the down side of all of this is that our audi man will drive AGAIN whilst banned and be uninsured.

FTFY
Whilst it is a victimless crime on this occasion, its still a crime. If everyone takes a lesser view of such behaviour, then where does it end? If a crime committed doesn’t affect me, is it still a crime? Of course it is! A serious crime should not devalue a lesser crime.

Coyote – Member

I drive lots of miles.

There is never “no one on the road”. Ever.

I drive lots of miles.

It’s probably me, I’ll wave next time.

Be sure you do. 🙂

Not sure why we should have cars or bikes that can do over 70 mph,isn’t that the legal limit?

Does appear breaking motoring law is ok for most of us. I have never understood why drink driving is bad, but speeding, talking on a phone, texting etc is ok.

I want an update of PeterPoddy’s incident!

I might have some info on the OPs crash – Someone put this up on the Critical Mass FB board and they might have found your witness 🙂

IME motorways are rarely completely empty, even at 5am.

I drive a lot and drive through the night most nights at the moment.

The roads are comparatively busy at 5am. Between 2am and 3am is the quietest time by far.

Round out way at least

Gah – seems they just checked the plates for you

P44JBG
Manufacturer:
MERCEDES-BENZ
Model:
E CLASS SALOON E200 Classic 4dr Auto
Model Year:
1996
Colour:
Blue
Transmission:
Automatic
Engine Size:
2000cc
First Registered:
19/08/1996

Graham, you seem to be very angry about this, it isn’t the biggest crime of the century. No really it isn’t. it wasn’t even the worst story to make yesterdays news. Try googling Daniel Pelka.

Stories like Pelka make the news because they’re so rare and because they’re horrific so they satisfy the media’s insatiable demand for more gore & horror and can be accompanied by much wailing, gnashing of teeth and blaming the Government.

Stories like the OP don’t make the news because they’re so depressingly common. The perception is just that it’s “one of those things” and the pesky cyclist probably wasn’t wearing a helmet or high vis and he doesn’t pay road tax anyway. Not a news story. That’s why the punishment (if any) actually exacerbates the problem. Police go round, have a word, tell him not to do it again, there’s a good chap. 🙁

Same with that speeding driver, same with every road death. If the number of people killed on the roads every year happened on trains or planes there’d be outcry. We desperately need a change of perception and part of that is law enforcement where it IS treated seriously, where it sends a clear message that there will be punishment.

Commuting incidents are much worse to deal with cos chances are you’re going to see the driver again – riding the same route at the same time every day makes you even more of a visible target for revenge. Hope it all works out OP.

Not sure why we should have cars or bikes that can do over 70 mph,isn’t that the legal limit?

Just so long as when UK limits cars to 70 (probably the lowest maximum speed limit in Europe?), they allow it to disable when you get off the ferry in Calais (or set itself accordingly to the country your in).

I generally stick to 140km/h and knowing I still have something more under the right foot if need be.

70 in Germany, means being stuck in the trucks and caravans convoy in the “slow” lane.

140km/h and knowing I still have something more under the right foot if need be

Aye flooring it some more is handy when you are speeding and you need to speed some more

You are surfmat and I claim your BMW

@scaled Cheers either way mate.

I’ve not heard any more from the police, but I’ll follow up with them on Monday.

I had a peek at the copper’s notebook while she was taking down my statement. It had words like “stabbed”, “punched” and so on in it. I’m not hurt, there’s no damage to my property so I count myself lucky. The perpetrator needs an attitude adjustment, but he’ll get what’s coming to him. Hopefully the cops will give him a bit of a scare when they go see him. That’s good enough for me at the moment.

Wonder if the missus will let me buy a new road bike for safety reasons. You know, the driver may recognise me on my current bike!

[quoteJust so long as when UK limits cars to 70 (probably the lowest maximum speed limit in Europe?), they allow it to disable when you get off the ferry in Calais (or set itself accordingly to the country your in).[/quote]

Easy to achieve, my car has an electronic speed limit function it can be set to anything, it also has a sat nav that tells it the speed limit of road we are on, simple to combine the two.

If thats a bit techie, then just apply a Europe wide limit of say 90 or 100mph, the details not important, there are no insurmountable obstacles.
Its that theres no will to do it which I find strange, why bother have a limit then neither enforce it and happily allow the sale of the devices based on their ability to driven illegally.

As posted elsewhere 20/30 years we will look back in amazement that people were allowed to drive cars, itll be like smoking in a restaurant.

