Report or not? Police driver overtook into oncoming traffic and squeezed me

[sabian92]

Hey,

Last night on my way home I was overtaken by a copper who overtook into oncoming traffic then squeezed me to the kerb when she realised she wasn't going to make it. I made several over shoulder observations as I heard her approach me and she didn't slow down, change gear, anything. It was like I wasn't even there. I wasn't in primary but I was taking a strong secondary position and I had lights on so there isn't really an excuse - especially from a copper!

I tweeted to them complaining about it and they said report it to 101 if I wanted to. Is it worth it though?

This is the tweet:

@WidnesNPU nearly got offed by one of your cars reg DK12DME about 2055 tonight on Waterloo road, female driver. Should know better than to overtake into oncoming traffic and squeeze a cyclist to the kerb. Really stupid driving.

 

[Matthew_T]

You could report it but I doubt anything will come of it. Even if you had your camera on, it wouldnt make much of a difference. Police dont really like to take action on other officers (just look at the other thread about a collision with a police car).
If it gives you peace of mind report it, but dont expect much to happen unless you are willing to push for it to.

 

[Brandane]

Police dont really like to take action on other officers (just look at the other thread about a collision with a police car).

Admittedly I haven't read the other thread about a collision with a Police car; but I have to inform you that all Police forces (Police Scotland anyway) have a professional standards department which is made up of career chasing types whose function is to report cases involving other Officers (of lesser rank than themselves) to the prosecuting authorities. This rubbish about the Police covering up for each other is a myth and absolute nonsense. I speak from personal experience(s).

 

[sabian92]

I've reported it via 101 and they said it would be passed on to the Sargent who would probably call me back with a result/details.

Least it's done anyway - not really hoping for anything other than a word about it.

 

[Cycling Dan]

Admittedly I haven't read the other thread about a collision with a Police car; but I have to inform you that all Police forces (Police Scotland anyway) have a professional standards department which is made up of career chasing types whose function is to report cases involving other Officers (of lesser rank than themselves) to the prosecuting authorities. This rubbish about the Police covering up for each other is a myth and absolute nonsense. I speak from personal experience(s).

It may be a myth but its very much true, well there are plenty of examples of such doing. The scale of such doing I couldn't comment on but it's a very true myth.

 

[AndyRM]

I wonder if any of our resident police folk would care to comment on the gravity of such a 'very true myth'...

Regarding the incident, you're fine, it's been appropriately flagged, it's likely that nothing will happen as people make mistake sometimes. Accept it and move on.

 

[PaulBrdmn]

When I saw this thread I didn't expect it to be Widnes NPU! I've had similar incidents in the past, usually just shake my head and keep pedalling. In the late 90s my dad was actually right hooked by an unmarked police car in Widnes that was entering a garage and ended up in the windscreen!

 

[gavroche]

Like I said many a time in previous threads, police drivers are the worst of the lot. Don't trust them. Reporting them is a waste of time as they will close ranks.

 

[Steve Saunders]

I reported a dangerously close pass by a police van a few days ago (didn't get the reg, but registered the place and date/time). Got a quick response and was asked to provide my telephone number and (home) address so that they could "discuss the matter". Erm, you already have my email address for communication. Had a friend who provided their home address in response to a similar request after a police complaint ... they were pulled over in their car 6 times in the space of a month for "routine checks" despite having never being pulled in the previous 20 years ... coincidence ?

 

[XRHYSX]

I reported a dangerously close pass by a police van a few days ago (didn't get the reg, but registered the place and date/time). Got a quick response and was asked to provide my telephone number and (home) address so that they could "discuss the matter". Erm, you already have my email address for communication. Had a friend who provided their home address in response to a similar request after a police complaint ... they were pulled over in their car 6 times in the space of a month for "routine checks" despite having never being pulled in the previous 20 years ... coincidence ?

and the police wonder why they're losing respect!

 

[jowwy]

i remember being pulled over for speeding once - the officer told me he had been tailing me for approx 5 miles and that i had broken the speed limit on many occassions during that 5 mile stretch.

when my passenger informed the officer, that he was sat not tailing us as he had only just pulled out of a side road not 300yds back, he put his pad and pen away and sloped off to his car.

i was then pulled over 3 times in 3 days for no offence what so ever, so i reported it to my local station. touch wood no problems since

 

[CopperCyclist]

Maybe smaller forces work differently. I certainly wouldn't ever be in a position to be able to harass someone, getting colleagues involved, even if I wanted to! I have seen numerous logs where people complain of being pulled over all of the time... but they are always our main criminals from the area!

I can only speak from one experience of a cyclist making a complaint about a police driver. The driver was going through lights on red (with blue lights and sirens) and he knocked the cyclist off who was going straight over from pavement to pavement in front of him. The police driver lost their police driving grade (I.e. couldn't drive police cars anymore) and was sent to court and given three points and a fine for careless driving.

Not cycling related, but I know of another colleague who had similar - going through lights on red with lights and sirens and a car t-boned them who hadn't stopped. His view was blocked of the car by two other lanes of traffic that had stopped. The job reported him to court too, but on that occasion it was sent back by CPS who said there was no case to answer in those circumstances, and they would have felt the offence was committed by the other driver, who didn't see/hear the sirens, and didn't notice the other cars stopping. No prosecution was brought though.

The tales of 'police ganging together' just amuse me. It's a myth born of truth, but really doesn't apply to driving matters, in which the job wants to prosecute us every time we put a foot wrong! The myth comes mostly from 'use of force' incidents. You can guarantee that 50% of the time when we have to use some level of force, the offender will make a complaint about excessive force. They then see it as the police 'closing ranks' when all officers present say 'he did nothing wrong, the force was necessary, proportionate and legal'.

