Driver is a little bit cheeky.

[Matthew_T]

Following an incident that happened a while ago involving a van driver, I sent the company an email and this was the response I got:

Dear P.A. Joinery & Property Maintenance

On 4/11/11 at 2.00pm I was a witness as to an act of agression with regards to one of your vehicles. I was waiting behind one of your vans who was having difficulty exiting Pendyffryn Road in Rhyl.

As this was the middle of the day, there was a lot of traffic about which compromised the capabilities of exiting the road. As the driver of DA54RXP had got frustrated with waiting patiently, they resorted to barging their way out, nearly hitting another car. They then furiously accellerated which caused the vans tires to loose grip and make a screeching noise. The van then turned left without indicating to no avail when the driver simply pulled into a car park.

I was disgusted at this standard of driving as the driver had a duty to not only complete his job, but publicise the business as well.

Attached is the video of the incident and I hope you deal with it accordingly.

Kind regards.

His reply:

I am a sole trader and I am the only person in control of this van.

As I can see there was no agression and I can assure you non was intended, just a wheel spin to what was caused by a heavy load in a front wheel driver van, the need for accellerating fast was to avoid causing an obstruction on a busy road as you did. The only danger on the road on your video was the red van needing to avoid hitting you and the white car that was in the centre of the road after you had pulled out in front of it. I do admit to 2 mistakes I made and they was the wheelspin which in the end cost me for new tires and not to indicate left which I apologise for and I assure you I was in the speed limit. I do find it very amusing that you have posted this on YouTube and will be making comments on the standard of your poor cycling.

Instead of trying to video drivers making mistakes please take care of your own safety on the road as it is very dangerous for cyclists as you well know.

Happy cycling.

My most recent reply:

Thank you for your response.

I understand that you were not going over the speed limit but you need to understand that spinning your wheels in any circumstance (apart from a failure of the vehicle) is against the law as it showed that you were not in full control of the vehicle. I acknowledge the fact that you were concerned for other drivers' safety but you could have accellerated rapidly without wheelspinning if you had been more conservative with the accellerator pedal.
With regards to my cycling, I opposed no obstruction to you at any point or to the red van (which I had an earlier encounter with).

I appreciate your concern for my safety though.

Kind regards.

What do you think about his comments? Was my reply decent?

 

[snorri]

What do you think about his comments? Was my reply decent?

You received an admission of poor driving, which is good. Your further response achieves nothing, the clock cannot be turned back for a re-run, you should have left it at that. Your admission of an "earler encounter" with the red van gives the impression that you are incident prone and may be in need of some tuition in defensive cycling.

 

[fossyant]

Don't start on wheel spinning. Do you actually drive ? It's very easy to spin tyres on damp/oily surfaces if pulling away, and if carrying a heavy load. That's not losing control.

Don't really think you are doing yourself any favours. Your response makes you souny like a right ninny ! Let it go.

 

[Hip Priest]

I've seen the video of this 'incident' and I'm staggered that you felt it necessary to email the company. In my opinion, you were lucky to receive such a polite reply.

 

[400bhp]

You aren't doing fellow cyclists any favours with this attitude.

 

[Dan_h]

I think you were lucky to recieve any response, in fact one that is that polite kind of puts the driver in a reasonably good light. What are you hoping for here? He is not going to give you a grovelling apology and I would be surprised if any further response was helpful.

You are basically telling him that he committed an offence with the wheel spin, but it was hardly the aggressive smoke pouring out down the road kind of wheel spin, just a momentary loss of traction. There is really nothing much wrong about it and you should let it go before you get a much less polite response from him!

 

[gaz]

From my experience of many interactions with companies over what I percieveid to be below par driving, it was a good response.
The guy was pleasent, explained the issues he has with his load and admited his minor mistakes.

Take his advise on board about reviewing your own cycling* and keeping safe.

* As you are videoing your rides, you are in a position where you can look back at your own riding and see what differences you can make to avoid similar situations in the future. A great tool!

I'd also advise looking at each video and think carefully about how it will be perceived when you put it online, is it minor? did it endanger someone? Could it endanger someone? will it de-value more serious videos?
I often edit videos, export them and then just as i'm about to upload it, i think twice and don't bother. Sometimes it's just not worth it. Quality over qunatity after all.

 

[Mad at urage]

Matthew, you are obviously interested in the difference between good and poor cycling/driving. Allow me to share a maxim taught by many advanced instructors and (I am told) used in police advanced instruction:
'Don't ask what the other driver(s) can do for your safety, ask what you can do for theirs': In other words, watch closely any developing situation and consider what you can do to make it safer, rather than looking at what (you think) the others involved are doing wrong. That way you'll survive to continue improving your skills, you will also come to appreciate when others are not so skilled (and be able to make allowances).

 

[gaz]

Matthew, you are obviously interested in the difference between good and poor cycling/driving. Allow me to share a maxim taught by many advanced instructors and (I am told) used in police advanced instruction:
'Don't ask what the other driver(s) can do for your safety, ask what you can do for theirs': In other words, watch closely any developing situation and consider what you can do to make it safer, rather than looking at what (you think) the others involved are doing wrong. That way you'll survive to continue improving your skills, you will also come to appreciate when others are not so skilled (and be able to make allowances).

The best bit of advice I have recieved was from a Traffic Police Officer.
He said "Always expect the worst to happen, prepare for it, if it happens then you are ready to react and can keep safe. If it doesn't happen then you can continue your journey."
Pretty much the same as what you heard. Prepare for others mistakes and be prepared to react.

 

[jig-sore]

you actually e-mailed him about this !!!!

you dick !! dont think i would have been so polite in my reply to you

 

[HovR]

The video, for anyone who is interested:

Personally, I wouldn't have even uploaded that one, yet alone write a letter of complaint.

 

[Night Train]

When loaded or towing a trailer my front wheel drive car will very easily spin its front wheels in the dry, and more so in the wet, when trying to climb the camber of the road when exiting the junction.
My car also has traction control, that van probably does too. Yelps of the tyres still happens in that sort of situation.

Non event IMO.

 

[Matthew_T]

I have had a necking off people about the name I have given this video with them saying they expected someone to SMIDSY me or something. It was not "agressive driving" and I know that now.

I didnt know that people would take such an attitude to the email I sent him but I definately should have left it at that. The fact that he is an indipendant probably means he hasnt had any company driving tuition and when he received this email, got all the guys to look at it and laugh (that's why he mentioned YouTube and my cycling standards). I'm obviously not going to take it any further and if he replies anymore, I will simply ignore it because it might not be as nice as I hoped.

 

[jig-sore]

GET A LIFE !!!

 

[Cubist]

I think you need to take a hold of yourself to be honest.