Obviously is enforced given the number of NIPs sent out, and the number of cameras. Do agree with allowing the use of technology to improve safety (although got a right slanging off when I mentioned speed limiter cruise control on a road bike forum once – mainly suggesting its use in 20 zones and average speed limit roadworks where there IS a safety issue)
Most cars are limited anyway, it’s just that most road speed limits were chosen lower than that, and UK speed limit even lower still.
If 140 is legal and the road conditions allow, then that’s the speed I’ll drive.

Are you an American curious yellow? If so you must despair of our dreadful British drivers attitude to cyclists.
The Government needs to look at how cyclists and drivers get along in countries such as Belgium and Holland.

When I had an altercation a few years ago and had to report to a bobby, I was so lucky that he was a mtbing police, who at the time was around the corner from the incident of road rage and was on his police bike.

Drivers doing below 30 in a 30 or 70 in a 70 are the exception, dishing out a few tickets does not mean the laws are enforced. My point remains the same uk speed limits (whatever they are and that’s a different discussion) are not treated as real laws.

You wouldn’t publicly burgle a house or beat a child, whys it ok to speed? And if we are all agreed that speeding is bad why not stop making cars that can surpass the limit by sp much?

I suppose its an industry that relies on people using cars to define themselves to sell cars, credit and all the rest of it and that’s worth more than the human injury it causes.

This thread seems to of turned into a speed limit discussion but by Christ the op (and bails story) makes my piss boil. I drive cars, I ride bikes but I swear if that had been me I would hunt these **** down. I’m sure I’m in the minority here on stw, and by most measures I’m a reasonable and mild mannered bloke but stuff like this reminds me why I have a selection of “tools” because I’m **** if I’ll let people like this continue to get away with “writing letters of apology”.
Sorry for the slightly aggressive rant but its one of those subjects that really gets my goat!

Been off work for a few weeks so have been resigned to watching daytime TV now the TDF is finished.
Traffic Cops was one of the ‘better’ choices to stop me watching Loose women / Bargain Hunt/ Cash in the Attic shite.
The crashes and driving offences that are filmed and followed up are horrendous. The roads are busy and congested and i accept that everyone is trying to get somewhere in a hurrey but..
£148 fine for careless driving and 6 points for smashing into a stationary arctic and closing a motorway for hours . seriously
DD HGV driver twice the legal limit , 12mth ban and £400 fine.

These fines are no deterrent to driving like a twunt .

OP , If you are harrased by a car a small restaurant rectangle of butter quickly smeared across the drivers windscreen will give you the time to exit stage left, driver goes for wipers and makes it worse.

The amount of idiots on the roads these days is unreal whether they are in a car, truck, riding a bike, herding sheep or whatever.

Some guy on a road bike thought I was having a go at him the other day but I was only having a laugh with him. I’d passed him and he was doing a steady 35 in a 40 so wasn’t hanging around but he had the full Sky thing going on, even down to the socks and bottle but was riding a Specialized.

As we got to some lights he pulled along side, unclipped to wait and I said to Him ” Here you are mate ” he turned round and goes ” what ” I immediately got the impression he thought I was going to have a go so I just said ” where’s your Dogma ? ”

He laughed at that point and said he couldn’t afford one. Just a bit of friendly banter but most people theses days on the road go on the defense straight away when someone says something. Sad situation.

It’s a war out there. If it hasn’t happened to you – you will certainly know someone who has.

Beautiful evening for a ride a few weeks back was spoilt by a motorist who obviously felt our 20-25 mph average along a main town road was more suitable for the shared pedestrian / cycle path.

A VERY close flypast with horns blazing. We couldn’t have slowed him down that much as he had time after passing us to brake in front of me and try and slow me down – long enough to memorise his registration.

Reported. Chased up the incident number a week later and all that had happened was car details had been ‘forwarded to the intel section in case it happens again’ ffs. I had a witness. They could have given him a visit at least.

My neighbour had an altercation along a straight and very wide road where a fella got annoyed at him and his son riding 2 abreast. Trust me the road was wide enough for the driver to pass safely without crossing the middle white line. Driver stopped and got out to threaten him but my neighbour smelt alcohol so told the driver and got his phone out and called the police immediately. Driver didn’t hang around but the incident didn’t get followed up.

The other night some driver heading in the other direction on a road just decided he would sound his horn as passed us heading the other way. 3 of us riding single file. I can only assume this guy just had beef with cyclists.

Until there is some kind of deterrent drivers will continue to behave like this IMO.

How come some one said the car was not registered!

