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

On the other hand, the motorists is less likely to see you in a bend if you were riding a little closer to the kerbs, riding on the primary position mean they'll more likely to see you as they approach the bend, and with looking back more often, you can be more aware of how the vehicles is driven.

1894mk2, I feel for you... On Sunday 29th May Michael Evans was killed head-on in narrow, winding Layhams Road, West Wickham, Kent - the route out to the lanes for SE London cyclists - Range Rover, no arrests. There is no positioning that can save you. A change in the law is the only answer. Take care Dulwich Paragon and everyone else.

take the lane a bit more, near the centre.

It'll encourage them to overtake you properly, and when they don't, you still have room to manoverve away from the offending vehicles.

repped. that 2nd point is not one i had considered. i always thought it worthwhile anyway, just to make 'em swing out to overtake.

#haveiconsideredblahblah

It also useful in case someone stumble upon the road unexpectly (especially in ol' London town), and you won't have to make a drastic manoeuvre to avoid the said person.

Most importantly, it prevent you from getting hit by an overtaking vehicles while making the aforementioned manoeuvre.

Do TFL keep some sort of database of minor complaints? I had a minicab bump my back wheel the other day - letting me know I should be pulling out into the oncoming traffic. I reported to TFL - not enough for a police report. I doubt it was the first time he did this. If there were enough minor complaints about one driver couldn't they send him a bollocking?

Clearing out old email I found the response to being cut up by a cab - albeit while driving. Best bit is the "observant" cabbie knocked 20 years off my age ;)

I write further to my e-mail dated 8 November 2006. Thank you for your e-mail received on 4 August 2006, regarding the behaviour of a licensed taxi driver on 15 July 2006. Please accept my apology for the delay in responding.
The driver concerned has been made aware of your complaint and has been given the opportunity to respond. I am affording you the opportunity to note the driver's comments although this is for information purposes only. The driver has responded and given a different version of events. He states that he was moving from one lane to another and suddenly he heard someone blasting their horn. He looked in his wing mirror and saw a 20 - 25 year old in a jaguar giving him a rather rude hand signal. Then the jaguar overtook him and veered over to his left to try and sandwich him to his left and a four wheel drive on his right. The driver had to break sharply and apologise to his passenger. According to the driver he then drew up alongside you in the bus lane and asked you why you had cut him up. The driver stated that your response was 'you fking cab drivers, who do you think you are'. The driver has admitted saying 'you should be ashamed of yourself for driving in such a reckless manner and for using foul language in front of your kids'. According to the driver this seemed to anger you and you continued to rant on about fking cab drivers and how much he was going to love reporting him to the PCO. The driver denies being behind you in Parliament Square. He denies calling you an fking ginger haired b*ard. The driver's passenger handed him his business card and stated that he would provide a statement if it was needed. However, he has failed to do so. This has ultimately delayed a decision on your complaint. [

However, having assessed your complaint and the driver’s response,** I believe that the complaint is justified. I have decided to issue the driver with a written warning, emphasising that the Licensing Authority expects the highest standards from its licensees and everyone with whom they come into contact with should be treated fairly, with courtesy and respect. **

Both your e-mail and mine will be recorded on his personal file and if, at some time in the future further disciplinary action against his cab driver’s license is considered, your complaint may be taken into consideration.
I am sorry that you should have had cause for complaint, and thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, as it is only with the publics help we can address passenger concerns within the licensed taxi trade.

This is rather good:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-i-can-see-why-drivers-shout-at-prams-2285370.html

YouTube - ‪Near head-on collision‬‏

very very close, at the least the guy comes back to say sorry though...

video disappeared, here it is

YouTube - ‪Near head-on collision‬‏

That poor biker he looked like he was about to die of shock! Top response, coming back and manning up. I feel a bit sorry for him that it's all over youtube now (even though he gave permission), it was a dick move, but how often would the guy have just driven off. What I like about it is that it proves that even when someone nearly takes your head off, it might not mean that he is at war in some way with cyclists. Accidents happen and this would have been a nasty one. Not nice.

Too true. I almost feel sorry for the guy on the motor bike, he was so apologetic! I've had similar altercations and have pretty much only ever been presented with agression. Nice to know there's people out there who are willing to hold their hands up when they've made a mistake. Bloody close call though...

+1 good of him to stop... he looked white as a ghost.... hopefully he learnt his lesson

Yeah, gotta give the guy credit for admitting his error - he'll be less likely to dick about in future. Unlike the tescos HGVdriver today who swung into my lane this morning while I was parallel with his door, forcing me to slam on the brakes, and then gave me a load of abuse when I gestured at my eyes. Apparently he had seen me, so I guess he was only trying to run me off the road. Should have got the numberplate.

Silly BMW Xs Diver overtook me on the wrong side of a traffic island on my way home yesterday, right outside the Police Station on Garratt Lane...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGox8Nl4VyQ

I'm sure he didn't know I filmed him...

Now to fill in the form for the police...

i've often wondered this about headcams - do people buy them in the hope that someone will nearly kill them (or make some minor infraction that dents their precious cyclist ego) just so they can film it and post it on youtube?

