Last night when riding home I felt something hit me on the back. I looked round and saw a lad hanging out the rear passenger side window of a car driving past me. Unbeknown to them just after the approaching bend is always stationary traffic at that time on a night. I carried on riding and pulled up alongside the car. God knows what I was going to do but adrenaline had taken over. There were 3 lads and a girl in the car and they opened the windows and started giving me some abuse but trying to say they hadn’t done anything at the same time. I got my phone out to take picture of them, the car and the reg but they realised, turned the car lights off and drove up the pavement into a dead end road on the left. I followed and by the time I turned into the road they came driving at me head on on the wrong side of the road. I had to jump up onto the pavement. The then stupidly turned left again back into stationary traffic where I caught them up to try and get the pictures. This time they drove up the wrong side of a busy road nearly crashing into an oncoming car before turning right into another dead end. I followed again and they had turned around and came driving at me again in the wrong lane. I had to jump up on the pavement again to avoid being hit. They had the sense to turn the opposite direction to the traffic this time and I’d had enough. All I managed to get was the reg number. I rang the police as soon as I got home but the said nothing will be done as it’s my word against theirs and there were no witnesses. All that will happen is a log will go against that car just in case they do anything else in the future.
I consider myself stupid and lucky but the red mist made me determined to get at least the reg plate so I could report it. Wish I hadn’t bothered now.

So someone assaulted you then tried to kill you twice and the police won’t do anything because it’s your word against theirs?

I rang the police as soon as I got home but the said nothing will be done as it’s my word against theirs and there were no witnesses

That’s balls. Go back to the police and talk to someone else

nothing will be done as it’s my word against theirs and there were no witnesses

Seriously?

Let’s hope they never get any reported rapes where there’s no witnesses.

I’d be phoning back today and having words. I’d expect them to at least interview the driver.

Most police forces have a twitter account so get on there sharpish. Shocking that they won’t do anything. Maybe CCTV in the area they could look at?

you need to find the video button on your phone next time! think of the youtube commission

Hmmm, surely the car hitting another car and driving off is enough reason for the police to pursue this. That evidence coupled with yours should be enough for them to pay attention, no?

If it’s stationary traffic was that due to traffic lights? Go back and see if there are any camera’s. See if any shops in the area have cctv?

As above states, you need to take this further. Witnesses must exist. I bet you are not the first one this has happened to or the last. I bet they have no insurance or driving licence either.

Visit the police station and make a written complaint. Its easy to fob off something that is not in writing.

Jesus. Get off the phone and down the Station.

I rang the police as soon as I got home but the said nothing will be done as it’s my word against theirs and there were no witnesses.

Sounds about right. It’s ‘wrong’, obviously, but that’s the typical response from a UK police force when you report something like this (IME).

I tried to report a driver who was texting while driving, nearly hit me with his van, then threw a punch at me when I told him to put the phone down. The police shrugged their shoulders and said “well if you choose to ride a bike then that’s your decision, you have to accept that you’re less visible and if someone’s using a phone then they might hit you because they’ve not seen you”. It’s alright though, every so often they give out free reflective armbands to cyclists, so they’re doing their bit for road safety 🙄

When someone tried to break into my garage (they failed, just left a few marks on the door frame) I had PCs coming round for follow up vists, got a phone call a few weeks later for another check up and had the offer of victim support counselling. Strange priorities…

Where they hit me there was no other traffic. The traffic was round the corner out of view of where they hit me. I will check for cameras tonight but I don’t hold out much hope. They didn’t actually hit the oncoming car it was just very close. The oncoming car had to slam their brakes on and skidded to a stop.
I wasn’t happy with what the police lady told me and I told her I wasn’t happy. She spoke to her supervisor who said exactly the same.

I rang the police as soon as I got home but the said nothing will be done as it’s my word against theirs and there were no witnesses.

I’m quite surprised at that. I remember a few years ago I was driving home late along a quiet road and a car came out a side road at speed right in front of me, I had to swerve to the other side of the road to avoid hitting a collision. I called the police when I got home, they cam round to take a statement and their next stop was the drivers house to have a word. They couldn’t bring any charges but having a word with the driver was good enough for me.

That’s completely unacceptable from the police, go down there and make sure they take a statement. If they dont do anything then:
https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/

Which police force?

Drink bottle full of wee would have come in useful with the open windows!

Sounds like one teen driving some idiot mates round who then panicked when you quite rightly challenged their behaviour.

No excuse for this sort of idiocy.

Go down to local police station and ask to speak to a traffic oficer and state you want to make a formal complaint.

Did you ring 101 or 999? 101 ime was a waste of time and maybe 999 should be left for immediate emergency but I’d be down the local station or on the phone to your local station. On our local police website you can find the numbers of local PCs and I called one of them and they were fantastic with a problem I was having a few years ago, took it seriously whereas 101 just kept saying there was nothing they could do.

Foot in the rear quarter panel is my immediate reaction but not really the most useful or responsible response.

The reality is that even if they did note your issue they wouldn’t do anything with it.

Seem to remember around a 10% rate of success on reported crimes.

Numbers are something like this

Of 10 reported, only 4 are looked at and of those 4 only 1 gets anywhere.

Yours would be in the 6 that don’t get looked at I would imagine.

Pity this data wasn’t reported more visibly as people may then realise that we either have to accept it or demand more police funding.

