Should I have called the police?

benji90

So I am cycling round to see my friend on Tuesday night. Its dark, about 7pm, and I have both front light and rear light on. I am going down the hill just outside my house in the primary position, about 2m from the curb. At the bottom of the hill there is a junction on the left but I am carrying straight on. I can see a car approaching from the opposite direction to the one I am travelling in indicating right and slowing down. He is obviously going to turn into the road on my left. I am going to arrive at the junction before him so he would have to wait until I have gone past before turning in. He begins to turn, I assume he hasn’t seen me so I start slowing down. He turns almost fully across the road and stops, I narrowly miss the front of his car and manage to stop a few feet past him.

He has his window open and proceeds to say “Wakey, wakey you f*cking pr*ck! Why the f*ck are you cycling around with your eyes closed? Didn’t you f*cking see me cause you had your head up your ar*se?”

I am a bit confused by this, as all I have done is, effectively, cycle down a straight bit of road!! Since when have cyclist had to give way to people turning in front of them!!!???
I basically replied that he was completely in the wrong that I had the priority, that it was his give way, and that I was clearly paying more attention than he was. He then decided to call me an “arrogant little C*nt”

There was a guy standing on the other side of the road watching all this, I shouted across to him and asked him if he had seen what happened. He said he had and that clearly I was in the right and the car driver was in the wrong. At which point the driver leaned out of his window and aggressively pointing at me said “you better watch it mate cause I am going to f*cking have you if you don’t shut the f*ck up” and drove off, at speed.

I have to say this incident has seriously shaken me up.

What worries me most is his assumption that, because I am a cyclist I have to give way in every instance even when the road markings and road rules clearly dictate otherwise. If I had been “arrogant” as he suggested and not slowed down and assumed that he was going to obey the rules of the road then I would have been involved in a BIG accident.

Its shaken me up enough to consider not cycling anymore. Should I have informed the police? I took his registration number, but technically he hasn’t caused an accident so I am fairly sure the police wouldn’t want to know.

It did occur to me that he was: a) P*issed, b) As thick as pig sh*t, c) P*ssed AND as thick as pig sh*t.

It has totally shaken my confidence, I have only been cycling for about a year and I have to say I have always been treated courteously and respectfully by all other road users, and have never really understand the “anti-motorist” stance of most cyclists. What has surprised me is the strength of the “anti-cyclist” mentality of some motorists!!

danseur

You've hit the nail on the head with b).

He's also an arsehole.

The police are unlikely to be interested and will probably only wind you up more.

Ignore him, carry on cycling, and let off steam on the web.

jswba

I don't know whether you could charge him on this (others will definitely know) but I'd urge you not to let it get you down and certainly don't let that knobhead put you off cycling. It's an unfortunate fact of modern Britain that some motorists are ignorant, petty idiots.

SCR Pedro

Hey there,

I'd be mighty tempted to call the cops. If you have the registration number they might give him a warning.

Otherwise always assume that motorists are brainless, unpredictable morons. It's pays to be cautious.

Cheers
Pedro

STEFANOS4784

Edit-ignor that :oops:

copper585

HI basically he has committed a section 5 public order offence with his swearing at you. there could be a section 4 public order offence if you believed he was going to attack you however really its this a section 5. you can report it as you have his vrm (presuming it is his car and not stolen!) he can be charged with this or issued an £80 fixed penalty ticket

STEFANOS4784

COPPER585 wrote:

HI basically he has committed a section 5 public order offence with his swearing at you. there could be a section 4 public order offence if you believed he was going to attack you however really its this a section 5. you can report it as you have his vrm (presuming it is his car and not stolen!) he can be charged with this or issued an £80 fixed penalty ticket

Will that actually happen though :?:

copper585

Well it comes down to wether he admits it or not i presume there are no witnesses apart from the unknown guy who was stood there and cctv will show an arguement but wont prove what was said. i would report it and see where it goes even if he just gets spoken to and it doesnt go anywhere he has been inconvenienced and it may make him think again

benji90

COPPER585 wrote:

Well it comes down to wether he admits it or not i presume there are no witnesses apart from the unknown guy who was stood there and cctv will show an arguement but wont prove what was said. i would report it and see where it goes even if he just gets spoken to and it doesnt go anywhere he has been inconvenienced and it may make him think again

Thanks for support guys and particularly the advice on the state of the law of his actions.

This is goig to sound really wet and pathetic but he was a VERY intimidating guy and I am not sure I would be comfortable bumping into him in the pub after I had cost him £80 and a telling off! I know thats a crap stance and I should stand up for myself and whats right but I live in a small town and would, more than likely, cross paths with him again.

Dunno, on the other hand why should he be able to get away with being a total kn*b jockey. In my experience the police round here are excellent so I am sure they would act if they felt there was a case to act on, so perhaps I should make him think twice before behaving so poorly towards other road users.

stevewj

you've got his car make and number, never know when you'll see it unattended in a carpark.

chuckcork

Yep, make a statement to the police. Even if they don't follow it up immediately it is logged, and who knows, sometme in the future there may be an incident with another cyclist where someone is hurt, and the ignorant f*cker as you correctly call him might in his defence say that he is a person of good charachter with nothing previously held against him. Out pops your statement and suddenly he is less than reputable.

