hackbike 666
Guest
I have a perfect police car overtake on vid and yet another dodgy overtake on the Bow flyover,must be due to gutter hugging in all my hi-viz gear.
Very close police car overtake...
- Thread starter BentMikey
- Start date
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PrettyboyTim
New Member
- Location
- Brighton
Mikey, I'm shocked by that. It's like the driver took absolutely no notice of you at all; I'd say you were left less then three feet there. You can see from the front-facing camera that there's at least as much room on the right-hand side of the car between the car and the central markings - the driver could have given you twice as much room without even having to touch the other side of the room. It seems difficult to imagine that the driver didn't see you at all. Reckless if you ask me. I don't know if anything will come from it, but I'd say it's worth bringing to the attention of the police force.
Suggest to them that in future you'd be tempted not to pull in until they got much closer, which would force them to slow down to overtake and actually get on to the other side of the road. If they're not prepared to take account of your safety then there's no reason why you should take account of their convenience.
Suggest to them that in future you'd be tempted not to pull in until they got much closer, which would force them to slow down to overtake and actually get on to the other side of the road. If they're not prepared to take account of your safety then there's no reason why you should take account of their convenience.
Hmmm... difficult call, that one. Don't really want to play devil's advocate here (others on this thread have done that far too effectively 
) - and of course the 'bent viewpoint is unfamiliar to me so not easy to judge distances, but I think ... if the police car driver saw that you had pulled over, and saw that his current line of travel was missing you, maybe he took the view and continued in a straight line. Maybe. If it were me I'd let the matter rest. It won't be the first close overtake you, or any of us, have had. Nor the last!
But it was a wholly different matter for me, yesterday, in the car. I was just coming out at a very awkward T-junction - this junction as it happens, when I heard the ambulance with blues-and-twos, coming from my right. The front of my car was jutting out somewhat into the fast main road - as I said it's a very awkward junction with poor visibility because of the bends. And the main road is fast. I was wondering whether to back off a bit. But the ambulance driver gave me loads of room - in fact he went right over to the wrong side of the road - and on a double white too!
Perhaps it's because I was in a car. Would he have given me the space if it'd been the bike?
) - and of course the 'bent viewpoint is unfamiliar to me so not easy to judge distances, but I think ... if the police car driver saw that you had pulled over, and saw that his current line of travel was missing you, maybe he took the view and continued in a straight line. Maybe. If it were me I'd let the matter rest. It won't be the first close overtake you, or any of us, have had. Nor the last!But it was a wholly different matter for me, yesterday, in the car. I was just coming out at a very awkward T-junction - this junction as it happens, when I heard the ambulance with blues-and-twos, coming from my right. The front of my car was jutting out somewhat into the fast main road - as I said it's a very awkward junction with poor visibility because of the bends. And the main road is fast. I was wondering whether to back off a bit. But the ambulance driver gave me loads of room - in fact he went right over to the wrong side of the road - and on a double white too!
Perhaps it's because I was in a car. Would he have given me the space if it'd been the bike?
Mark_Robson
Senior Member
- Location
- West Boldon Tyne & Wear
IMO the pass was too close, but Policemen are human just like the rest of us and regardless of training they will make mistakes but those mistakes can cost lives.
There was a 16 year old girl killed by a Police car in Newcastle not so long ago and the Policeman involved was jailed for it. He saw a car pass him and he thought that it looked dodgy so he gave chase and accelerated to 70mph in a 30 zone without using his blues or siren. He hit a young girl crossing the road and killed her instantly. In his defence he argued that using his siren and blues would have tipped off the driver of the suspect car and the girl was at fault for walking out into the road.
As it happens the car was legal and it's occupants were law abiding citizens, but the case goes to show that you shouldn't assume that every Police driver is an expert.
There was a 16 year old girl killed by a Police car in Newcastle not so long ago and the Policeman involved was jailed for it. He saw a car pass him and he thought that it looked dodgy so he gave chase and accelerated to 70mph in a 30 zone without using his blues or siren. He hit a young girl crossing the road and killed her instantly. In his defence he argued that using his siren and blues would have tipped off the driver of the suspect car and the girl was at fault for walking out into the road.
As it happens the car was legal and it's occupants were law abiding citizens, but the case goes to show that you shouldn't assume that every Police driver is an expert.
sadjack
Senior Member
- Location
- Deepest darkest North Wales
Mikey, whatever anyone says, you were there and feel aggreived. I think my response would be to find someone to speak to, submit the video to them more as a training issue, to see the viewpoint of a vulnerable road user and hope that it is taken in the spirit it is offered.
You never know it could be used in future training courses!
Many drivers have no experience of cycling, and no matter how well trained a police driver, their perception of that overtake on a vulnerable user may not be yours. Maybe seeing it could change things.
Just suggesting, that a more concilitory "lets work together" may have more benefits than a head on complaint, but the choice is yours.
You never know it could be used in future training courses!
