Official Close Pass Licencing response

[magnatom]

I wonder if all this is part of the issue about how we value jobs. Driving, unless perhaps it's an HGV, police pursuit car or F1 racer, is seen as a pretty basic job that anyone can do if they have a driving licence. And yet it's really very important that it's done well, and with the right attitude. It's a similar problem to that of care workers and so on - maybe thought of by many as the preserve of the unqualified, and hence not highly valued either in monetary or status terms.

Has there ever been a society in which jobs are 'properly' valued, I wonder?

I'm sure there is some truth in that.

How about Japan. When I was lucky to visit there I was amazed at how much pride people took in their jobs, even when it was just directing pedestrians around a broken manhole cover!

 

[Arch]

I'm sure there is some truth in that.

How about Japan. When I was lucky to visit there I was amazed at how much pride people took in their jobs, even when it was just directing pedestrians around a broken manhole cover!

That's the sort of thing. I don't know how well a Japanese Man Man Hole Cover Attendent gets paid, but they don't do a job by halves.

I love the display on the Bullet Train in the NRM. There's a film of it in action. Drivers wear white cotton gloves, guards work to a stopwatch level of timing and the ticket collector turns and bows to the carriage as she leaves it.

I may have to start a thread on P and L, so as not to digress too far...

 

[magnatom]

That's the sort of thing. I don't know how well a Japanese Man Man Hole Cover Attendent gets paid, but they don't do a job by halves.

I love the display on the Bullet Train in the NRM. There's a film of it in action. Drivers wear white cotton gloves, guards work to a stopwatch level of timing and the ticket collector turns and bows to the carriage as she leaves it.

I may have to start a thread on P and L, so as not to digress too far...

Aye, the trains were amazing. I loved the ticket collectors who would come on and bow as he entered and left the carriage (saying something in Japanese) and would continue bowing as he looked at your ticket. Amazing country, I would love to revisit some day. As you, say, we digress....

 

[Origamist]

Now thats a good idea, have you thought of involving groups like Sustrans and the CTC and even BC to further the idea?

Magnatom (the cycle-camera crusader) is in the latest CTC mag, keep up, Maggot!

 

[magnatom]

Now thats a good idea, have you thought of involving groups like Sustrans and the CTC and even BC to further the idea?

Like you said in a much earlier post, much better to see solutions than problems. Taking this one step further, I am a believer in the fact that people work towards things, rather than away from things. So working with the licencing dept towards an education programme, rather than one driver away from a bollocking is a really good idea.

You see, Maggot, you've not been paying attention! This is what I do/am about. Something happens to me, I get annoyed for a little while, get over it and think, so what can I get from this that would be positive. That's how the First Bus thing happened, that's why I am in talks with Arriva, and maybe I can get something going with the taxis. It's all in my first complaint letter!

On a recent management type course and on it they discussed Belbin's Team Role theory. I need to take a proper questionnaire but I reckon I am a Resource Investigator with a hint of Plant

 

[4F]

Well I am not in the CTC, bunch of bloody in-bred, beardy weirdos. Is he on the page opposite an advert for cycling capes and canvas saddle-bags?

So you have seen the mag then !!

 

[Origamist]

Well I am not in the CTC, bunch of bloody in-bred, beardy weirdos. Is he on the page opposite an advert for cycling capes and canvas saddle-bags?

It is actually opposite the Hasbro Magnatom Cycling Doll. The set comes with an adjustable camera, hybrid bike, and the doll has a cord that you pull and Magnatom swears in an authentic Glasgow accent. You can buy taxis, buses and HGVs and a giant Glasgow map as extras - stick the Magnatom doll in primary position and you have hours of fun for the whole family...

If you want a pdf of the article, I can pm it to you.

 

[magnatom]

I have been paying attention, it's just that you seem to have no outcome in mind, thats all. You seem to be using this one taxi-driver almost as a sacrifical lamb to drive through your very laudable aims of safer roads and more skilled and tolerant driving. The problem with this is, you don't ever know when you have reached the end. If you want him to have a bollocking, thats fine, if you want him sacked, thats fine, if you want Glasgow council to implement a kind of respect campaign, thats fine. It's the not knowing which one you want thats the problem. I think you should state publicly what your acceptable outcome to this situation is, you don't want to come across as a vindictive bastard do you?

You need to know when you have succeeded in your aim, and as you have no end-point you never will know if you have succeeded.

Oh come on Maggot. The road safety campaigning has nothing to do with the complaint, it is on top of it. I am just trying to get something positive out of something negative.