Well this one’s registered and taxed !!!!!!Registration:
P44JBG
Manufacturer:
MERCEDES-BENZ
Model:
E CLASS SALOON E200 Classic 4dr Auto
Model Year:
1996
Colour:
Blue
Transmission:
Automatic
Engine Size:
2000cc
First Registered:
19/08/1996

Why have the Police not check up on this Car!

I got a call from the police yesterday.

Asking what they want me to do. No kidding.

What do they mean “what do you want us to do”? I thought they were the police and should know what to do in these situations? Anyway, they’re going to visit the car at the registered keeper’s address and want me to assist with obtaining witnesses which isn’t a problem. They can’t give me a date by when they’ll take care of it though. Fair enough because I’m sure they’ve got more important things to do, but a lot of this looks like they’re going through the motions of a box ticking exercise really.

I wonder if there’s a way to find the address myself. Surely must be a way to. Seeing as everything’s for sale these days.

assault with a deadly weapon

^^ That’s a deadly weapon. It was probably just a regular car in this case.

Lets just get rid of them and it will all be ok then.

Assault with a deadly weapon? In the UK? PMSL. Been watching too much American TV? Silly Billy. 🙂

Another call from the police yesterday saying they’ve got a lead and will follow up. I await with bated breath!

Not sure why they keep asking me if I want them to follow it up. Why on earth would I not?

More Greggs/KrispyKreme time for them if the pesky punters don’t keep reporting the crims and keep stumn ?

Finally got a letter back from the police stating the driver of the vehicle had “admitted a road rage incident involving two cyclists”. They won’t pursue the incident due to lack of CCTV unless fresh evidence comes up as it’s “word against word”. Wonder what those words were.

Does anyone know what’s done with these complaints that don’t go anywhere? Is there any point in trying to find out if the guy admitted to driving while smoking a joint and to using his car to intimidate me? Part of me feels like it’s a waste of police time, but part of me feels it should know what the guy admitted to. I’m not going to bemoan what a world it is that someone can admit to “road rage” while in a 2 ton vehicle with no consequences, but it seems a bit rubbish.

I guess you can complain to the police themselves

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/complaints

and explain how a 2 ton vehicle is akin to a deadly weapon and if that fails then write to you mp, the minister for transport and any other bod who might care to listen that the greatest protection cyclists need is not helmets, but protection from drivers and the police who feel that using a vehicle as a deadly weapon is ok if its “just” a cyclist?

Finally got a letter back from the police stating the driver of the vehicle had “admitted a road rage incident involving two cyclists”. They won’t pursue the incident due to lack of CCTV unless fresh evidence comes up as it’s “word against word”.

I’m confused. If he’s admitted it it can’t be word against word. Is there an easier way to up the clear up rates than a criminal who admits the crime in the first conversation? I’d write back again and ask them what’s going on and insist they pursue it.

I will. Trying to figure out what I can push for him to be charged with.

I told them he struck me (albeit gently) with his car, threatened me verbally, and then attempted to intimidate me using his car by preventing me from leaving. If he’s confessed to this and they’ve done sweet FA then there’s no hope really.

He probably said that he was just innocently driving along when you attacked his car, unprovoked, like a baboon at a safari park. Then he said some harsh words, but you were totally asking for it.

I’m confused. If he’s admitted it it can’t be word against word.

From reading the OP, it seems to say that the driver has admitted being involved in a road rage incident

Not that he started it, he escalated it or he used his car as a weapon.
In other words it would be very easy for him to say “yes I was involved but it was those cyclists who started it all, I was terrified and tried to drive away and in doing so I may have accidentally hit the rider who was trying to assault me/my car”

Edit: beaten to it by MrsToast!

Blimey, and the Police wonder why there is an increasing lack of respect from all quarters towards them. Pursue this to the end through whatever channels you can. This idiot will probably believe that he was justified in his actions and bullet proof if they leave it at this.

admitted a road rage incident involving two cyclists

it wasn’t though was it? it was road rage against you. the other cyclist is a witness to the incident?

it was road rage against you. the other cyclist is a witness to the incident?

Matey managed to threaten the other cyclist as well. What a charming specimen he was.

I’ll write a letter today and pop it in “signed for” over the weekend. Somehow, I reckon it will only result in the waste of a stamp.

These threads are getting a bit biring now.

dirk, earlier

This kind of outcome really simmers my piss. They have the evidence/witness and even a confession and they’re still going to do nothing about it? Utter cüntery at its finest!

This kind of outcome really simmers my piss.

+1