Abuse from chav's

ivatt8888

Sorry, I'm just fuming a bit right now. I live in North London and work in the green belt so i cycle to work each day to keep fit. Iv been cycling for about 5 months now and apart from a bit of noise from impatient drivers nothing has really happened. But today i was cycling home and two chavs on a motorbike and one on a moped passed me and i think they shouted something. Then disappeared down a side road. Thought nothing off it and continued cycling. Then about 4 minutes later i herd some bikes behind me and one of them threw a firework that hit me fell to the floor then made a very loud bang. I turned to avoid it and narrowly missed a truck coming in the other direction. I think the guy on the back of The motorbike then tried to kick me but missed. I pulled up a side road and realised I was now in a worse position since the next road i was in had no other cars and no houses so if they stopped down there with me I would of had no where to go for help. Luckily they weren't following me. Then 5 minutes after that i passed a petrol station and they were going in. They saw me and started swearing saying there going to get me. I saw no other choice but went threw two red lights and darted down the maze of side roads leading into Enfield Town. The whole episode unsettled me, and now I'm quite demoralised about the whole cycling thing. I hope they don't come across me again on my way home from work. Sorry for my little story but i felt i had to post it somewhere.

Roastie

I can empathise. Don't worry - it really can happen to anyone. Random.

Aguila

Dont suppose you got a number plate on the moped?? I think I'd have been to scared to. Worth phoning the police anyway I would say. It is incredible that these people exist.

soy_sauce

glad you are not injuried or anything. if you remember their bike number plate, you should def go to the police and report them.

hope you don't come across people like that again. once is enough.

benno68

Try not to let those idiots put you off cycling, hard as it might be!

It sounds like a "wrong place wrong time" sort of thing that won't happen again!

Kieran_Burns

The petrol station will have CCTV so if you report it you will be able to place them at the scene.

I would genuinely make a report to the police

benno68

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The petrol station will have CCTV so if you report it you will be able to place them at the scene.

I would genuinely make a report to the police

+1 - good point!

ivatt8888

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

prj45

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

Seriously, report it to the police, or they'll do it to somebody else.

Kieran_Burns

The petrol station TV will record the licence plate - they're designed to. It is up to you to decide what to do, and I understand your reluctance.

As far as I am aware your details will not be forthcoming to them (for the reason you have pointed out)

AndyManc

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

They will continue that behaviour if you don't report.

I couldn't live with myself thinking they may attack another biker which may lead to something more serious.

That sort of behaviour can not go unchallenged.


.

ivatt8888

Thats true i didn't think that they might do this reguarly. SInce they were carrying fireworks with them its likley they comited some more crimes today. So reporting it may help convict them.

Gussio

+1 for reporting to the police. You experienced shockingly antisocial behaviour, which ought not to be allowed to go unchecked.

Don't let it put you off the riding.

soy_sauce

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

you can never be sure about that. you are right, the police might not do anyway but they might go get them as you might not be the first to get abuse by them and they ben reported previously. so it always worth to report it so the police can have a record.

AndyManc

Gussio wrote:

+1 for reporting to the police. You experienced shockingly antisocial behaviour, which ought not to be allowed to go unchecked.

Don't let it put you off the riding.

It's not allowed, if the police receive more than one report of anti-social behaviour about a motor-vehicle they can remove that vehicle from the roads.


.

Gussio

AndyManc wrote:

Gussio wrote:

+1 for reporting to the police. You experienced shockingly antisocial behaviour, which ought not to be allowed to go unchecked.

Don't let it put you off the riding.

It's not allowed, if the police receive more than one report of anti-social behaviour about a motor-vehicle they can remove that vehicle from the roads.


.

That is reassuring - hopefully the urchins will be getting a knock on their door some time soon. That's if the scooters are registered....

Aguila

I'd lay good money that these morons are already well known to the police. It may be just the opportunity they want to bang them up.

Mayhemwmb

The removal of the motorbike from the roads is a great tool, It is quite simple as well. The rider/driver gets a warning under section 59 of the Police reform act, the vehicle also gets a warning, this warning is recorded on local intelligence systems. If the rider/driver immediately tries to swap to a new vehicle the warning stops with them.

The vehicle gets a warning (I know it sounds daft but bear with me) - this is aimed at the circumstances where a group of chavas take turns to use the same vehicle, as the vehicle is warned then the police can seize it after 1 previous incident.

It costs about £110 to get the vehicle back after it's been seized.

The other option is the potential criminal offences - be aware that they chavas are less likely to get a fine tas big and you may have to make statements go to court etc

passout

I often get abuse / stuff chucked from cars, but nothing like that. I'd report it.

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

AndyManc wrote:

Gussio wrote:

+1 for reporting to the police. You experienced shockingly antisocial behaviour, which ought not to be allowed to go unchecked.

Don't let it put you off the riding.

It's not allowed, if the police receive more than one report of anti-social behaviour about a motor-vehicle they can remove that vehicle from the roads.

.

They certainly can. A group of these little b@stards have been making a nuisence of themselves in my village for the past few months. I and others have reported them to the police. Last week a police car turned up and caught them pulling wheelies and racing each other round the residential roads near my house. I then had the wonderful vista of a tow truck pulling up and confiscating all their crappy little mopeds. Oh how I larfed.

Not a peep since.

Rich158

AndyManc wrote:

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

They will continue that behaviour if you don't report.

I couldn't live with myself thinking they may attack another biker which may lead to something more serious.

That sort of behaviour can not go unchallenged.


.