Besides which he wa sfailing to give way at an intersection, and was using threatening and abusive language, which is a breach of the peace.

As for him not causing an accident, he is an accident waiting to happen to someone else, which is probably more than enough for the police to take some interest.

fossyant

If you've got the reg, it will get logged and may turn up other 'issues'. Report it.

I may have told him to do one...well handled though.

webbhost

if you get him a fine, make sure your legs are in fine condition for a speedy getaway should you encounter him again!. Nah but seriously that does stuck, and i can only say im glad I've had nothing quite of that sort happen to me yet. With any luck when it does I'll have a helmet cam and I'll hit them nail on the head.

Dont let it get your confidence down.... go out for a quick cycle tomorrow i'd say just to get you back on the road around "nicer" road users. When I get close calls etc, this isually helps me wind down a little and regain my confidence.

synchronicity

I can't advise you whether to report it or not.

What I can say is that I've had several incidences like these.

Why should you give up the sport you love for some ignorant fooker? That's probably just what these people want ... to be able to speed around corners and not have to stop for anybody. :x

The more I think about moving back to Australia, the more I think twice about it... because I'm bound to have similar ecounters... I'll probably have to resort to joining a club... even then I won't be safe. Posts like this, bring the memories all flooding back.

Spain is soooo much more cycle-friendly.

iain_j

Can't add to what's already been said but DON'T let people like that make you give up cycling - that's letting them win. Go out on your bike again, and enjoy it, because it's more than that ignorant pr!ck will get from ordering people off "his" road Chances are you won't meet him again or anyone else like him

benji90

The bit that I am still struggling to get my head aroud is how he thought that he was in the right. I deal with conflict a lot in my job and I can normally see how both sides have arrived at their position. But in this instance I just dont get it. Did he really believe that he had priority over me in such a clear cut situation? Did he just want to make the point that he hated cyclists? Did he simply misread the road markings? Did he think I should have been riding on the pavement?

It scares me that there can be people out there that can behave so completely outside of the rules of the road. I really wish that I had asked him what he would have done if I was a car, just so I could see if he responded along the lines of "well I would have stopped for a car but your only a bike so I dont have to!" At least then I could have understood his position. As it is, his actions and attitudes border on the bizzare. I can say that, despite his swearing and aggression he was pretty lucid and obviously not so thick that he couldnt think for himself. So I really just fail to see how he arrived at the opinion that me riding down a straight bit of road towards him was in any way wrong?!

I know I am over analysing but I cant help replaying the incident over and over in my mind, as it could have been so, so different.

Thanks again for all the support, and good advice.

synchronicity

It's pretty clear to me by his swearing that he's just a knob.

If he had've been in the right & been a decent person, he might've said something like: what are you doing? I'm about to turn right ....blah blah blah... i.e. communication not verbal abuse.

FWIW, I never try and understand these individual actions/responses anymore. I look at the rising stress level of society in general... if you read the book "future shock" it will go some way towards understanding all of the social changes that have occurred, etc.

I think that when people step inside their cars, many undergo some sort of horrible transformation. They think they're invincible. They think they can do what they want. Then they act like it. I for one think the car is probably man's WORST invention & the bicycle the BEST. :arrow:

Just be grateful for one thing: Karma. While it means many things to different people, I take it to mean that he'll eventually get what's coming to him. He'll do & say that to the wrong person, and pay the penalty.

Anonymous

I'd report it.
There's also the issue of his possible driving without due care and attention as well as the section 5.
(I'm a bobby in manc.)

Le Commentateur

The original right-turning situation... sounds like a psycho trying to engineer an incident, in a "look-what-you-made-me-do" stunt that you managed to foil - so he gave you a dose of verbal instead as compensation.

attica

What I love in this case, and it happens a lot, is the fact that Johnny Kn0bhead was in such a rush that he felt the need to attempt what he did, then all thoughts of getting there quickly left his head as soon as he saw the opportunity to have a barney.

I'm guessing that he either had just been in a different road confrontation, was having a really bad day, isn't getting enough from his wife/boyfriend or had pulled the previous night but been laughed out of the bedroom due to his incomprehensibly small wanger.

Be grateful that you got away without injury and were obviously having a better day than him, you were out on your bike after all!

Still worth reporting the imbecile though. Life is short, spend it on your bike.

edhornby

like the others said, there are a small number of d1cks, but there are lots of decent motorists out there

don't give up on biking

cougie

I'd report it - the guy is so thick that he's probably got no insurance/licence/flatmate chopped up in the boot. If he gets spoken to - that may be picked up on.

If it makes you feel better - dont ride down that route for a bit - and maybe its a good excuse for a new jacket or helmet - but to him all cyclists probably look the same.