The truth is the force was necessary, proportionate and legal, and wouldn't have been required but for the offenders actions. It's extremely rare for officers to abuse their power, and they always get shopped and caught when they do - with a media frenzy with it, as one bad officer sells more papers than 100,000 decent ones.


Back to the OP. Report if you want. The driver will be spoken to and advised, and I doubt it'll go further than that due to the circumstances - but exactly the same would apply if it was a member of public. The benefit is that you hope a police officer will be more receptive to the advice than a run of the mill driver. Note I said 'hope'.

 

[sabian92]

Back to the OP. Report if you want. The driver will be spoken to and advised, and I doubt it'll go further than that due to the circumstances - but exactly the same would apply if it was a member of public. The benefit is that you hope a police officer will be more receptive to the advice than a run of the mill driver. Note I said 'hope'.

I did report it - credit where credit is due they do seem to be taking it seriously. I've just had a phone call from somebody at the station who said they had ID'd the driver of the car (giving a full reg & description works wonders! ) and I told them there was no blues and twos so there was really not an excuse to drive the way she did. Even if she was on a call lights and sirens don't give you licence to drive like an arse - I know there are actually a lot of rules on driving under blues and twos, not just "foot to the floor and sod the rest".

Apparently her supervisor is off until Saturday so the guy I spoke to is going to email them and I should get a phone call from them on Saturday. I have a CRN so at least they didn't say "oh our drivers don't do that, stop wasting our time".

I don't expect much from them as it doesn't really warrant it but a word on it would be nice. You can't drive around like that.

 

[Vikeonabike]

Maybe smaller forces work differently. I certainly wouldn't ever be in a position to be able to harass someone, getting colleagues involved, even if I wanted to! I have seen numerous logs where people complain of being pulled over all of the time... but they are always our main criminals from the area!

I can only speak from one experience of a cyclist making a complaint about a police driver. The driver was going through lights on red (with blue lights and sirens) and he knocked the cyclist off who was going straight over from pavement to pavement in front of him. The police driver lost their police driving grade (I.e. couldn't drive police cars anymore) and was sent to court and given three points and a fine for careless driving.

Not cycling related, but I know of another colleague who had similar - going through lights on red with lights and sirens and a car t-boned them who hadn't stopped. His view was blocked of the car by two other lanes of traffic that had stopped. The job reported him to court too, but on that occasion it was sent back by CPS who said there was no case to answer in those circumstances, and they would have felt the offence was committed by the other driver, who didn't see/hear the sirens, and didn't notice the other cars stopping. No prosecution was brought though.

The tales of 'police ganging together' just amuse me. It's a myth born of truth, but really doesn't apply to driving matters, in which the job wants to prosecute us every time we put a foot wrong! The myth comes mostly from 'use of force' incidents. You can guarantee that 50% of the time when we have to use some level of force, the offender will make a complaint about excessive force. They then see it as the police 'closing ranks' when all officers present say 'he did nothing wrong, the force was necessary, proportionate and legal'.

The truth is the force was necessary, proportionate and legal, and wouldn't have been required but for the offenders actions. It's extremely rare for officers to abuse their power, and they always get shopped and caught when they do - with a media frenzy with it, as one bad officer sells more papers than 100,000 decent ones.


Back to the OP. Report if you want. The driver will be spoken to and advised, and I doubt it'll go further than that due to the circumstances - but exactly the same would apply if it was a member of public. The benefit is that you hope a police officer will be more receptive to the advice than a run of the mill driver. Note I said 'hope'.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Brandane]

My own experience of a Police "cover up" :
About 15 years ago, I (solo) was driving a Police car with blues and twos, attending a raid alarm at local off sales at 8pm. Chances are it could have been a robbery or similar. I was passing a line of stationary traffic, carrying out the usual observations as I did so, i.e. looking for pedestrians running from between parked cars, or cars indicating right...... I was on the wrong side of the road as it was a single carriageway (in town). A taxi coming towards me had stopped so that I could get into the gap at the front of the line I was passing. I wrongly assumed the line of cars I was passing had stopped to let me pass! As I got to the front of the line, the front car suddenly and without indicating turned right to go into a petrol station across the road. I braked, skidded and crashed into his offside. One Volvo written off, and a Ford Escort/Focus whatever it was Police car badly damaged!

2 points worthy of mention: The taxi driver coming towards me backed up my observations that the car I hit was definitely NOT indicating prior to turning right. There is a "stated case" (i.e. one that has been through the courts and supposed to set the standards) in the Road Traffic Law manual, in similar circumstances, in which the person turning right without indicating was charged with careless driving.

The traffic cops were summoned (as a Police car was involved) and the usual procedures gone through. Witness statements taken from the taxi driver etc.. Then; not only was the driver of the turning car NOT charged with anything, but I WAS charged with careless driving! I fought my corner but was wasting my time. The guy obviously hadn't checked his mirrors before turning; he wasn't indicating; and he didn't hear any sirens! So much for a cover up, then.

I had my authorisation to drive Police cars taken away, despite the fact that the Procurator Fiscal (Scottish CPS equivalent) took no proceedings with the case. 3 years later I was invited for a chat with my Chief Inspector who told me that I was being put forward for a driver refresher course to get my driving authorisation back. I told him not to bother wasting anyones time as I had no intention of ever driving Police cars again and thereby putting MY licence at risk. I never did drive another Police car!

PS... The alarm at the off sales had been set off accidentally by staff .