Police attitude

Porgy

There was an incident at Vauxhall this morning which meant that the pavement was blocked (outside the RVT) and a huge police incident vehicle was parked on the island across the road. I was expecting to make my usual manouvre onto the island and across the street where the little green cycle sighn appears. But I couldn;t due to the police vehicle. So I crossed the road at the crossing just before, turned left and nipped onto the cycle lane that takes you onto the pavement and under the railway line. I looked first, good visiblity, traffic was stopped, no peds were anywhere near, I was the only cyclist int he immediate area. So it was perfectly safe, and considering the incident on the pavement - a preferable option to anything else I could do.

But as I was home and dry and copper came up and told me that he could fine me. I pointed out the unusual situation - blocked cycle path - large numbers of peds I needed to avoid - incident on the pavement etc. But he got stroppy and threatened me. I wasn;t being aggressive, merely poitning out the situation and asking what he would have done. He offered me no solution - it seems that whatever I did would have been wrong. I made a heartfelt apolgy, thanked him for his concern, and cycled on.

A couple fo weeks ago I was walking to New Cross, I ahd to cross the road. An car crash meant there was unusual traffic. I crossed the road at a zebra crossign and a car - driver had seen me - just kept going while i was on it, but had to stop suddenly when i didn;t jump out of his way. I held him there and called over a nearby copper. she grabbed me and pulled me off the road and told me I was causing an obstruction. Her colleague shouted at me and threatened me with arrest. I argued that I was the vicitm here, and the driver had threatened to run me over. Their argument was that since there was unusual conditions I should shut the fuck up and not complain. The driver, as far as I could tell, was allowed to go on with no repurcussion.

So what's going on? Drivers can run peds over when the traffic's bad, but cyclists must obey every dot and cross of the law, even when its not possible to?

I have nothing but trouble from the police on the road - except when I drive a car, funnily enough. :roll:

Gavin Weeks

fossyant

Dont cycle over crossings - they don't like it - wheel the bike and act as a pedestrian.

tardington

Doesn't it count as cycling on the pavement? Or something similar?

Porgy

fossyant wrote:

Dont cycle over crossings - they don't like it - wheel the bike and act as a pedestrian.

It has a little green cycle sign that lights up - doesn;t that mean I can cycle over? Or does the little green cycle mean nothing?

Totalnewbie

The green cycle means it is a toucan crossing, so you can. Although some peds seem to think you can't.

Didn't notice anything at Vauxhall this morning, it must have been before/after me. Although they were rifling through someone's boot yesterday, and were parked on an island.

wpdoolan

it seems to me that in both instances you should have taken the police persons number and made a complaint to their superiors

Bluestoesonnose

Yep been there done that, ask for a page out of their note book as well, by law they can't refuse to give you their details, or those of who controls them and they should / must use a page from their note book.

Shites them right up, can block their career for ages if you make an offical complaint against them.

mea00csf

I would suggest that the first copper had too little to do and the second had too much. At the scene of a car crash i can't imagine they'd be that happy about being called over by a pedestrian when there had been no "incident".

Steveen

At least they didn't open fire.

Got some decent mates on the force and they represent the majority. You always have some who don't though.

Don't forget that "The Bill" is a MET training video.

Clever Pun

Porgy wrote:

So what's going on? Drivers can run peds over when the traffic's bad, but cyclists must obey every dot and cross of the law, even when its not possible to?

2 different coppers

there's your answer, just cause they wear the same uniform doesn't mean they're the same person

cee

ive always found the 'how high' response to be best when dealing with the police. OK usually just to get out of the way, but, and I stress this, there is no point trying to engage them in the subtlties of a situation. Same with bouncers.

Just say no problem and on your merry way.

TheFoolio888

cee wrote:

ive always found the 'how high' response to be best when dealing with the police. OK usually just to get out of the way, but, and I stress this, there is no point trying to engage them in the subtlties of a situation. Same with bouncers.

Just say no problem and on your merry way.

Amen to that.

hamboman

picture the scene - many years ago four of us are in my mate's metro. We get pulled over (we're all 17 and therefore prob being a little raucous). Plod walks up to the passenger side and asks my mate for his drivers license.

