Shocking police response
FYB
Posts: 14
Police standing 50ft away charging a motorcyclist with existing as a man in his 60s gets knocked off bike by a car doing a random u-turn.
Cyclist - shaken, shocked, head injury (nasty abrasion above eye bleeding like stink+ closing over with swelling), shoulder injury and grazed elbow. From what followed, I guess also too shocked to respond sensibly.
Motorist - 'very sorry. didn't see you'
Police - one ambles along road. 'Are you alright'. Getting a 'yes I think so' from the dazed cyclist, turns round and walks away again. No further action. No ambulance. No charging the driver (didn't even speak to him as far as I can tell). No breathalyser. Nothing.
Too much paperwork I suppose. And, after all, just a cyclist. Who cares
What chance have cyclists when the police can be on scene, witness an incident with significant injury and do absolutely nothing????
Cyclist - shaken, shocked, head injury (nasty abrasion above eye bleeding like stink+ closing over with swelling), shoulder injury and grazed elbow. From what followed, I guess also too shocked to respond sensibly.
Motorist - 'very sorry. didn't see you'
Police - one ambles along road. 'Are you alright'. Getting a 'yes I think so' from the dazed cyclist, turns round and walks away again. No further action. No ambulance. No charging the driver (didn't even speak to him as far as I can tell). No breathalyser. Nothing.
Too much paperwork I suppose. And, after all, just a cyclist. Who cares
What chance have cyclists when the police can be on scene, witness an incident with significant injury and do absolutely nothing????
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You are right, this is shocking. I'm never getting a Motorcycle licence if it means the police can charge me for just existing. :shock:
Shock. Disorientation. Head injury.
Whatever the cyclist said is pointless. Fact is he had blood streaming down his face and had just been knocked off at reasonable speed. And he was in his 60s and he was cycling on his own.
Police should have done more than a cursory glance and then scarper for fear of having to fill out a form or two.
Presumably charging a motorcyclist for existing is more fun and less paperwork.
Did the cyclist go on and report the accident at a police station afterwards? If not, they should have done.
Did the cyclist get any details of the officer? so, if the cyclist was suitably aggrieved by the officer's behaviour, they could initiate a formal complaint very easily, if not, then there should still be enough information for the inspector anyway but it will take longer.
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Fortunately for me, Alison France, my solicitor took quite another view and won me a four figure sum in compo.
The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
That makes all the difference now. EVERYONE knows that the over-60s should cycle in pairs. If only he'd been with a friend then afore mentioned u-turning motorist (deciding to go back the way he came - how very dare he!) would be facing a charge of knocking down a senior citizen and a definate impending 10 stretch I'm sure.
Am I missing something or does your response mark you out as hard of thinking? Goes for a few of the comments here from other posters.
A clear fault accident. An injured cyclist. A police witness to the event a few feet away, and the driver gets away unchecked, the cyclist gets no attention (despite clear injuries) and the police walk off.
Hope none of the wits (largely dim) above suffer the same. If you do, don't come crying on here for sympathy.
I thought the advice I gave was suitable. Oh well. Take it or leave it.
I'm going to have a wild stab here and suggest you're police or motorcyclist (probably both).
If you're looking for a point, I guess you can be happy you've done your bit to defend the police response and reassure us we will be safe on the roads as they're doing everything to protect all road users from careless/ dangerous drivers.
Well done you.
Yes, I think you probably are. :roll:
Unless I'm wrong and it's ok to be careless behind the wheel and cream someone off their bike, especially if they are pensioners. Yes, that must be it. That will be why there are so many amusing comments here and we are supporting the police response.
Sorry. My mistake. :?
There's no point ranting on here, take my advice if you want to do something about it and make a complaint. No one has supported the police response in the situation you posted yet you seem to be thinking they are.
Chill out, read your Mail on Sunday and have a cup of tea tomorrow morning then get yourself down to the nearest (open) police station and ask to speak to the duty inspector.
Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!
No, I didn't see it.
I happened by sometime later and found the guy sitting by the road, a bit dazed and mopping blood from his eye. Police, car driver and motorcyclist nowhere to be seen. I called ambulance and sat with him until it arrived to take him to hospital, where he should have been sent by the police at the scene.
As to the 'Arsene Wenger' defence of 'did the police officer even see the accident', I thought their job was to investigate incidents. Ask a few questions. Establish what might have happened.
If you didn't see it then why are you making the 'assumption' that's what the officer said? All from what some stranger said???
Why would the police officer sent him to the hospital if he's already said he's ok??? He's a police officer not a trained medic. Or a mind reader at that.
Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!
This post is now even more pointless!
What did you want from this?
Lots of other people to join in tutting and cussing?
What good would that do?
As I have said several times now, if you aren't happy, go to the station and make a complaint, don't whine about it on here.
That said I hope the guy is alright and that he reported it to the police having been checked out.
Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!
You're right. Probably was his fault. Appropriate action taken by all then. Leave an injured, clearly disorientated, but GUILTY man by the road to bleed to death. No problem then.
NapoleonD - I'm glad I did post this as the point seems to have been to flush out the crazy attitude that leaving an accident, with an injured party needing hospital attention, is acceptable practice in some circles, including the police. And being disapointed by it marks me out as a Daily Mail reading nutter. :? Presumably that's the view the police have of anyone who might question their actions.
What a world this forum seems to be reflecting. Sorry to have troubled it. I'll keep my mad views on protection for cyclists, police response to cycling accidents and basic first aid to myself.
Good luck on the roads
FYB, you weren't there. You don't know for sure what happened.
No one, at any point, has said the police response in your version of events was justified and again, if your version is correct, iit s indeed shocking..
You have failed to say whether you are making a complaint (which, if your version of events is correct, I suggest you or the cyclist do) or what you aim to achieve by this post.
We are all cyclists on this forum, believe it or not and everyone wants to be safe.
Probably for the same reason Natasha Richardson did !
There's a guy who has just been injured, he has blood running down his face and is disorientated. Your response is the copper is not a trained medic. Well in my mind it doesn't a medic to think that if someone says "i think so" immediately after an accident that they may not actually be.
As for asking for police identification etc, the man has just been in an accident ffs, yet you think he will have the clarity of thinking to say "pardon me officer, I'm not quite satisfied with the standard of care you have given me, please provide me with your number..."
I had a similar incident a year or so ago when I got knocked off my scooter, luckily the anbulance arrived before the coppers. The coppers then came into the ambulance whilst I was being treated, said they had enough witnesses to press charges for careless driving and asked me if I wanted to press charges and if I did I would have to give my witness statement there and then, if not they would let her off with a ticking off. Unsurprisingly I said, no let her off. On reflection it was the wrong response, but encouraged by the copper putting pressure on me to drop the charges by making the incident more protracted if i wanted to. But being involved in an accident which causes physical damage and shock makes you react differently to how you usually would.
So it may sound like the OP is a bit of a Daily Mail "shocker" post, but lets face it, and without picking holes, our boys in blue didnt sound like they covered themsleves in glory. Whether he said he was okay or not, if I passed someone covered in blood I don't think I'd be happy to take their word for it that they were okay, medically qualified or not, most people just call it being public spirited.
Good point Mr Cellophane, the cyclist was probably less medically qualified than the copper to say whether he was in fact okay, or don't our boys in blue even do basic first aid these days?