.

BMW for example is easy because if we see one breaking the speed limited, first thing come to our mind is "oh the bugger, think they can do anything they want because they have money", while another drivers doing the same maneuver in a Ford, we don't think of that.

blaming a specific kind of drivers is not the best way to go.

that person is a bad driver, regardless of the vehicle he drive.

+1

Sorry you're quite right - I'll broaden that to all taxi's, minicabs etc then - for sake of completeness.

Couple of years ago I was treated to a hospital stay courtesy of a minicab driver who had decided to do a u-turn in the middle of a dual carriage way without indicating or bothering to look, and then stopping across the middle of both lanes. He left me nowhere to go at 60 mph on my shiny new BM m'bike which was rendered officially fucked as it rammed into the side of the cab. He had no driving license, no insurance, tax, MOT etc, and it wasn't his car. Then he tried to run off and the po-po's had to go chasing after him. Only took 2 years for insurance and injury compensation claims to be settled.

I've ridden either a push-bike or a motorbike pretty much every single day in London for getting on twenty years. I know it's wrong to generalise, but I'm going to anyway based on lots of experience. Drivers of black cabs, minicabs and buses - are on the whole worse than 'normal' drivers. I think it's because they believe that because they are 'professional' drivers that they are by default better drivers than those around them - and therefore become lax, over-confident and sloppy. They are to be regarded in all cases with suspicion and caution.

Pluck

And to this comment:

then when we see a cab making a mundane honest mstake, we'll automatically assumed that they're dangerous motherfucker who never have consideration for other on the road.
That 'mundane mistake' could be the one that turns your lights out for good. My experience has been that cab drivers are more likely to make 'mundane mistakes' as well as 'couldn't give a fuck, I'm doing it anyway' type dangerous manouvres than are other drivers.

Pluck

Lately I've been inclined to take the view that cyclists too frequently hold a similar opinion of taxi drivers as peds do of cyclists: I would say I knew what I was doing when I swerve between a bunch of fat yank tourists wondering into a road after looking to their left for traffic, they'd think I'm a deathtrap on two wheels.

What does upset me is how close they drive, sat right on your tail at quite high speeds, and in the wet too.

it's always easier to blame a specific kind of transport for their mistake, BMWs, buses, lorry etc.

Yep.. because BMW, Jaguar and cab drivers are cunts and deserve it. :)

Hit and run is a very serious matter and should be reported to the police. You qualify as a witness. I hope you took pictures of the bike and your friend's injuries.

Jeeeez I had better not admit that I have a BMW and used to have a Jag as I am definitely off Hippy's Christmas card list ;o)))

Shit and I was gonna sell you the Raleigh.

Bring your car to Wests next time.. I've got a present for it ;)

On this I think you are wrong.
Black Cabs, by their very nature, are inherently a lot more dangerous than other vehicles.
Every other vehicle is going to a set destination. The driver knows where he is going - some more than others - and will direct his attention to getting to his destination.

Black cabs on the other hand, are being directed by passengers, often on a whim, (whilst directing their attention to being conversational, chirpy, claiming to know the Krays or being casually racist) and when they are not the driver's attention is focussed on getting the next fare. They do u-turns, sudden turns, go for gaps as they see them - the works. And often without so much as a look in the mirror, let alone the indicators.

I'm with BlueQuinn on this one.

Jag drivers are fine. At least they're buying local. BMW drivers on the other hand, I guess they just drive like that because they are pissed off at how shit their car is compared to a Jaguar.

I have had two cunts in Range Rovers beep their horns at me for having the temerity to be in their way. The first time I just accelerated away from him up Wigmore St shouting, "come on then, keep up!" You can do that over a very short distance quite easily and it doesn't half annoy them.

I had to have words with an Alfa driver who beeped at someone today. I was polite and forceful and he was meek and obedient. I think he thought I was a copper.