Incident with Taxi

[CopperCyclist]

Can you have atempted manslaughter? I'm sure I've heard of it, and it never quite made sense, because I understood manslaughter to be non-deliberate causing of death, and if it's non-deliberate, how can it be attempted?

What I mean is, I'm sure that even the crappest stupidest driver probably doesn't mean to kill a cyclist, but a great many of them seem to have no idea of how potentially dangerous a close pass, or throwing something, or shouting so as to make someone jump, can be. So, no, they aren't attempting murder, but they could end up killing someone due to acting stupidly.

(for which we have causing death by dangerous driving, which appears to attract penalties up to and including a smack on the wrist and a stern 'now, now, stop it!')

No there's no attempted manslaughter. You've probably heard of voluntary/involuntary manslaughter which are different concepts. Not going into them here as it'll drone on for hours and hijack the thread - just google them if you're interested!

What the taxi driver, and any driver in fact, did here is clear cut dangerous driving. Unless of course you are a CPS prosecutor, in which case it's a possible careless/inconsiderate driving that may or may not be worth prosecuting. Grumble.

 

[Joseph]

Contact to register a complaint is:

http://www.glasgow.g...Enforcement.htm

I've had some success with this, although that was a few years ago.

I've also had some success with that.

Usually you at least get a letter back saying the driver was pulled in and interviewed. The last one (where the driver went into a huge rant whilst he had a passenger on board after I stopped to get his plate number) I got told they were making a report to the licensing board on the driver, but not sure what eventual outcome was there.

 

[jonny jeez]

Can you have atempted manslaughter? I'm sure I've heard of it, and it never quite made sense, because I understood manslaughter to be non-deliberate causing of death, and if it's non-deliberate, how can it be attempted?

What I mean is, I'm sure that even the crappest stupidest driver probably doesn't mean to kill a cyclist, but a great many of them seem to have no idea of how potentially dangerous a close pass, or throwing something, or shouting so as to make someone jump, can be. So, no, they aren't attempting murder, but they could end up killing someone due to acting stupidly.

(for which we have causing death by dangerous driving, which appears to attract penalties up to and including a smack on the wrist and a stern 'now, now, stop it!')

Crikey, sounds like Arch has a plan...something you want to tell us Arch? do we need to start checking under your floorboards

 

[jonny jeez]

Nicely done

to be fare, it was unintentional

 

[sabian92]

Don't be silly.

If you try and force somebody off the road it's likely they're going to be seriously hurt or killed. Not quite succeeding in that would be an attempt, therefore.... attempted murder.

Not a difficult concept.

 

[Hip Priest]

If you try and force somebody off the road it's likely they're going to be seriously hurt or killed. Not quite succeeding in that would be an attempt, therefore.... attempted murder.

Not a difficult concept.

Attempted murder is when someone tries to kill someone, and fails. Do you think the taxi driver was trying to kill the OP? I think not. After all, it'd be easier to plough straight into a cyclist than to make a close punishment pass.

The driver sounds like a moron, but it wasn't attempted murder.

 

[Gandalf]

Pehaps a new offence is called for; 'Attempted and fully achieved Cockwomblery'.

 

[Hip Priest]

Pehaps a new offence is called for; 'Attempted and fully achieved Cockwomblery'.

Guilty! Send him down.

 

[sabian92]

Attempted murder is when someone tries to kill someone, and fails. Do you think the taxi driver was trying to kill the OP? I think not. After all, it'd be easier to plough straight into a cyclist than to make a close punishment pass.

The driver sounds like a moron, but it wasn't attempted murder.

If somebody tries to pass me closely, I'd consider that an act of being a knob. What if the driver misjudges it and knocks me off? What if they swerve because they aren't paying attention? If somebody passes me close enough to make me panic, I would consider that an attempt to knock me off (and when cyclists get knocked off, they tend not to enjoy it very much or come off best), and therefore if i'm going to be knocked off, I'm highly likely to be seriously injured or kille, which is where I come to the conclusion of attempted murder. You can't accidentally "pass somebody closely and knock them off" - it's a delibrate attack because you don't like cyclists. Maybe not even the one you're trying to kill but it's still dangerous.

 

[ufkacbln]

I find that now they know I will report bad driving with video evidence, word has got around, and I have very few problems with local taxis now!

 

[Monsieur Remings]

As a part-time cabbie, definitely go to the local authority and ask for taxi licensing. Cabs will fall into two categories - either a Hackney carriage or a Private Hire, both are licensed by the council. You need the plate number and any other information you can give. Most of the time cabbies are technically self-employed whether hackney or private-hire and so employers can be a bit arms-length when it comes to drivers who work for them, but licensing is another matter and these people will listen to your complaint and in my experience will follow it up with contacting said peanut.

In Brizzle bus lanes are taxi and bike lanes. Can't imagine there's a million miles of difference where you are and if he was that close it's a dangerous piece of driving anyway.

Best of luck.