Dont let it put you off cycling - the guy is a piece of crap.

feel

Whether you are in your car , on your motorbike or bicycle or a pedestrian you will unfortunately, occasionally meet horrible aggressive people. You should be defensive and look after your own safety, but be confident in yourself and not let their failings affect you. If you have details i would report them to the police if you don't want to that's fine - it's up to you. I can not imagine that the person would ever be able to recognise you again off your bike. If you regularly cycle that bit of road at that time of night then maybe discretion is best on this occasion. I think there are quite a few people who get aggressive when they know they are wrong and are not big enough to admit it.

Most importantly keep using your bike.

daniel_b

Bad luck Benji, what a waste of space this 'person' is.

Check to see if he has got insurance: http://www.askmid.com/askmid.aspx

But i would definitely report him, as already said, he might do this daily, and no one ever reports him, might be the only bit of 'fun' he gets - if you report him, and then the next person also reports him, 'maybe' something will be done about it.

Whatever happens, keep cycling, don't let the f&%$ers win.

Dan

benji90

Daniel B wrote:

Whatever happens, keep cycling, don't let the f&%$ers win.

Dan

Do you know what, you are right! Just spoken to the Police, they said they will come round late to discuss the incident. Spoke to a really nice bloke and I explained the basis of what happened and that I wasnt neccesarily looking to have the guy locked up and that I just thought they should be aware of his actions and attitudes. He said probably the best thing he could do was just go and have a quiet word. Which sounds like good sensible, honest policing to me, so good on him.

Anyway I will keep you posted as to what happens.

All I have gotta do now is get back on my bike! Might try going on a club run or out with some mates to make it a bit easier!

Thanks again for the support. MUCH appreciated.

cougie

Hmmm - that AskMid thing doesnt seem to have my car insurance listed ? Anyone else the same ?

Hornetto

cougie wrote:

Hmmm - that AskMid thing doesnt seem to have my car insurance listed ? Anyone else the same ?

No, mine's there OK.

Make sure you put the registration in with spaces in the correct places, etc.

Otherwise I'd contact your insurance company to double-check. It isn't worth risking it being a database error. A friend of mine thought his insurer automatically renewed his cover, but it turned out that they didn't. He got pulled over, got 6 points, car towed, several hundred quid fine, had to pay for car release (another 150 quid), and now his insurance premiums are sky-high! He explained the mitigating circumstances in court and apparently that was them being lenient.

daniel_b

Hornetto wrote:

cougie wrote:

Hmmm - that AskMid thing doesnt seem to have my car insurance listed ? Anyone else the same ?

No, mine's there OK.

Make sure you put the registration in with spaces in the correct places, etc.

Both of our cars come up on there as insured, and I tried it with and without spaces, worked everytime - as long as your ticking the 'confirm' box.

Gives you the make and model as well.

Good going Benji, I hope the visit proves fruitful, and at least they know your not just someone with a chip on their shoulder trying to get someone busted.

let us know how it goes,

P.S Is his car insured, and what make/model is it??

Dan

andy_wrx

There's a bloke on Cycle Chat who keeps posting this sort of thing on there every time someone asks one of these 'should I report it to the cops?' questions

Most Police forces are already operating a reporting system. Members of the public may call the non-emergency number and ask to report an incident of speeding or bad driving. The details are logged against the vehicle on the PNC. When the vehicle is seen by a car equipped with ANPR the driver gets stopped for a chat and probably given a "producer". If a vehicle gets more than three logs the Police will go and visit the driver for a chat. This is how technology is being used now, it costs nothing and it works. We have had some success with a couple of habitual speeders in our street.

He gives the details to call where he lives, Lancashire, but I don't suppose that's much use to you !

Patrick1.0

I've had similar incidents. A few weeks ago, a guy was coming towards me in a jeep and we both entered a line of parked cars at pretty much the same time. I thought, I'll get past but then I saw his trailor swing into view so I stopped in a wide part of the road and gave him space to go through. Anyway, this guy's got his window down and he's giving me the "f'ing tw*t," and all the rest of it. I just smirked and said to the two pedestrians walking by: "some people have a mouth, don't they?" And they nodded and smiled and I just cycled off.


You get used to it as a cyclist. It's not right but it's not going to change. I have said on so many occassions that somebody is going to really upset me one day and I really can see myself landing a few on their car. But each time, I manage to control myself and just shrug it off pretty much. It drives us all insane. From old ladies screaming at you from their cars: "watch where you're going!" When you ride by them when they want to pull out to jerks in jeeps and boy racers. I guess you could say it's all part of the drama .

downfader

With my recent experiences of the police they've almost reinstated my beleif in them.

Seriously though well done for reporting it. No one should be subjected to abuse on the roads and it sounds like this fella wanted to provoke a situation either so he could go back to his mates and go "This f***ing cyclist today...." or something a little worse.

If we all had to take psychological tests before we got into cars you'd probably find the roads would empty, lol!! People get so stressed in their little metal boxes, but they feel unnaturally safe for some reason. I think most of the stress is kind of self engineered to some degree - too many people over-reliant on cars for short and unnecesary journies.