This is a ‘what would you do?’ question.

Out riding the tandem today when overtaken by a couple of older, outwardly respectable types in their newish xc60. He’s driving, beeps and is gesticulating in the rear view mirror at us. I wave (‘probably’ sarcily…). He stops, swings the car across the road blocking it then starts with ‘the’ anti cycling lecture through the open window.

There may have been a fairly swift escalation to a suggestion of some sex + travel and the dirty shit then spat at me. He then scuttled off sharpish presumably to avoid any potential repurcussions from this particular 55 year old IT nerd…

There genuinely was no lead up to this. We noticed him a few hundred metres earlier but he was a good 200-300m from us. I’m assuming he took umbrage over us having the temerity to use ‘his’ road.

I have the reg, would you (do I) report it as an assault or let it slide?

report it to the police. Shame you couldn’t keep the spit.

Assault and aggressive driving.

There may have been a fairly swift escalation to a suggestion of some sex + travel

You sent them to Mexico?

Report. Spitting at someone is classed as Common Assault and is also a disgusting thing to do. The Police will take it further.

There’s a bit of a bug going around which really makes spitting at strangers a bit of a no-no.
I’d report them

Report , common assault and in Covid times much more significant, honestly do you think he will never do it again to someone ?
He might think again if gets a chat from the Police.

Unfortunately, unless you have an independent witness or camera footage, the police will just view it as his word against yours, especially as he’ll get his wife to lie for him and deny it happened.

I had similar where a bloke overtook me, drove me into a hedge, got out and hit me/pushed me over. Police were called, and did **** all as he just denied it and his wife backed him up. Useless ****.

What did you say to evoke his retaliation in spittal?

Spitting is assault under normal circumstances, let alone in current climes.

Using a vehicle as a weapon is another.

Police, no question.

Po-leese

But expect them to do nowt, or for nothing to happen to him and then your expectations can only be met or exceeded. These scumbags need sorting out.

Report it. Absolutely.

I don’t know what will come of it but it’ll make the old fart sweat a bit & they might think twice about being a dick next time.

You’ve nothing to lose by reporting him, just do it

I’m in Australia so things might work a bit differently, but after a recent altercation with a lorry driver here I reported to the police and it was worth doing.
We have an online form so there was a bit of a delay before I heard back, but i got a call and the copper (who had an English accent as it happens) who told me that without hard evidence it would be tricky, but his tactic is to put my version to the driver and see what response he gets. If they admit to it then there’s a chance but if not then they can’t do much.

In my case the guy admitted it and was extremely apologetic/embarrassed and even provided his name and mobile number for me to contact so he could apologise in person! The cop checked the guys record to make sure he wasn’t a psycho first and we agreed it wasn’t worth the effort of prosecuting.

He might have done similar before and since. It’ll mount up and hopefully it’ll be the chair for him this time.

Police without doubt.
If they’re uninterested or move slowly…escalate to chief constable and PCC.

Report to police, covid risk.

I’m interested in the fairly swift escalation, and bit annoyed it stopped me finding out what the issue was, what was the ‘suggestion of some sex + travel’ please?

sex + travel’ please?

Find a bunch of builders tomorrow and shout Brexit was a mistake and you will decipher this particular conundrum.

You can I think request drivers details from the dvla via his registration number.

Up to you what you then do with that info.
https://www.theaa.com/cars/news/ask-edmund/check-registered-keeper

What dyna-ti said. Failing that loads of sites will sell you their details for a few quid a pop.

What did you say to evoke his retaliation in spittal?

Sex + travel is another form of Foxtrot Oscar, i.e. F off. That was all.

We’d been lectured at length by another pair of myopic pensioners a couple of days before whilst eating mid ride in the middle of Oakham. All the usual rubbish so when this guy started with the same after doing his Sweeney drift across the road, I had no patience left to engage more normally.

I’ve been there last year – car stopped, I was verbally abused and assaulted. All captured on phone video, witnessed by two other adults and 6 teenagers.

Apparently as he was a tourist, combined with Scottish law they needed corroboration, the cost of two officers going to Hull from Stirling is too high.

Police Scotland did precisely nothing it transpires. I was even lied to that the police had phoned the car owner.

@matt_outandabout yeah that’s my concern, they’ll do sweet FA or it’ll descend into a non witnessed he said/she said waste of time. I won’t be going for the keeper’s address as there’s really no upside in direct confrontation.

Avon & Somerset police made the driver come from Essex for an interview after trying to drive me into the side of the suspension bridge and spitting his gum at me. That was on cctv though. I may well have strongly suggested he go forth and multiply also.

…the cost of two officers going to Hull from Stirling is too high.

Crikey, do they not have police in Hull?

Given the seemingly poot reaction you’re likely to get from the police based on others experiences there is an argument also for forgetting it.

Before you all sharpen the pitch forks and top up the napalm in your flame throwers here’s why…

If you report it and
If the Police give him a call

His passenger isn’t going to corroborate your side of the story. They may (significantly) inflate your role in this something like you went to punch or push him, felt threatened etc.

Best case seems to be nothing happens of any use whatsoever/he maybe gets a mild telling off

Mid case he has an oh shit i was nearly in proper trouble there I won’t be an arse again (and then they will be the next time they get mildly irritated)

Worst case he’s emboldened by getting away with it and feels no compunction about repeating the behaviour and/or feels the need to seek you out and have a word.

None will improve his general attitude to people on bikes.

Of course you could argue the worst case already applies except now he’s confident he can get away with any reports by lying unless there’s camera footage.

Don’t get me wrong there’s a very strong case for reporting the **** and on all sorts of good reasons why you should (stats etc.) but the outcome is unlikely to my mind to be anything that’s productive on a practical level.

