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

Another sterling fob-off from the Public Carriage Office. I don’t know what I was expecting really.

“What’s that Skip? You have legislative powers to discipline cabbies for certain things,but not for anything important like road traffic accidents or close shaves?Have you thought about asking for these extra powers, seeing as the police areunderstaffed and you are clearly the best guys for the job?”

Thanks a bunch.

TL/DR:Cabbie nearly takes out cyclist, gets away with it, righteous indignation.

PCO SUBMISSION

At around 7 o'clock in the evening of the 14th of January I cycled into Copenhagen Street from Barnsbury Road. A few metres before I got to the junction of Copenhagen Street and Leirum Street, a London taxi cab pulled quickly out of Leirum Street in front of me, trying to turn left.
I had to slam my brakes on to avoid him hitting me with his bonnet, but due to going downhill I still knew I could not stop in time, so I also had to swing out into the opposite lane to avoid a collision. He seemed to notice me just at the last second, and came to a halt just as I had passed him. It was a very close miss, and was very dangerous. I have bright front lights, which he would have seen if he had looked right before pulling out of the junction, so I assume that he did not look. I was also very close to him when he decided to pull out, so would have been very easy to spot.
The registration number was LM58 MZP.
As I headed down the hill towards the junction with Caledonian Road, the cab came up behind me, revving his engine, then overtook dangerously and at speed on my right hand side, with a few inches to spare.
He then accelerated down Copenhagen Street and turned left through a red light onto Caledonian Road, then drove off.
It seemed like he was trying to escape the situation.
I find this type of driving intimidating and dangerous, even as an experienced cyclist. I will leave this to you to deal with as you see fit, but I would at least appreciate the driver being told how dangerous that kind of driving is and how close he came to causing me serious injury or worse.

Regards,
redbikesgofaster

PCO REPLY

Dear redbikesgofaster,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 15 January 2014 regarding the behaviour of a licensed taxi driver. Please accept my sincere apology for the delay in responding to you.

The Taxi & Private Hire Directorate can only deal with offences that are contrary to the Hackney Carriage Acts and Orders and we have no legislative powers to investigate road traffic offences committed by taxi drivers.
Under the circumstances we are unable to take any action against the driver involved.

You have taken the appropriate action by reporting this matter to police. Whilst I recognise that the police have many responsibilities, the fact remains that they are the only authority that can investigate the road traffic offences that you describe. In the event that action is taken, for example by way of a conviction, this will result in the driver’s fitness to remain licensed being
reviewed by Transport for London.

Although we will not be pursuing this matter, we will advise the driver of the allegation (your details will not be disclosed) and remind him of his responsibilities under the Highway Code and that we expect professional drivers to demonstrate a high standard of driving at all times.

I am sorry that you had reason to complain about a taxi driver and thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.