So, on my commute home a flat back builders wagon passes too close and hits me from behind / side (hope district rear light and fibre flare on rucksac – all pretty bright!): wing mirror hit my shoulder and something hit my ankle. At this point the driver must have seen me and swerved right, but then had to quickly swerve left (possibly to correct path and avoid oncoming traffic), this manover meant that a 5l diesel / petrol tank and a bit of sand / rubble etc. fell of the back of his van into the road.
I stopped, a little shook up! and builder’s wagon drove off without waiting to see if I was ok, pick up their diesel tank etc. So I took a little time to gather myself, picked up the diesel tank and called the police (didn’t get the registration, but did get the company name).
The Police are coming around to take a statement in the morning, so we will see how that goes, but with no real damage and no witness I am not expecting much.
However! - The company is a local builder, they have a twitter page, I have never really bothered with twitter – however this may the opportunity to start!
Any advice / ideas on what to post on their site? If nothing else, it will be good therapy for me (so a bit of banter at their expense would be just fine!).
Thanks Dave.
The Police are coming around to take a statement in the morning, so we will see how that goes, but with no real damage and no witness I am not expecting much.
Wait until this is over with, speak to them in person first and discuss what they are going to do about it.
Treat the internet like a local pub - would you walk in and start slagging off somebody by shouting it at the bar?
Nothing, you've done the right thing contacting the police, make sure they v deal with it properly.
Nothing, the company has done nothing wrong, unless you can prove that they tell their drivers to try and knock cyclists off their bikes.
my twopennoth
don't do anything until after you've spoken to the police......internet and stuff is a bad place to post stuff when your angry and upset, and might prejudice stuff.
walk away from twitter
Don't post anything until you've spoken to the police. They left the site of an accident so have broken the law. By attacking them on Twitter you'll be tipping them off before the police have have the chance to discuss it with them.
Leave it to the Police, but ask if the company will be prosecuted for having an unsecured load. An offense in itself, for which they appear to have left the evidence behind. An unsecured load is an offence of Dangerous Driving, so might be a case of Al Capone convicting - not the careless impact with a cyclist, but dangerous driving.
FunkyDunc - MemberNothing, the company has done nothing wrong
You are not in a position to confirm that statement.
From the OP's account, there is plenty they may have done wrong.
They haven't done anything wrong yet.
Until its taken to court. Law not opinion needed. Agree with all the others. Do it by the book and nothing else.
Was the diesel can full? Think of it as compensation.
As a cyclist / member of the general public I would say do nothing let the police deal with it. Why attack the company on social media when so far all you know is that their employee is at fault . You have no idea how they plan to deal with it .
As a criminal lawyer I strongly advise you to do nothing you may prejudice the investigation . I and many of my colleagues often use Google/ Facebook etc to dig a little dirt. You are a witness do you really want to be cross examined about your Twitter banter with the co . It will be twisted to show malice or inconsistent descriptions etc.
[john lennon voice]
All we are saying is give Police a chance.
[/john lennon voice]
must have been a pretty scary moment for you 🙁
problem with resorting to twitter is that anything you direct @ the building company they will generally be the only ones to see and they can just block you/report spam and then it's over. Unless you have a lot of followers or can generate a lot of retweets your own audience for mentioning them is fairly limited in terms of 'don't use xyz builders one of their drivers hit me whilst I was on my bike and didn't stop'. You could watch their timeline and then start tweeting at everyone they send messages to along the lines of don;t touch them with a barge pole but I'm not sure how twitter would respond to an abuse report for you doing that.
I'd wait for the police do their thing and then plan something on twitter regarding targetting the people this company follow and their own followers rather than aiming stuff strait at them (don't use the companies twitter @account name in any tweets to third parties and they won't be aware of them - use their 'real name').
Do nowt +1
Tipping them off via Twitter just gives the driver and his mate another chance to get their stories straight before the police turn up.
Ok, thanks - after a good nights sleep and reading posts above, I can see twitter etc not sensible / likely to achieve much.
Police took my statement and will 'follow up' with enquiries and let me know how they get on, but considered it a long shot as the driver will probably claim he didn't know he hit me.... and the failing to stop part was the key element. We will see!
Thanks Dave.
Let the Police deal with it.
You should always remember what the first four letters of 'Twitter' are 😉
Nice to see so many sensible approaches to what has happened and Twitter on here. I will be plagiarising belugabob at every opportunity this week.....