Please report dangerous drivers to the police - Roadsafe. Report to plod, not just whinge here.

@ LPG

I think I'd have to disagree.
If you've seen my bag it has an orange Guantanamo badge pinned on to it:

What is to stop the users of these cameras getting something saying this bicycle has a camera automatically recording. Surely this could stop the majority of bad drivers in advance (esp professional drivers), minimizing conflict in all but the most unhinged of drivers?

• it would work both ways, curbing the potential rash reactions of angry, agitated, wronged cyclists?
  
  

This is quite likely overkill, but I've taken this idea and made a patch for my bag. I took one of my old punk back patches (Business hardcore hooligans FTW) and used the reverse to write "Video Recording". No idea how useful this will be, but am curious to try it out. Not sure if it will influence driver behaviour, or even if I'll use it that often, but hey, I made it.

Wanted to write "All your registration plates belong to us" but I wouldn't have been able to make it fit freehand.

What did LJ57FDF do?

He Elljayfiveseveneffdee-effed.

Do both- file the report then go round and tell him.

I guess it depends on what you feel the outcome or any ramifications would be from either course of action. Is he going to be reasonable in his response to a personal approach - while it could be effective in clearing the air, I don't know if he is someone who take it as a confrontation. He's already threatened assault...If he's that local and you're likely to come into contact with him frequently, then probably best to avoid establishing a local nemesis. Unless you're harder than him.*Or you feel that he deserves getting into trouble with the police for crap driving and making a bad situation worse by adding a helping of road rage....Not sure that filing a report then telling him to his face is likely to be an ideal combo!

How does "Please report dangerous drivers to the police" translate into "please post video evidence of rubbish driving because ed said so" ?

Is because Ed said so not enough for you?

Some jamaican knobend confronted me this morning. Was turning into a short narrow street, which is often one way thanks to a large construction lorry parked on the left side, just after a bend (here actually). I turned into the street, noticed a light blue car coming towards me and pulled in behind the lorry. I wait for it to pass, and it does, no problems. As it’s usually quite quiet, I pulled out from behind the lorry slowly to see if anything was coming, and moved into the lane. I probably should have stopped, but was already in the lane when I saw a dirty dark blue merc coming fairly slowly. He looked like he was slowing down, so I moved to the other side of the road, dismounted and got on the pavement so he could pass (I mumbled “just relax” as he came towards me – he’s seen me but clearly doesn’t want to slow down).

I waited. He doesn’t pass. Instead he stops and squeezes out of the car between the lorry and confronts me on the pavement. It turns out he is essentially a raving loon who cares not for a word I have to say and shouts at me for a good two minutes in a raised voice. I apologise and try to explain what happened (about being behind the lorry for another car, how I have moved onto the pavement for him) but he continues to rant about what a fucking idiot I am, how he needed to perform an emergency stop (a lie!), how there was no car in front of him (another lie). So he continues to rant while I apologise again and tell him to just relax (he can’t stop shouting). At some point he actually raises his hand to me, as if to shape to slap me. I have no idea why, as I was simply standing there trying to explain what had happened, although I probably raised my voice at one stage to ask him to listen to what I had to say. This is when I realise it’s not worth speaking to him any longer; reasoning with him will do no good, and he won’t listen. He doesn’t do anything. I apologise again and tell him to have a good day (by which time his dog – hanging out the passenger window – is yelping because his knobend owner keeps raising his voice). So I tell him to have a good day as I ride off, he shouts after me that I am a fucking idiot again, etc.

At the time I was just baffled when I rode off, but it struck me a bit later, why did he raise his arm? It was completely unnecessary and bordering on assault. Looking back he may have even been drunk although I could smell nothing, but his behaviour wasn’t exactly exemplary. What irritates me is that even if I had made a mistake (a small one, on a slow, residential road next to a playground) there is no need for this kind of reaction. And then when I apologised to continue to harp on about it aggressively? Next time something like this happens I’m getting a reg no…

Just needed to get that off my chest….

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jul/27/cycling-advance-stop-line
Is it me or were they a bit too happy with a fobbing off?
Fair play to reporting it though; in two sense of the word.

