Overtake: worst one yet

[In trouble]

To Bollo, @1647

That is a clear straight up and down, no questions 'due care!' I am interviewing a driver next week for a similar collision, where she failed to look, and knocked down a cyclist breaking his hand. I dread to ask what response you got, because I have a terrible foreboding, however i can't comment on individual cases as I haven't been privy to the conversations.

What i don't mind doing however is empowering anyone who needs advice, with any information that may help them when dealing with accidents/incidents. I am aware that divisional police officers are often run ragged, and I can see that in some cases, jobs like that may be 'batted off' to save even more work, (which isn't helped by the general ignorance of the public to how these things work), but i don't offer that as an excuse, more as a potential reason.

I am new to cycling, having bought my first road bike 4 months ago, and I am seeing the light. Even better, and more fun however is giving taxi drivers bollockings for moving forward at red traffic lights, and blocking the forward section of the carriageway reserved for bikes. :0)

 

[Bollo]

FYI it was oribinally heard by a District Judge, not a magistrate (I was there). The case wne to the next level up (Crown Court IIRC) where it was heard by a proper judge (as opposed to a solicitor pretending to be one...) and it was thrown out with the judge saying it shouldn't have got to court in the first place (I wasn't at this court)

A stand corrected . I wasn't 100% on the details, hence the "I believe". Unbelievable state of affairs that it had to go that far though .

 

[wafflycat]

A stand corrected . I wasn't 100% on the details, hence the "I believe". Unbelievable state of affairs that it had to go that far though .

I know. The original 'judge' was appalling, as were the police officers giving 'evidence' They were the sort of blokes that I wouldn't want to meet down a dark alley and came across as total bullies. Just my personal opinion of course.

 

[Bollo]

To Bollo, @1647

That is a clear straight up and down, no questions 'due care!' I am interviewing a driver next week for a similar collision, where she failed to look, and knocked down a cyclist breaking his hand. I dread to ask what response you got, because I have a terrible foreboding, however i can't comment on individual cases as I haven't been privy to the conversations.

Thanks for the response, I didn't mean to come across as aggressive as my OP might have sounded. I think you've guessed how this ended. The attending cop was nice enough but it was clear that he regarded the whole thing as an inevitable part of riding a bike. It struck me that the police (in Basingstoke anyway) regard vehicle/cycling incidents in exactly the same way as vehicle/vehicle incidents. If you're not hit, then what's the problem? - don't waste our time reporting it. If you are hit but live, then its a fender bender and should be dealt with by the insurance companies. Again, not a police matter.

I am new to cycling, having bought my first road bike 4 months ago, and I am seeing the light. Even better, and more fun however is giving taxi drivers bollockings for moving forward at red traffic lights, and blocking the forward section of the carriageway reserved for bikes. :0)

Welcome! You've probably worked out by now that Cyclechat's commuting section is cycling's unwashed underpant basket - don't let us put you off. There is a lot of anger towards the treatment we get on the roads, fuelled by a lack of or support or uneven treatment from the authorities. The best cure for this for more people to get on their bikes, especially if they're involved in law enforcement.

 

[nickb]

I'm guessing that the old bill just went through the motions to get you out of the door. I imagine the incident must have been a little unnerving, but frankly, like hambones, this sort of behaviour is a daily occurence during my commute.

 

[Archie]

Got a call from Plod today and spoke to the guy who's investigating. He maintained the air of inscrutability, but they're sending out a form to the registered keeper of the car to confirm who was driving at the time. He warned they have 28 days to respond so the wheels will turn slowly. However, they are treating the report seriously so credit for that, whatever the outcome.

I've achieved the minimum I wanted which was to get an official record of the incident, and it looks like whoever the driver is will get to hear about the investigation one way or another so may think twice about buzzing me next time they see me.

 

[col]

I dont understand his close overtake there,he had two lanes and seemed to pull in for no reason,really bad and dangerous driving.

 

[downfader]

Glad to hear they've taken the matter seriously. All too often cyclists dont report these things or assume they're in the wrong - I suppose forums like this and the C+ one are slowly educating everyone.

Theres no place on the road for aggression imo.

 

[Jake]

bloody hell that is close

 

[col]

There was a red car in the offside lane, bad forward thinking from the car in question.

Could not go anywhere because of the red car, hence close overtake.

Ah i missed that,i thought he had been up the other cars backside in the other lane before moving over.

 

[Archie]

Interesting developments! Had a call today from the investigating officer. Apparently there's a problem with my statement as it refers to Friday 9th November, so it's being returned for correction. He'll follow up with the keeper when it's back.

However, what I learned is the car belongs to a local car dealership, not a private individual!
They've replied to their form saying the car was parked up Sunday - I think this is evading the issue BTW, they've plumped for the day nothing happened - but there may be an employee who is feeling rather uncomfortable, knowing there's an investigation going on.

The issue of the cyclepath was also raised and I replied in the same way I did earlier in this thread. I wish I'd quizzed him on the relevance of the question now, but I guess I can follow up on that the next time we speak (I'm pretty sure we will, the guy's keeping me up to date with things).

The most interesting thing was that he mentioned he'd viewed the footage, and without that the investigation would NOT be continuing. I can understand that as it's one word against the other, but it was clear he regards the footage as independent evidence. There's an issue for the debaters to get their teeth into!

 

[Archie]

Got a call from my copper today with the latest on the investigation. He told me they have now interviewed the driver at his work advising him they were formally investigating him for driving without due care and attention. He does indeed work for a local car dealership, in their legal department!

The PC showed him photos of the footage - unfortunately the video wouldn't play on his PC which is a shame - and the guy did express regret at the incident. He didn't think he was that close, but was aware of the red car on the outside. Apologises, understands the concern etc. His gesture was pointing out the cycle path but he does accept that cycles can and do use this road, and of course he occasionally cycles to work himself! Intends to give cyclists a much wider berth in future.

We then had a discussion on what the next course of action was. The case notes will go to his boss and a final decision made on whether to prosecute, when the files will go to CPS. Apparently my wishes carry some clout in this decision! The copper said his gut feeling was the interview at work and the investigation had got the message across, and the perp had learned his lesson. I said I was happy with the results of the investigation and was happy not to take the matter any further. It's not the final decision but I now expect that to be the final result.

Overall I'm happy with the result. I got everything I hoped for when submitting the report and have to say Hampshire Police dealt with the matter seriously and professionally. It's easy to say the guy said all the right things during the interview, but most people aren't so hard-bitten that a Police interview has no effect on them, and of course everyone at his work knows about and has discussed it! It's also a delicious irony that it was a car dealership that owned the car, and the word might get round more that there's a cyclist in the area who's prepared to use his cam in anger. That can only be good for cyclists in the area.

So in conclusion, my experience is the Police will take a report seriously provided you have independent evidence.

 

[In trouble]

Good effort. You need the tenacity to also pursue the complaint once made.

 

[alp1950]

Nice work.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Brilliant, and not at all what I expected when I read the OP and watched the video (about ten minutes ago). Nice work, well done you.