Dangerous driving complaint and response.

number9

This, not me by the way, the inestimable magna :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=notuuDg1-tQ

prompted a complaint to the taxi licensing authorities.

This was their response:

complaint against driver of Private hire car plate no.2266

I refer to the above and can now make you aware of the conclusions reached as a result of our investigation into the allegations raised. We traced and interviewed the driver of the vehicle detailed in your letter of complaint. The driver stated that while he was in the process of overtaking, you moved to the right, therefore reducing the space that he would normally leave for cyclists. He also stated that as he passed you, you struck the side or roof of his vehicle, at which point he stopped. The driver stated you then approached him, shouting and swearing. As he had a female passenger on board he decided to drive away, as his passenger and he did not need to tolerate this. Although the driver feels it was safe to pass when he did, he apologises for any upset caused. This concludes our investigation.

redvee

Whats the stuff they put on windows to stop people seeing in? Thats it, whitewash.

number9

Un

freakin

believable

With that level of casual arrogance from the licensing authorities of so-called "professional" drivers I can't see any way forward bar some kind of Ayatollah who will get medieval on their sloppy, casually sociopathic ass.

l

blakef111

I would recommend a pair of carbon knuckle DH gloves, last time a white van man attempted to kill me I just casually reminded exactly where on the road I was by knocking off his wing mirror, I didn't feel a thing! well worth the money

johny c

I got my CTC mag delivered this week, containing an article on the bold Magnatom. I regret to admit I'd never heard of him before then, but immediately went onto youtube to have a look at his site.

I pulled this one which seems to be an STV feature from a year ago: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LmN1WAUjOcE

I work away for a fortnight at a time, so maybe this slipped through the net for me, but why did it take a year for it to appear in the CTC mag?

chuckcork

Quiet an amazing response of the licencing authorities really when it is pretty clear that he DIDN'T swerve suddenly to the right.

I'd personally consider this to be dangerous driving and report it to the police but then again given the location they've probably got stabbings to attend.

spen666

Why did you complain to licencing authorities?

Your complaint was of a road traffic offence and as such was a matter for the police


You need to ensure you complain to the correct body for the actions you are complaining of

number9

Read the first line of the first post spen.

eternal_headwind

A good point number9, but spen's post is valid if the word he is substiuted for you.

I had an incident abot 5 years ago where a bus driver tried to run me off the road twice on the same journey. The first time I thought was bad driving, the second an unmistakeable deliberate act of violence.

To this day I haven't the faintest clue why. I had just negotiated a mini roundabout and gone through a traffic calming measure (it didn't calm him). I signalled clearly whilst he was still around 500 to 600 yards away on a 30mph road. Due to a slight downhill and tailwind I was travelling at 30mph or so anyway. I didn't swerve and was already into the traffic calming measure before he reached the roundabout. It was a bright summer's evening, he sun was shining

My presence on the road infuriated the driver.

I took driver description, time, bus reg and route number. Then I did the stupid thing. I complained to the bus company. Big mistake.

I got an email back explaining it was company policynot to reveal the outcomes of such investigations.

These are police matters

Phil92

Eternal_headwind wrote:

My presence on the road infuriated the driver.

I do think whilst most drivers (including those in buses) are considerate, some drivers just hate being behind a cyclist; at whatever speed.

But I do love Magnatom! I discovered his videos a few days ago and I'm an instant subscriber! It's a shame a few 'cyclist haters' go out of their way to try and 'discourage' Magna, but I'm sure there's far more in his support than against him.

Phil92

Eternal_headwind wrote:

My presence on the road infuriated the driver.

I do think whilst most drivers (including those in buses) are considerate, some drivers just hate being behind a cyclist; at whatever speed.

But I do love Magnatom! I discovered his videos a few days ago and I'm an instant subscriber! It's a shame a few 'cyclist haters' go out of their way to try and 'discourage' Magna, but I'm sure there's far more in his support than against him.

Kenjaja1

I agree with others who say that, in their experience, most drivers are reasonable and considerate. I make a point of showing my appreciation to courteous and considerate drivers by a polite wave and trying to avoid holding them up whenever possible. I also have some sympathy for drivers who make a mistake. (We are all human and we all make mistakes). However I have no patience when it comes to people who have a blatant disregard for my own or others' safety. My experience tells me that the Police will do two thirds of b@gger-all to deal with such drivers.

A few years ago I had two similar and very unpleasant incidents in roughly the same location. In the first, a driver cut across my path, on a mini roundabout (he came straight on to the roundabout from my left so should have given way. ) I shouted and was amazed when he reversed back onto the roundabout so that he could turn round and chase me up the road. We stopped and he started to tell me what I had done wrong. I suggested that if he wanted to argue we could call the police and let them decide. He had been talking into his mobile (after he stopped) and told me he had already called the police and that they had asked him to keep me there until they arrived. At that point I swore at him calling him a **** liar and told him that if he did not go away (I used different words ) I would rip his head off! I reported the incident to the police and expected them to at least talk with the guy. They said they would but did nothing.

In the second incident a driver started to reverse onto the road in front of me and failed to stop when I shouted the first time. The second time he did - but by then the rear of his car was over the white line in the middle of the road. I went round him and carried on. He was going in the opposite direction so I was ammazed when, a short time later (in the exact same spot as the previous incident) he pulled in front of me and stopped. Hiis window was down and he shouted as I passed. The gist of it was that I should have stopped for him! He went past me and stopped again and said something else and then he stopped his car a third time got out of his car with the door wide open and facing me (effectively taking up about two thirds of the road). I rode straight at him and yelled at him as I went past. This time I produced a written report with all details (reg no, address where he pulled out from, date time etc etc) and delivered it to the police station. A week or two later I telephoned to find out what had happened to learn that it had never been passed to the appropriate people. In fact my report had been lost.