Many drivers have no experience of cycling, and no matter how well trained a police driver, their perception of that overtake on a vulnerable user may not be yours. Maybe seeing it could change things.
Just suggesting, that a more concilitory "lets work together" may have more benefits than a head on complaint, but the choice is yours.
A truly shocking overtake. I recon he(she) did not see you because they looking further down the road at the silver car pulling out of the junction in front of you due to the fact that there was no effort made to deviate from the centre of the land as they overtook.
Report it.
Driving that dangerous should not be tollerated.
Report it.
Driving that dangerous should not be tollerated.
hackbike 666
Guest
BentMikey said:I don't think I have any problem with being seen. If anything, the reverse is true. Whether people care after seeing me, well that's a whole different problem.
But how do you know?
Perhaps the cop if pulled up about it and sees your video may say he didn't see you...SMIDSY and all that.
Very dangerous overtake by the poice who were obviously speeding although I don't see any evidence of a pursuit of anyone.
I saw an incident once were this sort of speeding avoided mayhem by a fraction of a second. A police car siren behind and two lanes of a dual carriageway totally blocked with traffic. A lady car driver pulled into the hard shoulder assuming the police car was speeding down the middle of the two lanes. She missed hitting the police car by a second as it was speeding down the hard shoulder. The police driver knew it as he emergency braked and reversed back.
I saw an incident once were this sort of speeding avoided mayhem by a fraction of a second. A police car siren behind and two lanes of a dual carriageway totally blocked with traffic. A lady car driver pulled into the hard shoulder assuming the police car was speeding down the middle of the two lanes. She missed hitting the police car by a second as it was speeding down the hard shoulder. The police driver knew it as he emergency braked and reversed back.
Rhythm Thief
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ross on Wye
^^ the thing is, you can either have police cars responding to an emergency and take the risks that come with them driving that way - and who knows, if it was your emergency they were responding to, I bet you wouldn't complain about any risks they took to get there quickly - or you can have police cars that pootle along at the speed limit, stop at every junction and traffic light ... and get there when the emergency is old news.
Rhythm Thief
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ross on Wye
True enough - and I agree that the police car in the video should really have left a bit more room. My previous post was responding to Shunter's post, and the point was that occasionally police drivers will get it wrong, no matter how careful they are. It's regrettable, but as I said, if you want them to respond promptly to an emergency, there it is.
Rhythm Thief said:
True, which is why every driver given leeway to respond to emergencies or use sirens and emergency lights should be trained to the highest standard - ROSPA. This piece of driving on video is not evidence of that being so. I would like to see the police driver in BM's position with his colleagues driving pass him !!
Many years ago, during the last days of the slam-door trains between Pompey and London, I'd sat myself down after boarding waiting for the train to depart. Just before the whistle blew, the door between the seats opened an in climbed Peter White. If you don't know Peter White, he's a Radio 4 regular and presents programmes like 'You and Yours' and 'Pick of the Week'. He's also been on the telly and is the BBC's Disability Affairs Correspondent.
Now Peter White is totally blind. As he hopped into the carriage, I thought about offering help of some kind, but he was clearly someone who travelled regularly by train on his own and knew all the trip hazards associated with the slam doors. I also thought he'd know I as there as, so popular wisdom has it, blind people's sense of hearing is highly developed to compensate for the lack of sight. I moved my bag out of his path and assumed the noise this made would alert him to my presence. Hell, he could probably hear my heart beat!
Anyways, Peter walks to my end of the seat, raises his white stick and hammers me around the ankles! Then the bugger does it again! He's going at me like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho!! I give a loud, slightly strangled cough. He looks puzzled, gives me one last lashing just to make sure, and then sits down opposite without a word of regret.
The morals of this rambling (and true) tale......
There's a good distance between expertise and infallibility.
Don't expect an apology!
Quiet day at the office.
Now Peter White is totally blind. As he hopped into the carriage, I thought about offering help of some kind, but he was clearly someone who travelled regularly by train on his own and knew all the trip hazards associated with the slam doors. I also thought he'd know I as there as, so popular wisdom has it, blind people's sense of hearing is highly developed to compensate for the lack of sight. I moved my bag out of his path and assumed the noise this made would alert him to my presence. Hell, he could probably hear my heart beat!
Anyways, Peter walks to my end of the seat, raises his white stick and hammers me around the ankles! Then the bugger does it again! He's going at me like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho!! I give a loud, slightly strangled cough. He looks puzzled, gives me one last lashing just to make sure, and then sits down opposite without a word of regret.
The morals of this rambling (and true) tale......
There's a good distance between expertise and infallibility.
Don't expect an apology!
Quiet day at the office.
Origamist
Legendary Member
"A Cyclist Knob with a Camera"
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec.cycling/browse_thread/thread/bdbae3945d2eaec8#
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec.cycling/browse_thread/thread/bdbae3945d2eaec8#