"I wasn't driving," he quips.

Plod slaps him round the face "don't be cheaky," he says, before calming walking round to the driver's side and repeating the process. We were all too stunned/young to say anything!

Porgy

Clever Pun wrote:

Porgy wrote:

So what's going on? Drivers can run peds over when the traffic's bad, but cyclists must obey every dot and cross of the law, even when its not possible to?

2 different coppers

there's your answer, just cause they wear the same uniform doesn't mean they're the same person

I realise that, but over the years I see a distinct bias towards the police taking the side of motorists. And a fairly uniform attitude problem across the Met.

A time when a white van in the bus lane tried to run me off the road - I called the police, and I had parks police as a witness - the copper, after interrogating both of us threatened to arrest me for criminal damage and showed me a dent in the side of the van that had obviously been there for hundreds of years. I wanted to get to work so I withdrew my complaint.

Once when I was run over in a hit and run - as a ped - again I had a policeman witness the whole thing - police decided not to prosecute

Another time I was targetted by a Merc driver at Victoria - a couple of witnesses who promised to support my story that the driver deliberately acted to cause me to crash into him - no case for prosecution, apparently.

Recently I challnged a driver blocking a cycle lane during rush hour, immediately a "busy" policeman pulls over, gets out of his car, and threatens to arrest me. Not a word to the driver.

Should I report these things? Last time I went into a police station to report something I sepnt two hours waiting and was treated like a peice of shit throughout the whole process. So I won;t be doing that again.

What's worse - I get the same bloody sob story from all PCs when they pull me over for alleged offence on a bike, that they've had to scrape too many cyclists off the road, and they're only acting in my interest.

1. You'd think that with so many cyclists getting killed there'd be none left by now.
2. I do not take risks with my own life. The sort of thing I kept stopped for is pulling ahead of the lights where there isn't an ASL - for my own safety - and once cycling home from the supermarket with a carrier bag hanging from my handle.

You'd think they'd have better things to do!

Anyway - had to get this off my chest. I'll be alright for the journey home now.

chrisjsmith

That's typical of them and pretty shocking.

I have no faith in the police. Check out the blatant violations of their duties that they show in the Street Wars program. They let a guy who was stoned drive away and act generally like arseholes causing conflict rather than resolving it.

Another one a few years ago: some pikey tried to nick my car. I caught them in it. They ran and drove off in a metro leaving their tools behind. I got the plate number and called the police. 14 hours later (!) they arrived to take a statement. 2 weeks later they came with a forensics team who had "inconclusive results" despite the car containing a dropped driving license and wallet (in a jacket) and tools with finger prints all over and a registration plate. 2 years later - they have LOST the file!

I should have gone through it myself and dropped my mate Eddie the nutter £100 to sort them out

That cost me £600 in the end and yet I still have to pay my council tax policing fee.

Oh and someone tried to stab me and they sent me a letter 2 weeks later saying "sorry we couldn't come out".

fossyant

Just re-read your original post - we don't have many 'Toucans'.

The coppers aren't usually interested in minor stuff at all - too much paperwork for them - unless you are hurt not much happens - if there wasn't any coppers about you could have dragged the driver out and given him a good 'lecture' !!!!

andyp

The reason I cycle round London with a small pistol is so if some efficious little pr!ck of a copper pulls me over I can execute the mother f****r.

Works every time.

mrchrispy

Bluestoesonnose wrote:

Yep been there done that, ask for a page out of their note book as well, by law they can't refuse to give you their details, or those of who controls them and they should / must use a page from their note book.

Shites them right up, can block their career for ages if you make an offical complaint against them.

this sounds like it could come in handy but sadly I don't think its true.
Police General Orders - Chapter53.....

10. An officer shall not remove from his notebook any page or any part thereof, unless he is in court and is expressly directed to do so by a judge or magistrate.

linky

Adamskii

Better get used to it. Most Non-cyclists including the Law see us as nothing but a nuisance. Our time will come, twenty years from now when the world is gridlocked!