I can't be arsed to go into a huge description of today's incident, but to set the scene it involved a mobile-using courier, a f*** you pull-out, an argument (initiated by him) further down the road, threatening behaviour and a verbal threat of violence (all by him again).
I can cope with the crappy driving and unfortunately I've given up on drivers and mobiles, but his subsequent behaviour was frightening. I'm most surprised that he felt the need to argue - my reaction at the initial incident was a loud "Nooooo!" and a bang on the side of the van as he pulled out on me. Later, as he stepped out of the van, I was a "f***** c***' before I'd even opened my mouth. I'd not done anything else to provoke the incident other than give a filthy look. Not even bad language which, for me, is a rarity.
When I got into work I phoned Fedex and the police. Both were excellent. I spoke to the Fedex depot manager who made it clear that the mobile use alone would get the driver sacked, irrespective of the threatened assault. The driver had given away his callee during our 'discussion' so I could pretty much prove he'd been using it.
The police were more interested in the threats of violence and I was concerned that the driver might come looking for 'afters'.
Anyways. I got a call from the police this evening to tell me that the driver had been sacked and to ask me if I wanted to pursue the threatening behaviour. I'm not going to press the case. Ultimately its his word against mine and there was no actual violence to provide proof, so its unlikely things would get past a caution. The police have given me a contact if he does appear again on my commute to discuss his sudden career break.
I'm not triumphant or glad about this. Ultimately he's responsible for loosing his job, but its not something that I take lightly. I'm also really shocked by how one-sided this all was. I've traded verbals with drivers in the past and usually regretted it, but there was very little that I'd done on this occasion to provoke his behaviour.
I'm having a beer. Let's be careful out there.
I can cope with the crappy driving and unfortunately I've given up on drivers and mobiles, but his subsequent behaviour was frightening. I'm most surprised that he felt the need to argue - my reaction at the initial incident was a loud "Nooooo!" and a bang on the side of the van as he pulled out on me. Later, as he stepped out of the van, I was a "f***** c***' before I'd even opened my mouth. I'd not done anything else to provoke the incident other than give a filthy look. Not even bad language which, for me, is a rarity.
When I got into work I phoned Fedex and the police. Both were excellent. I spoke to the Fedex depot manager who made it clear that the mobile use alone would get the driver sacked, irrespective of the threatened assault. The driver had given away his callee during our 'discussion' so I could pretty much prove he'd been using it.
The police were more interested in the threats of violence and I was concerned that the driver might come looking for 'afters'.
Anyways. I got a call from the police this evening to tell me that the driver had been sacked and to ask me if I wanted to pursue the threatening behaviour. I'm not going to press the case. Ultimately its his word against mine and there was no actual violence to provide proof, so its unlikely things would get past a caution. The police have given me a contact if he does appear again on my commute to discuss his sudden career break.
I'm not triumphant or glad about this. Ultimately he's responsible for loosing his job, but its not something that I take lightly. I'm also really shocked by how one-sided this all was. I've traded verbals with drivers in the past and usually regretted it, but there was very little that I'd done on this occasion to provoke his behaviour.
I'm having a beer. Let's be careful out there.