I did nothing further - but every time I passed the house where the car was nearly always parked I was seriously tempted to pop in and shred his tyres. I didn't but resent the fact that this guy's arogance made me think like that. I also resent the fact that the police did nothing on either occasion.

Dangerous incidents still occur all too frequently and there is a small minority of drivers who are arrogant enough to believe they have a license to kill. The authorities do nothing until someone is killed or injured and so it is inevitable that people like Magna will take independent action to highlight the problem. If this shames or embarasses some drivers into being more careful or considerate then great!

In general, however, I feel that much more could be done by, for example, the use of public information films. The "Clunk-Click" seat belt campaign was extremely successful in persuading people to use seat belts before it became compulsory and there are many areas where such campaigns could be effective. Making drivers aware of cyclists is one example but motorists need, for example, to understand that speeding is dangerous as is using a mobile phone and host of other commonly observed bad driving habits.

The current TV campaign to educate people to the dangers of level crossings is good - but the ads should be shown on every TV channel during every break over a period long enough for the message to sink in.

Sadly there will always be a small percentage of us who will be injured (or worse ) while on the road. Although that may be inevitable I strongly believe that the percentage can be reduced and the legislators police etc have a duty to do their best to reduce the numbers. Until that time I, for one, appreciate the lone efforts of people like Magna.

geerfree

I can't believe that, a taxi driver and everything. Their supposed to be giving their passengers a good ride.

As a cyclist, you know this stuff happens all the time, just lucky this one was caught on video.

antfly

He was a little bit close, that was all.Not that outrageous.I`ve experienced far worse than that.

Bikerbaboon

antfly wrote:

He was a little bit close, that was all.Not that outrageous.I`ve experienced far worse than that.

That does not make it right.

antfly

No.It was bad driving and he fully deserved an earful of abuse.

teagar

Having looked at his videos...

He certainly rides by the rules, and he certainly is victim to some poor driving - but i do think he quite likes a bit of conflict to spice up his commute and give him something to put on the internet!

Why bother communicating with the driver? You're only going to escalate the situation. The van break test - a classic example.

He likes looking for fights (like when he starts asking why someone honked at him or asking why someone is gesturing) and occasionally some drivers are up for one too!

Hiding behind the rules of the road certainly puts him in the right - but that only serves to irritate people more!

I remember i used to do EXACTLY the same as him, but through the years, i've found mellowing out is a bit better for my mental wellbeing! If you stop seeing bad driving as a personal attack, you're less likely to feel drivers are out to kill you. They usually just drive badly.

Also, if you ignore the abuse - you quickly forget the abuse (within reason).

I do find the way he talks to himself (or the video camera) quite amusing though.

ademort

Just wondering, did you take this video to the police station to let them view it, and if so what was there reaction. Ademort

dilemna

Whilst it is difficult remaining safe while cycling on the roads Magnatom doesn't seem to appreciate the benefit of frequently looking behind. This means he is losing the opportunity to make eye contact with drivers which also indicates to them that you have seen them. By not regularly looking behind he may well be contributing to the difficulties he has found himself in. He's perhaps a bit naive if he thinks all drivers are going to sit in their cars and mildly argue with him. Being a doctor he should realise more than anyone how vulnerable a cyclist is and the value of defensive cycling. He only needs to encounter a psycho driver who lets the red mist come down and he will be in big difficulties. It's not worth dying or ending up in a wheelchair just to prove how righteous you are. Flesh skin and bones are no match for a heavy metal object travelling at speed or a nutter with fists flying who can't control his temper or has a knife or gun! Cycling is about survival not a crusade. I feel this will do nothing but antagonise the already fraught relationship between cyclists and vehicle drivers. The filming is an excellent idea but you don't then go and pull the crocodile's tail........

antfly

Nicely written above.The guy is definately self-righteous.You`ve got to be pragmatic on the road.

kingstongraham

He seems to seek out things to be offended by. I don't want it to be a war out there between bikes and cars - I know which would win. I don't think the best way to persuade someone that they might have been a bit close is to cycle up next to them and shout.

Also, he could tell that the cab driver was going to overtake, as he was looking behind to see it coming, but didn't move out of the way at all to stop himself getting knocked off. Note: this is not defending the driver, but sometimes wise cycling (like defensive driving) surely isn't just about putting yourself in the middle of the road to discourage an overtake, it's about anticipating stupid actions of others and getting out of their way.

magnatom

Ha! I'm very rarely on here, so I just came across this.

Google 'Magnatom FAQ' and a few of the things discussed here are answered by the man in question.

It's a funny thing having your motivations questioned by people who obviously don't read what you write or have a clue who you really are....

Hobnails

I live in the north east of england. Durham city. in order to become a So called profesional Taxi driver you pass a very strict exam called the driving test and thats it no further exam is taken. As long as you have a driving licence you can become one of these "profesionals" who think they own the roads and act accordingly with careless regard for anyone else....Perhaps it is the fact that the licencing plate for the taxi costs , in Durham £30.000. That they park anywhere, stop anywhere, and couldn't give a toss.

Taxi drivers should be given spot checks by DVLA personel posing as passengers and they should need a further qualification on thier driving licence which the dvla could remove should a driver prove to be dangerous on one of these spot checks.