I'm going to mount one to my car.

I ride with a helmetcam as my wife gets upset if I get hit and I have trouble with the person denying they hit me (which has happened twice in the three years I've been cycling). I'm not convince that it will help hugely in these cases, but it might.

I mainly reported that idiot for going the wrong way round the island, which at the speed he was doing was dangerous. There's not a huge amount of space for a car and a bike through that gap, and whilst I might have been a bit far out, he should have been able to slow safely behind me. I've not checked the ride data to see what speed I was doing at that point, and I'm not going to bother, but I suspect it was over 20mph.

The reporting of it has brought up some useful points. The police have already got back to me and said that they would be keen to prosecute in this case, but due to my comments on the video (suggesting he's a numpty I believe) they can't use the video as evidence. I've asked if I change these bits, pull this video, and put another up if they can use that, and will ask if they could send me some general guidance about what they need from helmet cams, and what people should aviod putting in the video, and whats useful for them to have in it. Things like a clear shot of the driver, not swearing at them, clear shot of the numberplate, not putting silly comments (like calling the driver a numpty) into the video, or the text that is put up about the video, etc.

If I get a sensible reply, I'll consider creating a thread about helpful points with regards to reporting bad drivers to roadsafe specifically, as I think that this may be helpful for people that have more serious incidents than this one, and helpful information on how to complete forms and post videos for the police to use is helpful to everyone. Its worth noting that the Police encorage cyclists to post their helmetcam videos to Youtube, or other video sites (although they suggest youtube) as they can then point the drivers to the videos.

Not really a quick reply, and sorry for its length, but I felt that it was important.

I'm going to mount one to my car.

+1

^ This

@MrDrem - keep the title of the vid neutral (perhaps the location of the incident) don't use anything that can be considered mildy insulting ("numpty" qualifies, I am afraid). I would not recommend posting a video in which you swear either - a cyclist was warned that if he persisted to use offensive language in his videos they would forward the vids to the CPS for possible prosecution under the Public Order Act 1984...

AFAIK, the Met do not have a problem if you film the face of the road user or upload the registration details of the vehicle. However, YouTube have removed videos after privacy complaints from (presumably) the driver of the vehicle after they have been sent the link via RoadSafe.

@MrDrem.. I can understand it if there was an accident but there wasn't.. The guy was wrong yes.. But that shit happens everyday (people on phones etc). I just let that shit happen.. As long as it doesn't affect me or other road users I let it go..

I don't have enough time to report all the idiotic behaviour I see...

I remind myself that I'm no angel..

Tiswas/Mirius: they seem happy with the edited version, and I'd rather not give them the full version due to the swearing (from me) earlier on in an unrelated incident.

origamist: since its in a public place, the Met have confirmed to me in seperate incidents that they have no problem with faces/number plates being filmed in any circumstances, this has been a big think for photographers over the last few years, and it does seem to be filtering down. Point taken about youtube, and if they remove it, I'll blank those and put it back.

Brave: In two/three months of cycling with a cam thats the first incident that I've felt warranted passing to the Police, they recomend sticking it on youtube. I might also have been miffed by the earlier incident, but doing that at that point is really dangerous, and thats by far the worst driving I've seen along that bit of my route (other parts I've been involved in accidents, or seen a motorbike down on) in the 3 years I've been biking it, and the previous 2 I was doing it on the bus. Better for him to have a letter* reminding him of his responsibilities on the road now than to hit an on coming car the next time he does that.

*This is all the driver that deliberaly drove into the back of me got, but I didn't have a camera then.

I'm also no angel, but I'd never drive or ride on the wrong side of a traffic island.

Brave: In two/three months of cycling with a cam thats the first incident that I've felt warranted passing to the Police, they recomend sticking it on youtube. I might also have been miffed by the earlier incident, but doing that at that point is really dangerous, and thats by far the worst driving I've seen along that bit of my route (other parts I've been involved in accidents, or seen a motorbike down on) in the 3 years I've been biking it, and the previous 2 I was doing it on the bus. Better for him to have a letter* reminding him of his responsibilities on the road now than to hit an on coming car the next time he does that.

Been commuting by bike for 22 years... Seen a lot of sillyness.. Just don't have time to report it all.. And there's no real point. As I said, unless there has been an accident I'd rather no waste PoPo's time with minor traffic infringements

I dare say the driver knows it's wrong and dangerous but I also suspect that he wouldn't have attempted the manoeuvre had there been anything oncoming..

I regularly RLJ and cruise around the wrong side of traffic islands.. But only if I judge it is "safe" to do so..

But there's no law against swearing.

For fuck's sake.

Except that there is

Huge Plus to the motorcyclist who had the humility to apologoise.

Re Mr Drem:

1.The road opposite was clear

1. Unless there were loads of traffic islands along that stretch, if you were riding quite far out (as you mentioned) for a while and the road was pretty much clear I can undestand drivers thinking fuck this and taking any opportunity to pass you. There was no near miss, no swerves or sharp braking. Drop it.