Armegatron
Active Member
This goes on a bit so Ill cut it short. Bit shakey still so bear with me.
I was stopped at a red light, primary position, ready to go straight on. Woman behind starts shouting the same old "your in the middle of the road" (which we'll come on to later) etc etc. At one point she then rolls the car forward and bumps the back of the bike, leaving a clear mark on her bumper of the contact. I then say I phoning the police, and she says shes doing the same - I thank her, because that means I dont have to use up my credit on the phone ! She's then playing around on her phone and I get the picture she's not calling the police so I call them myself. I tell the call taker my location, that she had intentionally drove at the back of the bike, and that I would like an officer to come and diffuse the situation. The call taker continues to take details while the woman in the car talks what appeared at first to be two passers by. I overheard one of them say something to her which indicated they knew each other and I realised she'd called for back up of her own. I then tell the police to send an officer asap as Im quickly being outnumbered, the response was along the lines of "If you could pop into a police station you can make a statement". I then ask if the local station is open so I could ask why they cant send an officer from there as its literally a few hundred meters away, and the womans husband arrives. Hes a big chap and Im thinking - ooooooh sh*t. I decide to keep the police on the phone as a security blanket while I discuss with the bloke what had happened and he seemed to want to diffuse it also.
The driver then kicks off saying that I was infront of her and she told me to get out the way (while the lights were red - so clear that she intended to ram me out the way surely?).
The husband asked if Id accept an apology and I said yes - the woman kicks off saying she already apologised etc etc. She got back in the car and I discuss with her much calmer husband what happened. He was very understanding and, although initially defending his wife by arguing that I should be on the left of the traffic and the contact was only minor, quickly recognised that I was not in the wrong. I put my hand out to resolve it, shook, and thanked him.
The whole incident lasted 15 mins, but hopefully he can educate his wife that running cyclists off the road isnt a wise idea when the have a mobile phone to call the police and a helmet cam recording everything.
Slightly OT, I decided to phone the police to see what procedure was when someone requests and officer to attend because they are threatened. Ironically I got put through to a call taker that I reported a previous incident to and he said sarcasticly,
"You have a camera on your helmet? Ive had a couple of calls of someone else who has a camera on the bike and reports all sorts of stuff". I bit my lip because when I reported to this guy before he asked, "whats threatening about someone saying do you want your bike taking off you" and was more interested in what gave me the right to video my journeys. Faith in Cleveland Police before today = 0
Faith in Cleveland Police after today less than 0
I was stopped at a red light, primary position, ready to go straight on. Woman behind starts shouting the same old "your in the middle of the road" (which we'll come on to later) etc etc. At one point she then rolls the car forward and bumps the back of the bike, leaving a clear mark on her bumper of the contact. I then say I phoning the police, and she says shes doing the same - I thank her, because that means I dont have to use up my credit on the phone ! She's then playing around on her phone and I get the picture she's not calling the police so I call them myself. I tell the call taker my location, that she had intentionally drove at the back of the bike, and that I would like an officer to come and diffuse the situation. The call taker continues to take details while the woman in the car talks what appeared at first to be two passers by. I overheard one of them say something to her which indicated they knew each other and I realised she'd called for back up of her own. I then tell the police to send an officer asap as Im quickly being outnumbered, the response was along the lines of "If you could pop into a police station you can make a statement". I then ask if the local station is open so I could ask why they cant send an officer from there as its literally a few hundred meters away, and the womans husband arrives. Hes a big chap and Im thinking - ooooooh sh*t. I decide to keep the police on the phone as a security blanket while I discuss with the bloke what had happened and he seemed to want to diffuse it also.
The driver then kicks off saying that I was infront of her and she told me to get out the way (while the lights were red - so clear that she intended to ram me out the way surely?).
The husband asked if Id accept an apology and I said yes - the woman kicks off saying she already apologised etc etc. She got back in the car and I discuss with her much calmer husband what happened. He was very understanding and, although initially defending his wife by arguing that I should be on the left of the traffic and the contact was only minor, quickly recognised that I was not in the wrong. I put my hand out to resolve it, shook, and thanked him.
The whole incident lasted 15 mins, but hopefully he can educate his wife that running cyclists off the road isnt a wise idea when the have a mobile phone to call the police and a helmet cam recording everything.
Slightly OT, I decided to phone the police to see what procedure was when someone requests and officer to attend because they are threatened. Ironically I got put through to a call taker that I reported a previous incident to and he said sarcasticly,
"You have a camera on your helmet? Ive had a couple of calls of someone else who has a camera on the bike and reports all sorts of stuff". I bit my lip because when I reported to this guy before he asked, "whats threatening about someone saying do you want your bike taking off you" and was more interested in what gave me the right to video my journeys. Faith in Cleveland Police before today = 0
Faith in Cleveland Police after today less than 0