Just the title of this thread made me want to post this.

[video]https://youtu.be/URdARm4HWww[/video]

I’ll go read the thread now

Pity this data wasn’t reported more visibly as people may then realise that we either have to accept it or demand more police funding.

Or demand, rather, that the governments liberate our police forces to police *differently. There is much that I like and respect about British policing, but also much that could be improved. I can’t imagine something like the OP’s complaint being ignored in Toronto, for example.

*refer back to this thread.

Keep chasing this up because you were assaulted and they need to investigate, even if it is your word against theirs (which is a ridiculous thing to say, as this is the case with many crimes!). They also tried to use their car as a weapon. Be insistent with them and demand it be investigated. Personally, I might have given up after the first attempt at being run over, but can understand the red mist!

It may well be that the best you can hope for is that the driver will be spoken to, but this may well stop him and his mates from doing something similar again.

Some time ago, a work colleague had an altercation with a motorist, which resulted in the motorist grabbing him by the throat. My colleague reported it with the vehicle reg, the police went round to see him, and gave him a caution. I don’t think there were any witnesses.

My sister is a police officer so I will speak to her and see what she thinks is best to do. If she thinks its a waste of time I will drop it as I cant be bothered with the hassle if nothing will be done. Its a black mark against that car for future records which may be the best I can hope for.

It’s shit, but this is the natural outcome of the recent decimation of police numbers and budgets by the government, and it’s only going to get worse with the Police not being one of those protected services.

I note that a lot of the anecdotes about positive outcomes to similar situation are from ‘some time ago’. I suspect the response these days would be very similar to the OP’s.

You need to be insistent with your local Police, even requesting badge numbers and explaining that you’ll take the complaint to their superior if nothing happens. It was an assault that escalated and could easily have been a hit and run.

Last May I had a punishment pass on me, which quickly turned nasty when the driver stopped his car, retrieved a metal pole from the boot and decided to confront me physically all because I raised an open hand in alarm.

I went straight to the Police station and made a complaint, which was duly lost. The car’s reg number was recorded incorrectly so when I went to make a formal statement I was told that “registration number searches cost money”. I was fuming at this point, the policeman taking my statement took an obvious dislike to me when I suggested that I’d done absolutely nothing to provoke my would be assailant.

To cut a long story short, the driver of the car was eventually interviewed twice, the description I gave of the weapon was corroborated by the officer who asked to look in the boot of the car and the guy ‘fessed up. He received a caution and I received an apology.

Be a nuisance, don’t go away and don’t accept “sorry sir, but we can’t be arsed” as a legitimate response. Involve your MP if you have to.

In general the police near me are good with this kind of thing*. They’ve come round within 48hours and then tried to trace the various people. Sometimes positive results others less so. One resulted in action but only because she was mentally ill and pulled a knife on the officer. The others they have at least visited the person then reported back to me. Normally it results in a note against the reg so if they are reported in future there are more serious consequences.

*How shit is that, that I treat it as a common occurrence. 2 out of the 3 I dialed 999 as I thought I was in very real danger. One was trying to ram me in a car (knife woman), the other was chasing me down the street – but he was a fat one, so I was just able to walk briskly away while making a phone call.

I had quite a similar rage experience about a year ago, with three young lads in a car. They swerved at my missus just in front of me, then got stuck in traffic further up the road; red mist, open challenge to driver about his behaviour, two lads get out asking for a fight in the street. They then backed down and left rapidly, again using the wrong side of the road and bullied there way through the next set of lights on that wrong side….
Police were brilliant, once I’d got my call past the 101 call centre staff to a local officer. They attended, took statements from us and a driver witness, then went to the owners house for a chat. The officers also asked how we’d want it disposed of; seizure of the car or points and a fine for the driver.

If she thinks its a waste of time I will drop it as I cant be bothered with the hassle if nothing will be done.

This is the attitude that criminals and lazy policemen hope that we will have.

A similar thing happened to me a couple of weeks back, load of lads shouted out of car and tried to run me off the road. I saw red but they’d gone at the next lights, I was thinking I’d boot their wing mirror off if I’m honest, but now I’ve calmed down I realise thats just silly.

I might buy a hand grenade and do the job properly next time.

Does anyone want to buy my Rideye camera? 🙂

did you get any further contct from the police jonba?

Its getting on for 12 months since I was assaulted by the passenger of a car that hit me, they were initially good but heard nothing for ages.

When you say last night, was this commute time, in which case might some of the other people in the stationary traffic (some of whom will have seen something to corroborate your story) be regulars and there at the same time again today?

Though it is of course incorrect to say it’s your word against theirs when the police don’t know what they’re going to say. I’d wonder whether they’d actually lie in a way which can be disproved, or which incriminates them.

I had a car playing dafties on a dark night on the M80. They overtook, slammed on brakes, slowed, overtook, swerved, slammed on etc. This went on for 5mins or more – even while I was on phone to police.

The incident has not been followed up, and no record of the car or incident happening made.

Mind you, it took police scotland 3 days to turn up and an actual accident in a similar place….

No witnesses? What about the queue of stationary traffic?

Sometimes people punch people back that do things like this. Just sayin.

Sometimes people punch people back that do things like this. Just sayin.

Ahh, the keyboard hard-men are here at last.

*swoon*