Regular careless driver - near miss.

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Whrrr

Active Member
Every morning, as I leave home for my cycle commute to work, I see a father and son duo driving around in their car delivering newspapers to houses in our estate (delivering papers literally door to door in a car rather than cycling or walking is probably another point for discussion elsewhere!). The father's driving is consistently careless and lazy and it is obvious he wants this dull route and chore out of the way as quickly as possible, day after day, whilst his somewhat overweight son struggles in and out of the car between each house he delivers to. He will quite happily drive round a corner on the wrong side of the road and overtake parked vehicles without looking to see if anything is coming the other way, probably thinking it's ok to take these short cuts when there is little traffic around early in the morning.

Yesterday morning, as I came round a bend in one of the cul-de-sacs, he overtook another car parked on his side of the road as I was coming the other way. Already being alongside the parked car as he pulled out in front of me, I quickly swerved into someone's garden, banging my wheels over a low kerb, to avoid being hit head on by this impatient driver. As he passed I shouted at him and he looked at me with an expression clearly indicating that he thought he was not at fault.

What would people do in a situation like this? Would reporting it do any good? I have no witnesses but I can easily note his number plate as I see the car most mornings. It's a fair prediction that he will continue driving like this every morning and next time I, or someone else, may not be lucky enough to avoid being hit by him. Should I try and speak to him when I next see him or leave this to the authorities? I'm used to one-off incidents and mistakes during my commutes, but this one bloke is consistently bad.

Thoughts welcome.

Best wishes - Mark
 

Vikeonabike

CC Neighbourhood Police Constable
Whrrr. Report yesterdays incident to the Police. Explain the catalogue of bad driving. Don't worry if they do not take much action to start with but insist the information is passed to your local policing team.. Keep a diary of all the incidents over the next 4 weeks, Then report again, including the diary. Make sure you include what avoiding action you had to take and any witnesses etc.
In the mean time, anticipate this idiot, if you know what he drives and where he is likely to be, you know what is coming if you see him close to you! Stay safe!
Vike
 
Whrrr. Report yesterdays incident to the Police. Explain the catalogue of bad driving. Don't worry if they do not take much action to start with but insist the information is passed to your local policing team.. Keep a diary of all the incidents over the next 4 weeks, Then report again, including the diary. Make sure you include what avoiding action you had to take and any witnesses etc.
In the mean time, anticipate this idiot, if you know what he drives and where he is likely to be, you know what is coming if you see him close to you! Stay safe!
Vike

These are exactly the type of cases where a cheap and discreet video camera helps to provide evidence for the above.

As another thought - do you know which newsagent the child works for?

They may not be too pleased if you link this bad driving to them and make it their responsibility as the child is technically their employee
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Stop and ask him if he has insurance, for if he continues driving in the dangerous manner that he has become accustomed and he drives into you hurting you, he is going to need it as you will sue his ass off ......................... Then take his picture and that of his vehicle. Tell him you've also informed the police.
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
It sounds to me like the car is being used for business purposes.

I'll bet his normal 'social and domestic' clause on his insurance excluded the car being used as daily buiness delivery vehicle
 

goo_mason

Champion barbed-wire hurdler
Location
Leith, Edinburgh
[QUOTE 1130514"]
Learn to bunny hop - onto the car bonnet and then proceed to ride over the roof of said car before pulling off a 'table top' before landing.
[/quote]


:laugh:

Never mind a helmet cam - make sure you're followed by a camera team if you ever plan on doing that! Brilliant!
 
OP
OP
W

Whrrr

Active Member
Thanks, everyone. Some good advice and ideas there. I'll start keeping a record of any future events. A helmet-cam would be great, although for something decent they seem quite expensive. I guess it depends what price you put on it proving a case.

Hopefully things will improve...
 

sheddy

Legendary Member
Location
Suffolk
For those of us who don't wear a helmet, is there another way to mount a camera on the body ? Has anyone tried say, mounting a camera to the back of the hand or forearm, then switching it on in the heat of the moment ?
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
For those of us who don't wear a helmet, is there another way to mount a camera on the body ? Has anyone tried say, mounting a camera to the back of the hand or forearm, then switching it on in the heat of the moment ?

I've tried but have never really got it to work - pulling gaffer tape out of your hair is no fun!;) The only alternative I've seen but not tried is a an attachment supplied with the Contour for ski-googles. I guess you could adapt this for any type of elasticated strap.

My cam goes on the handlebars, but this is much more limited than a helmet mount because you can't direct it easily towards the action. Also, the picture and sound suffer much more from vibration.
 

sunnyjim

Senior Member
Location
Edinburgh
How about talking to him nicely ?
Don't criticise his driving directly. Explain how scary it is for a cyclist / pedestrians other kids when cars move/steer unexpectedly. Sympathise with having to drag the son round his paper round.
Suggest he could do it better on a bike - cheaper than start stop car, get son fitter etc.
Invent story about how your son/cousin/etc used to insist on being driven everywhere then got bike & is now less trouble/happier/superman.

The You Tube/police option is always available if being reasonable fails.
 
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