Spybot, I guess there is no reasoning with some people - sounds like he's so angry he would shout at his toast in the morning. Must be a very tiring idiom to adopt. Glad he didn't go for the assault!

yeah, he was angry. I always try to talk to people, at least to apologise if I was wrong. If a driver cuts me up and apologises I can move on and accept that they made a mistake. This guy was grade A douchebag.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jul/27/cycling-advance-stop-line
Is it me or were they a bit too happy with a fobbing off?
Fair play to reporting it though; in two sense of the word.

Yeah they totally got fobbed of. The whole reply seems like a generic one that gets sent out to everyone.

I reported a black cab driver who cut me off turning out onto the road I was cycling down and apologised with a torrent of abuse about how I should be (fucking) riding in the (fucking) gutter.

emailed PCO about it and got fobbed off with a standard response, that basically amounted to if I had a complaint I should contact the police, as they don't give a fuck.

Police next time.

Report the taxi to the public carriage office, rather than the police.

If a taxi didn't hit, you, no point in talking to the police since there's no 'collision'.

Report the taxi to the public carriage office, rather than the police.

If a taxi didn't hit, you, no point in talking to the police since there's no 'collision'.

The form here specifically mentions "cycling near miss": https://secure.met.police.uk/roadsafelondon/ - if nothing else, reporting it means it's in the system and will come up in the stats/reporting.

And the PCO are provenly (over many years) utterly useless for anyone but cab passengers.

Whoop, didn't realise you mentioned PCO!

call them again, they're a bit picky sometime.

yeah, he was angry. I always try to talk to people, at least to apologise if I was wrong. If a driver cuts me up and apologises I can move on and accept that they made a mistake. This guy was grade A douchebag.

There's a lot of mental illness in the world. Sounds more like he's not quite in his right mind - an emergency stop that never happened etc.

Annoying as it is at the time, afterwards, I'd just feel bad with myself if I'd got into a scuffle and ended up hurting someone who was just ill. It's not really their fault.

There was no chance of me hurting him...I'm a coward and a midget...

An addison lee driver turned into me while I was sat stationary next to him at traffic lights. At least 10 peds were witnesses. I tapped on his window to see him do a large sigh and wind it down. I then told him "how about looking before turning mate?" To which he responded "same to fucking you". That doesn't even make sense, so I told him to fuck off and cycled away.
That's 3 drivers I've had to report in the last month

There's a lot of mental illness in the world. Sounds more like he's not quite in his right mind - an emergency stop that never happened etc.

Annoying as it is at the time, afterwards, I'd just feel bad with myself if I'd got into a scuffle and ended up hurting someone who was just ill. It's not really their fault.

also a fair bit of drug abuse too which could explain the behaviour!

has anyone ever seen kids/youths bombing it round SE on quadbikes? there was a gang of em roaring down trafalgar ave. about 6 weeks ago, all wearing zorro-style black face bandanas. i was coming up to the lights at the junction of queens road, and one of them undertakes me at like 15-20 mph, barely centimetres away. if those huge knobend tyres had nicked any part of my bike or i, i swear i would've been properly flipped over. worst thing is there was a car overtaking down the right at the same time. could've been very very ugly.

surely it's illegal to ride quads on the road anyway?

You can get around it by classing your quadbike as an agricultural vehicles.

big loophole IMHO, lots of kids in London is making quadbike at the moment, including the local neighbour who steal bicycles.

Quads aren't intrinsically illegal on the roads AFAIK - I've seen a few with plates in North Wales, where the shepherds find them handy for Scrapheap Challenge-style moving about of bits of farm. The ones you saw will either have been stolen or just cheapies off eBay though - they're this year's pit bike.

Not of they have all the proper lights and shit.

Riding them like twats is illegal though.

UTFS ?

A road legal quad must comply with the Road Traffic Act 1988 in order for it to be legally driven on the public highway.Therefore, it must be taxed, insured and, if over 3 years old, have a valid MOT certificate.This means that the road legal quad must have lights, mirrors, indicators, road legal tyres, horn, speedometer, etc. In other words, it must be built to the proper standard required by law.Of course, it must also be registered with the DVLA and number plates must be displayed to the back and the front.

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