On the basis they looked like the very opposite of the knuckle dragging scummers you might expect this from. A little bit of me is hoping, that on reflection, he (and more so his wife) are so revolted at his spitty behaviour, he’s already having second thoughts.

A world of pain from SWMBO trumps a visit from Cambs finest any day 😉

Absolutely report it.

A local idiot near me got a caution for assault for pushing me into a hedge a few years back. The speed that the Police responded suggested they knew him already though.

he (and more so his wife) are so revolted at his spitty behaviour, he’s already having second thoughts.

Surely this will only be amplified when they get a knock on the door from plod? Maybe the neighbours will see etc etc.

Report it.

No two ways about it, report the dirty bastard to the police. End of.

Yeah nothing much might happen, but it certainly won’t if you don’t report it. You’ve got to be in it to win it….

Dirty Bastard!

Edit: I assume you also have a witness, as you were riding a tandem? No one rides a tandem on their own do they??

he (and more so his wife) are so revolted at his spitty behaviour,

You’re applying your own standards of self-reflection there. Nope, that’s who he is, who he is quite content to be, and his wife is probably too, or at least hardened to his behaviour.

As a side note, I’ve noticed the Volvo SUV is currently the vehicle of choice for aggressive tossers around here.

assume you also have a witness, as you were riding a tandem?

Missed that I’m firmly back on report the **** assuming you had a stoker and even better if it’s not your spouse.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

The run up to “Freedom Day” seemed to bring out worse and more aggressive drivers (at least around our way), and the weather has definitely put more of the pandemic purchased bikes out on the roads too. Maybe I’m wrong but i can sort of smell the desire for some conflict in the air as each C-Class/Mondeo/Zafira wafts by a wee bit too close/fast…

A Report is more than just a demand for investigation/action from the police, it’s a record and with enough reported incidents (even if they’re all unactionable due to lack of evidence) it builds a picture that can help in the future.

You won’t get him prosecuted, don’t kid yourself, but the details of the report will be there for the next officer that has to look up the car/owner should a similar event occur.

The spitting suggests that a nasty bastard dwells beneath the surface, sensible estate car or not. And that specific behaviour will be viewed even more dimly given the last 18 months. So I reckon with that one extra detail, He’ll maybe get a visit and a bit of a reminder about how we are meant to behave towards others in polite society.

Report the incident.

It is very weird to get annoyed by a tandem – I always smile when I see one.

The best defense against this type of altercation is to immediately start filming it – most people calm down once they know that their behaviour is being recorded. This should be simpler for tandemists as one person can interact whilst the other films.

I would definitely report it to the Police and, if you are a member of a cycling club, share details of the incident with them.

You could also get their address from the DVLA then nip round in the dead of night and remove the valve cores from their wheels

I’d find the time to report this to the police, purely in the hope of making things awkward and embarrassing for the driver – who then might consider the consequences of his actions.

Anything else would be a bonus.

It is very weird to get annoyed by a tandem – I always smile when I see one.

Indeed. Given he must see bikes on a relatively frequent basis without beeping and gesticulating (though maybe he does), can you speculate what was happening when he came to you to mark you out?

And how did you manage to get lectured at for eating by some old biddies? Eating with your mouths open or leaving your greens?

But yes, provided you are happy that your side of the fracas was fair and proportionate (it was you doing the **** offing and you admit you were carrying a short fuse from the lunchgate incident beforehand) it is worth reporting if it is held on record again the number plate for future incidents (if this is actually a thing).

What happened though? Were you simply riding along? Blocking the road is so OTT was there not an escalation of events that led to that.

No excuses for his behaviour, im just curious. I’d have probably got violent with him.

I’ve reported drivers three times in 15 years, perhaps. I’d been in a car each time. I got two good results.

One bloke in a van misjudged the lights and decided to reverse back out of the junction. I beeped just to let him know I was there. Next thing, he was out of the van, swearing and shouting and getting more angry by the second, possibly because I was rather nonplussed by the situation. He must have done something more serious because he was prosecuted for other incidents after my wife went to an ID line-up about him.

Once while I was driving behind an obviously intoxicated driver, my wife rang the police and they acted straight away, apparently intercepting the driver and ringing my wife back later to let her know what they’d done.

You can I think request drivers details from the dvla via his registration number.

That would be the registered keeper, and not easily you can’t. You need to write to the DVLA and you need to justify the request. Because, what possible use would the OP have for that information? Gonna pop round to their house and spit back at them with a cricket bat?

The only people who knows who was driving at that point in time are the people in the car.

A local idiot near me got a caution for assault for pushing me into a hedge a few years back. The speed that the Police responded suggested they knew him already though.

Which as others have said is exactly why it’s important to report it. They may not do much / anything in isolation, but it’s one incident amongst several then they’re going to take it more seriously.

I’m in a similar dialemma (Whether to report a crime to the cops)

Situation: There has been for sometime an abandoned bike behind where I work, it’s not locked to anything I don’t know who’s it is, and despite a couple of notices on line and in the building, no one has come forward to claim it. Couple of nights ago it was nicked. I have CCTV on the folk doing it (although you can’t see their faces) . Half of me wants to tell the cops, half of me is pretty much; why bother? I don’t know who the bike belongs to, so even if the cops found it, they couldn’t return it to the owner…My only real involvement is that they came onto the grounds to nick it..WWSTW do?

I’d probably report it to the police but I wouldn’t expect them to do anything.
I reported an incident the other day. My neighbour (we have had a fall out about maintenance work) came round the corner, saw me and my dog on a narrow road with no pavements, put his foot down and accelerated past us as close as he could. Left me a bit shaken and was undoubtedly dangerous for the dog.
Called the police who did sweet fa. To be honest, not sure what they could have done as obviously he’d deny it. It’s just pretty sh*t having to share a planet with these people.