Is this the driver of the car's fault?

[DogmaStu]

An Amazon Driver deliberately ran me off the road yesterday.

He approached a junction, looked directly at me, waited for me to get close and then launched out to merge with me and, while looking at me in his mirror, forced me off the road onto the grass verge. It was all done slowly, no great danger to me, it was simply a case of an anti-cyclist motorist wanting to have 'fun' forcing a cyclist off the road.

This was in a quiet B-road area, all lanes, no other vehicles, great visibility.

I followed him, took photo's and reported him to Amazon's Complaint's dept. giving them the opportunity to do something or I report to the Police. I would've just gone to the Police but no video evidence so wouldn't expect much joy there.

Surprisingly, I received an email back apologising and asking if they had my permission to escalate the issue internally to the company they get their Driver's from. I gave that and then received an email from a Manager, again apologising, and assuring me that the driver is identified and would be re-trained or sacked depending upon his internal rating and that I should immediately report if I encounter any other bad driving from their Driver's.

 

[matticus]

Comparing sentences given out for different cases is a mug's game:
The Judges follow the Guidelines - they don't fire up Google and see what similar cases they can find.

 

[Rusty Nails]

No.
I did not say that. I dont think he even saw them. I was just saying she was doing an impressive speed for a 71 year old.

Now wind your neck back in

For a 71 year old, she was tanking down that road. Maybe that had something to do with the drivers mis-judgement.

If it was her speed not her age that was relevant why mention her age?

Neck was never wound out. Just asking for clarification of an ambiguously worded comment.

Happy to have it clarified.

 

[presta]

It's not the police you should have gone to, when he stopped paying. Which is probably why they "weren't interested".

'Stopped paying'?

I went to the police immediately after the accident to report it, and they weren't interested because "there were no injuries".
After I had costed the damage I sent the bill to the driver and then waited about a month, but heard nothing, so I went round to the house. When I got there, the place was empty (no furniture & mail on the mat), and the neighbour said they had moved away to Bedfordshire. At that point the only information I had left was the car registration, so who else was I supposed to go to other than the police?

When I went back I asked if they would give me the drivers insurance details so that I could send the bill to them: "maybe we will, maybe we won't, we'll see". I then waited another 2 weeks before enquiring again. This time I got his insurance company, but not until after the copper had talked to me as if I was a pest who had been calling every day, saying "I've just got back off holiday and spent the morning telling parents their son has just died, so you forgive me if I haven't been worrying about your problems".

Given the picture posted earlier, showing the state of the road and the view to the left at that junction, I'd have been taking a similar line to the cyclist that got hit. I don't see how they were riding can be considered careless or inconsiderate cycling. Especially as they were on the major road, hit by a car whose driver didn't bother stopping as required.

I haven't said I think there's anything wrong with her riding, but anyone who thinks she's riding too fast might reasonably argue that going too fast is careless.

Do you really believe he thought " Oh, that's a 71 year old so I'll have plenty of time to cross the junction"

I think there are plenty who look, see, and then think "oh, he's only a cyclist, therefore he won't be going fast", etc. There are loads of them on Twitter: "you don't pay road tax, therefore you've no right to complain about anything".

He approached a junction, looked directly at me, waited for me to get close and then launched out to merge with me and, while looking at me in his mirror, forced me off the road onto the grass verge. It was all done slowly, no great danger to me, it was simply a case of an anti-cyclist motorist wanting to have 'fun' forcing a cyclist off the road.

I've had that sort of thing on numerous occasions. An articulated lorry braked for a give way line, then having almost stopped he looked straight at me, took his foot off the brake and rolled out onto the roundabout in front of me. Others have pulled alongside, then swerved at me in an attempt to barge me off the road.

 

[Drago]

Oh aye, when people go on about the importance of eye contact it's utter bollards. Using eye contact as any kind of predictor of another road users future behaviour is a good way to quickly end up dead.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Oh aye, when people go on about the importance of eye contact it's utter bollards. Using eye contact as any kind of predictor of another road users future behaviour is a good way to quickly end up dead.

I like to make machine gun sight contact. I find it effective at predicting their behaviour.

 

[Bristolian]

Oh aye, when people go on about the importance of eye contact it's utter bollards. Using eye contact as any kind of predictor of another road users future behaviour is a good way to quickly end up dead.

Perhaps the Police should remove it from their driving manual - Roadcraft - and the training videos that go with it then.

 

[Drago]

You might want to get your facts straight. The police neither write nor publish Roadcraft. It is, most assuredly, not "their" driving manual.

None of the forces I served in use it as either a training or reference document.

 

[Happy_Days]

The police neither write nor publish Roadcraft.

Has police driver training changed since 1956?

 

[Drago]

Has police driver training changed 1956?

View attachment 717441

The System has changed, how much Roadcraft has changed I couldn't say.

Discussing this with Mrs D today, herself an ex response and pursuit driver, she reckons the Met wrote and published the original books BITD.

 

[rogerzilla]

The cyclist doesn't appear to take any action, including braking. That's the odd thing. I would have expected the normal panic reaction to be a full brake application, possibly resulting in a bad skid.

I watch the wheels of all potential cross traffic like a hawk in case they move, and I never assume they've seen me.

As the motorcyclists are taught - they can't hit you if you're not there. In other words, don't give them the chance.

 

[winjim]

The cyclist doesn't appear to take any action, including braking. That's the odd thing. I would have expected the normal panic reaction to be a full brake application, possibly resulting in a bad skid.

I watch the wheels of all potential cross traffic like a hawk in case they move, and I never assume they've seen me.

As the motorcyclists are taught - they can't hit you if you're not there. In other words, don't give them the chance.

To my eye the driver's going slowly enough that it looks like they're not committed to the manoeuvre, so the cyclist may have thought they were going to stop partway across. It does support the argument that the cyclist may have been going too fast, not as mitigation for the driver's actions but in the interest of self preservation.

 

[Polecat]

"..when I was doing about 28 mph.."
good grief! Downhill, tailwind, electric assist?

 

[classic33]

"..when I was doing about 28 mph.."
good grief! Downhill, tailwind, electric assist?

Road is downhill in the direction the cyclist was going.
Shows clearly on the picture posted earlier.

 

[youngoldbloke]

"..when I was doing about 28 mph.."
good grief! Downhill, tailwind, electric assist?

'electric assist' - irrelevant - cuts out at 15.5mph on a legally assisted bike in the UK.