First police 'pull'....a fair cop.

[Jezston]

I glad to see that all crime in the UK has been stopped, no drivers speed or cause accidents, that peace and order abound and the police can waste time pulling over a cyclist for going a bit faster than the officer thinks they should. Sheesh!

Good grief.

That's like saying police shouldn't be wasting their time with rapists when there's so many murderers around.

 

[CopperCyclist]

Did you find out why they were chasing you?

Lol, sorry missed that part! He simply recognised me and was trying to say hello!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Lol, sorry missed that part! He simply recognised me and was trying to say hello!

 

[xxmimixx]

Personally I think it was OTT. Fair enough the OP admitted his riding was not perfect, however the thing that frustrates me the most is the Police sometime dont seem to use common sense / consistency and go OTT.
I'm sure when he approached the OP it didnt take long a clever person to assume that he was a respectful, experienced adult cyclist and not a chav riding whilst chatting on his mobile. IMO there was no need for a condescending and patronizing statement as

if it went to court he had video evidence, but I think this was just part of the dressing down speech

how clever would it have been to waste tax payers and money and court times???

 

[2Loose]

Personally I think it was OTT. Fair enough the OP admitted his riding was not perfect, however the thing that frustrates me the most is the Police sometime dont seem to use common sense / consistency and go OTT.
I'm sure when he approached the OP it didnt take long a clever person to assume that he was a respectful, experienced adult cyclist and not a chav riding whilst chatting on his mobile. IMO there was no need for a condescending and patronizing statement as how clever would it have been to waste tax payers and money and court times???

It would perhaps have been OTT if he'd ticketed him...but a friendly word? I don't see it.

Would you rather the police ignore any crimes they see, just in case some people think they are being OTT?

It seems they are damned if they do their job and damned if they don't.

 

[xxmimixx]

Would you rather the police ignore any crimes they see

No obviously not, no need to take out of context, I said you need discretion. IMO the OP behavior does not warrant a 'threat' that he has a video of it and if it goes to court bla bla

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Nothing wrong with a friendly word

I certainly didn't go off crying to pepipoo.com (the "get off your fine/ticket" website) because late at night on a clear motorway I was traveling at 85 and failed to notice the police patrol car until it pulled alongside and, once the driver saw I had noticed, just made a palm-down "slow down" gesture

I thought that was jolly decent and praised my good fortune for still keeping a clean licence

I would assume the patrol response would have been much different if I was doing the same speed, lane changing in busy traffic near a major junction at 6pm

 

[Zoiders]

No obviously not, no need to take out of context, I said you need discretion. IMO the OP behavior does not warrant a 'threat' that he has a video of it and if it goes to court bla bla

It's not a threat it's called honesty and clarity when dealing with the public, it actually protects people.

Taking the attitude that you are above having to stop and have a conversation with a PC when requested to because you ran a red is pretty stupid.

 

[xxmimixx]

It's not a threat it's called honesty and clarity when dealing with the public, it actually protects people.

Taking the attitude that you are above having to stop and have a conversation with a PC when requested to because they run a red is pretty stupid.

Yes I completely agree that no one should take the attitude that they are above having to stop and have a conversation with a PC when requested to because you ran a red for any reason is pretty stupid.

But this is not what I was saying .

Anyway I am only expressing my opinion, again, merely that in this instance a friendly word was welcome but to remind of a video/court appearance was not.

At the same time as I respect other people opinions.

 

[Zoiders]

Yes I completely agree that no one should take the attitude that they are above having to stop and have a conversation with a PC when requested to because you ran a red for any reason is pretty stupid.

But this is not what I was saying .

Anyway I am only expressing my opinion, again, merely that in this instance a friendly word was welcome but to remind of a video/court appearance was not.

At the same time as I respect other people opinions.

It was polite to caution him that he was on camera, possibly a requirement as well.

Nothing OTT about it.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

It was polite to caution him that he was on camera, possibly a requirement as well.

Nothing OTT about it.

Nothing more than the usual "You're on camera" heard so often in the soundtracks of videos linked from this forum, in fact.....

 

[400bhp]

I glad to see that all crime in the UK has been stopped, no drivers speed or cause accidents, that peace and order abound and the police can waste time pulling over a cyclist for going a bit faster than the officer thinks they should. Sheesh!

Do you read the Daily Mail?

 

[marzjennings]

Good grief.

That's like saying police shouldn't be wasting their time with rapists when there's so many murderers around.

Err, not really.

Slightly over extrapolation of my point of view there.

Given a similar situation in the future and following this little talk from the officer, would the OP ride any different around an errant cell phone using ped in the street? What exactly has been achieved here?

 

[marzjennings]

Do you read the Daily Mail?

No, The Telegraph (online).

I haven't purchased a newspaper in 10 years.

And your point is?

 

[Zoiders]

Err, not really.

Slightly over extrapolation of my point of view there.

Given a similar situation in the future and following this little talk from the officer, would the OP ride any different around an errant cell phone using ped in the street? What exactly has been achieved here?

Yes, he might stop safely instead of trying to weave around the phone user.

The errors of others are not an excuse for your own lack of attention.

I pay attention to my stopping distance when I ride and it pisses me off mightily when others think two wheels and pedals are an excuse to ignore it, this goes for shared use paths as well.

Lets not become like the motons shall we.