I had a similar incident a fwe months ago in a village I travel through, an unidintified solid object hit me as I passed a bunch of chav's. I stopped to confront them, and then thought better of it, 6 of them 1 of me, I didn't fancy the odds. I did report it to a patrol car just up the road who went to investigate.

Since then I've had abuse shouted at me from cars, and various liquids thrown at me as I pass through the village. I've given up reporting it now, it only provokes them, and the police will do nothing as it's not a serious crime, well not until someone gets hit by a random object and swerves under one of the many lorries that pass through. Hopefully they'll just get bored and move onto some other mindless past time to occupy the one brain cell they share.

dilemna

Rich158 wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

They will continue that behaviour if you don't report.

I couldn't live with myself thinking they may attack another biker which may lead to something more serious.

That sort of behaviour can not go unchallenged.


.

I had a similar incident a fwe months ago in a village I travel through, an unidintified solid object hit me as I passed a bunch of chav's. I stopped to confront them, and then thought better of it, 6 of them 1 of me, I didn't fancy the odds. I did report it to a patrol car just up the road who went to investigate.

Since then I've had abuse shouted at me from cars, and various liquids thrown at me as I pass through the village. I've given up reporting it now, it only provokes them, and the police will do nothing as it's not a serious crime, well not until someone gets hit by a random object and swerves under one of the many lorries that pass through. Hopefully they'll just get bored and move onto some other mindless past time to occupy the one brain cell they share.

Write a letter of complaint to your Chief Cuntstable and cc your MP should get some results. If not then the DM.

benno68

Rich158 wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

They will continue that behaviour if you don't report.

I couldn't live with myself thinking they may attack another biker which may lead to something more serious.

That sort of behaviour can not go unchallenged.


.

I had a similar incident a fwe months ago in a village I travel through, an unidintified solid object hit me as I passed a bunch of chav's. I stopped to confront them, and then thought better of it, 6 of them 1 of me, I didn't fancy the odds. I did report it to a patrol car just up the road who went to investigate.

Since then I've had abuse shouted at me from cars, and various liquids thrown at me as I pass through the village. I've given up reporting it now, it only provokes them, and the police will do nothing as it's not a serious crime, well not until someone gets hit by a random object and swerves under one of the many lorries that pass through. Hopefully they'll just get bored and move onto some other mindless past time to occupy the one brain cell they share.

What a nightmare Rich - I would have thought that you suffered an "assault" which certainly should be treated seriously!

Rich158

Absolutely, fortunately I'm usually traveling at about 20mph plus so they have to very lucky to hit me with anything. The trouble previously was that it was always dark so identifying the culprits was a problem, and there was no evidence that I had been hit by anything in the first place. The one time I have confronted them there was at least 6 of them, all in the 15-20 age range, and generally larger than yours truly, and they're not frightened of a good scrap.

It appearstop be a known problem in the village, the police seem to have a constant presence in the area so they should be picked up in the end.

vinylmonkey

Where did it happen? I live in Winchmore Hill and there are loads of kids on mopeds racing around at all hours. I nearly crashed into one on Sunday in my car as three of them were racing and oblivious to any other vehicles.

Never known them to do such extreme behaviour to cyclists though!

Report it and try not to let it put you off cycling. I was kicked off my bike and thankfully as the tube workers wouldnt let me take it back home on the tube/train (even though i had a suspected broken hand and police report) i had to ride it back and it was probably the best thing that could have happened as i didnt have any nervousness the next time i rode.

benno68

vinylmonkey wrote:

even though i had a suspected broken hand and police report.

I hope that was from punching one of the little twerps

Hopefully the enjoyment of cycling far outweighs these "inconveniences"!

Gussio

dilemna wrote:

Write a letter of complaint to your Chief Cuntstable and cc your MP should get some results.

Typo?

nitesight

"All it takes for evil Chav's to prevail is for good cyclists to do nothing." Nitesight 2009

If you don't report it you'll likelyregret it and it'll niggle you. Imagine reading in the paper that some other poor sod couldn't get the plate as they were too busy being slapped about. You have a golden opportunity with the CCTV at the garage that may not crop up again. It really is an opportunity to deal with a tw@t that shouldn't be passed up as often stuff like this fails to be sorted because of lack of evidence or the inability to identify the scrote that did it.

With all that said -it's amazing how much something like this can spook someone so it's down to the individual to decide how they deal with it....either way it's your choice and whatever you decide is the right choice. End of.

kingmho

Keep your u-lock handy as you ride.

pllb

Or for the London crowd you could join a gym offering "Chav Fighting courses" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5572046/Advertising-watchdog-investigates-gym-over-Chav-Fighting-courses.html apparently they also offer "B*itch Boxing" :shock:

antfly

dilemna wrote:

Rich158 wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

ivatt8888 wrote:

Unfortunately I think a combination of adrenalin and fear meant i wasn't thinking straight enough to get a licence plate number. Whether the police would of done anything anyway is debatable all that would of happened is they would be cautioned, receive no punishment and in the process find out i reported them and probably come back for revenge. Thing is its more cowardly then anything. Doubt they would of done anything to me if id met them walking in the street.

They will continue that behaviour if you don't report.

I couldn't live with myself thinking they may attack another biker which may lead to something more serious.

That sort of behaviour can not go unchallenged.


.

Write a letter of complaint to your Chief Cuntstable and cc your MP should get some results. If not then the DM.

If you do write to the chief constable make sure you don`t spell it like that or you might get short thrift. :?
I saw a motorcyclist walking along the other day who had just had his bike confiscated by a pc so it does happen.