Go and read the letter I sent (a few posts above). In it I quite clearly state that I don't want him to lose his job, but I would like him to reprimanded (i.e. informed that he was in the wrong) with the aim of making him think about his driving in future. I also ask, if possible that he have some education in the matter of road safety. All clear end points and in the letter I posted.

What is there, not to know!

 

[thomas]

One last thing, have you considered the possibility that he made a genuine mistake, and now feels bad about it?

Then he would of stopped and apologised, not stopped and started yelling....??

I'd agree, I think the point is that something should be done and it doesn't matter what as long as it seems like a sensible and honest outcome. At the moment it's just been fobbed off a bit.

 

[magnatom]

magnatom, I read the letter, but stating you don't want him to lose his job is irrelavant. Someone has handed in video evidence of his reckless and dangerous driving, what choice do they have, if they prove the case, but to remove his licence? It's not for you to decide his punishment, if any.

One last thing, have you considered the possibility that he made a genuine mistake, and now feels bad about it?

You asked me for my end points. I gave you them and your not happy with them! There's no pleasing some folk.

Anyway the following was included in information sent to me by the licencing authority

The Unit’s involvement in the allegations raised will be limited to pertinent points contained in your complaint

I would suggest that one of such points was my suggestion that the driver should probably not lose his job. I have already stated, that if he does lose his job, then that is my fault, so I can't understand why you keep going on about this.

As for a mistake. I don't think so. He actively forced his way through a gap that was too small. His comments after the video reflect this . Mistakes do happen, but this was no mistake. If he felt bad about it, then why make up lies about me swerving and suggesting that he felt he did no wrong.

 

[John the Monkey]

What's the solution then, where people who drive for a living can't/don't drive safely? Do we simply accept the consequences of that as the cost of doing business?

 

[magnatom]

So you don't want him to lose his job, you want him told off and if possible, maybe some education in the future. They are hardly robust are they?

Temporarily remove his licence until he has had further training. That may encapsulate all you want in one robust and clear sentence.

I have tried to explain several times now, how do you know when you have achieved your aim, or deep down, do you not really have an aim, just some wooly wishlist?

More importantly, how do the licencing dept or the taxi firm or the driver know when you will be satisfied? From your letter, and this discussion, I would not know if I had satisfied your complaint. Basically it is "here is a serious complaint, the bloke nearly had me off, but I don't want him sacked, and if possible, sometime in the future maybe some education for him. Oh, and how about a safety campaign?"

You have to tighten it up, leave them no wriggle room and be clear about what you want as an outcome, you have stated what you do not want so far.

Maggot, I'll have whatever your having.

Ok. The next time I write a complaint I will write a 25 page essay which I will first hand over to my lawyers to ensure that the case, endpoints, complaints, legalities etc are as watertight as possible. Any failure to comply with the points raised within..........

A bu%%er it. I can't be bothered any more.

Move along now. Nothing to see here.....

 

[Arch]

Reacting aggressively when you have just embarressed yourself is a perfectly normal thing to do. In the moment it hurts to have your mistake pointed out to you in such a vigorous manner. It's often only in reflection you feel like a dickhead.

True, but if the first responce is anything to go by, he then lied and tried to shift all the blame onto Magnatom. Spur of the moment aggression is one thing, lying is another...

 

[Cab]

What is more worrying is that you cant see what your riding style is actually causing sometimes, and then because of your crusade, you take it to extremes, and other people are going to suffer because of it. Unless you can see, but choose to go on with it anyway.

Mags riding style means that he'll get less close overtakes than he would if riding in the gutter, and those that he does get are most likely considered and intentional.

 

[classic33]

Why is a person who had a close brush with a "professional driver" (he drives for profit) being told that he was wrong, is wrong & will always be wrong.

I put a link into this about a similar case where the driver was charged with assault after running a cyclist down. Where is the differrence here, bearing in mind that the taxi is no lightweight. Would the taxi driver have made the same move on a vehicle that was larger than the one he was driving at the time?

The onus whilst using the roads is on the vehicle following, not on the vehicle leading. Looking backwards, whilst moving forwards, all the time can lead to accidents.

162
Before overtaking you should make sure

the road is sufficiently clear ahead
road users are not beginning to overtake you
there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake

163
Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should

not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake
use your mirrors, signal when it is safe to do so, take a quick sideways glance if necessary into the blind spot area and then start to move out
not assume that you can simply follow a vehicle ahead which is overtaking; there may only be enough room for one vehicle
move quickly past the vehicle you are overtaking, once you have started to overtake. Allow plenty of room. Move back to the left as soon as you can but do not cut in

If wanting something done is wrong then I doubt he'll be the only one that is wrong.