West Mids Police-thanks for nothing

[downfader]

With a bit of reason you can atleast say that if it is logged it goes in the national stats. If any force has a high number of reports and doesnt appear to be dealing with the situation then MPs and others can raise this issue. This is kind of how mobile phone drivers got tackled, people realised it was dangerous when the research was started, lots of insurance claims and a fair bit of pressure got put on Government to change the law.

Now groups like the AA raod saftey team are investigating mobile use in some campaigns, it could put pressure on forces to ask: why the lack of action?

 

[davefb]

I've had a few of those texts in the last few weeks, and Ive not been involved in any sort or accident on or off the road. Just spammers buying lists of numbers.

same...

recently renewed car insurance , but probably a coincidence....

didnt stop when i went stop either

 

[Bicycle]

This is so wrong I don't even know where to start.

I am a regular London and rural cyclist. Lots and lots of cars, vans and lorries get very close, sometimes force me over and occasionally brush against me.

I have children (12, 15 & 17) who cycle along rural A-roads with artics sweeping past them and then sometimes cutting in slightly before they ought to.

A few months ago a VW Transporter with a long trailer braked very hard immediately after passing my son (smoked trailer tyres) and cut left on him. Son had to brake heavily, but there was no contact.

These things happen. It's a part of life.

I just can't get excited about near misses and I really don't know what else the Police could have done in the OP's case.

When I've been burgled (twice), they've been excellent.

When friends have been attacked or assaulted, they've been excellent.

When I've been walloped in a big collision (motorcycle and bicycle, severally) they've been excellent.

When I had a motorcycle stolen they were excellent.

After a death when an officer had to visit with the hard words, they were excellent. (I'd hate to have to do that for a stranger).

When they caught me riding a motorcycle underage in 1980 and I was banned before I had a license, they were also excellent; although I wish they hadn't caught me.

The Exchequer is not a Magic Money Tree. There was a judgement call to make in the OP's case.

I think the police officer who listened politely and then took no action made a good judgement call.

Your perspective clearly differs from mine. You may well be right; I may well be wrong.

Unusually for an frequently-fined speeder, I agree with the use of resources to curb my throttle-happiness. The fines and points are entirely my own fault. I would not agree with police officers spending time investigating the OP scenario.

Your reaction (quoted) gives the impression that you find my view so contemptible or risible that it doesn't deserve a response.

You may be surprised that it would be the response of very, very many reasonable, law-abiding, bicycle-riding people across the land.

 

[pablo666]

I am a regular London and rural cyclist. Lots and lots of cars, vans and lorries get very close, sometimes force me over and occasionally brush against me.

I have children (12, 15 & 17) who cycle along rural A-roads with artics sweeping past them and then sometimes cutting in slightly before they ought to.

A few months ago a VW Transporter with a long trailer braked very hard straight after passing my son (smoked trailer tyres) and cut left on him. He had to brake heavily. but there was no contact.

These things happen. It's a part of life.

I just can't get excited about near misses and I really don't know what else the Police could have done in the OP's case.

When I've been burgled (twice), they've been excellent.

When friends have been attacked or assaulted, they've been excellent.

When I've been walloped in a big collision (motorcycle and bicycle) they've been excellent.

When I had a motorcycle stolen they were excellent.

After a death when an officer had to visit with the hard words, they were excellent. (I'd hate to have to do that for a stranger).

When they caught me riding a motorcycle underage in 1980 and I was banned before I had a license, they were also excellent; although I wish they hadn't caught me.

The Exchequer is not a Magic Money Tree. There was a judgement call to make in the OP's case.

I think the police officer who listened politely and then took no action made a good judgement call.

Your perspective clearly differs from mine. You may well be right; I may well be wrong.

Unusually for an frequently-fined speeder, I agree with the use of resources to curb my throttle-happiness. The fines and points are entirely my own fault. I would not agree with police officers spending time investigating the OP scenario.

Your reaction (quoted) gives the impression that you find my view so contemptible or risible that it doesn't deserve a response.

You may be surprised that it would be the response of very, very many reasonable, law-abiding bicycle-riding people across the land.

Excellent post, Well said

 

[upsidedown]

But with respect this isn't London. If i lived in there i would expect it to happen more. More cars, more bikes, more interaction good and bad.
This is a small town in the Midlands. I'm sure if i was robbed, mugged or burgled they would be excellent. It's not difficult for the police to react to crime.
It's being proactive and stopping the actions of a few that make life unpleasant for many that takes a bit of thinking about, and that's where West Mids police fail.

 

[cyberknight]

As usual it comes down to the law of the car.......

 

[pablo666]

stopping the actions of a few that make life unpleasant for many that takes a bit of thinking about, and that's where West Mids police fail.

I'm sorry but it is ridiculous to expect the police to be able to put right the ills of society. Thats LaLA land! West Mids is second busiest outside London, What part of the multifarious duties that they do would you like them to stop so as to work on improving society?

Just watch traffic for 24 hrs at any reasonably busy West Mids Junction. How many offences, examples of bad driving that you dont like? What about your neighbour? Multiply that by every holier than thou road user for every junction and try and get the police to 'advise' the motorists for each example reported? Good Idea..lets tie up the police dealing with all this minor infringments and no consequence bad driving examples..then see what else the police have got time for? Very little me thinks...Get real!

 

[BentMikey]

But with respect this isn't London. If i lived in there i would expect it to happen more. More cars, more bikes, more interaction good and bad.
This is a small town in the Midlands. I'm sure if i was robbed, mugged or burgled they would be excellent. It's not difficult for the police to react to crime.
It's being proactive and stopping the actions of a few that make life unpleasant for many that takes a bit of thinking about, and that's where West Mids police fail.

Doesn't matter even if it was London. That kind of driving needs attention, and it's quite likely the driver is guilty of other crimes, not just the close pass and brushing impact with a cyclist.

Attention to these small road crimes is what brings down the road traffic death rate. It's a huge fail to ignore them.

 

[LosingFocus]

That kind of driving needs attention, and it's quite likely the driver is guilty of other crimes, not just the close pass and brushing impact with a cyclist.

Errrr, what now? That's one sweeping generalisation right there.

 

[pablo666]

Doesn't matter even if it was London. That kind of driving needs attention, and it's quite likely the driver is guilty of other crimes, not just the close pass and brushing impact with a cyclist.

Attention to these small road crimes is what brings down the road traffic death rate. It's a huge fail to ignore them.

What's the population of this country? 50, 60 ,70 million? Cars on roads? 20 million? Number of police officers available at any point in time 20 thou? How many examples of appaling driving do we collectively see per day that needs attention? If it's one a day, thats something like 20 million examples a day? Those 20 thou police will be very busy. Do the maths and keep your expectations of the police within the bounds of realism!

 

[BentMikey]

What's the population of this country? 50, 60 ,70 million? Cars on roads? 20 million? Number of police officers available at any point in time 20 thou? How many examples of appaling driving do we collectively see per day that needs attention? If it's one a day, thats something like 20 million examples a day? Those 20 thou police will be very busy. Do the maths and keep your expectations of the police within the bounds of realism!

Passing and hitting a cyclist is both more serious and less common than your straw man.

 

[upsidedown]

I'm sorry but it is ridiculous to expect the police to be able to put right the ills of society. Thats LaLA land! West Mids is second busiest outside London, What part of the multifarious duties that they do would you like them to stop so as to work on improving society?

Just watch traffic for 24 hrs at any reasonably busy West Mids Junction. How many offences, examples of bad driving that you dont like? What about your neighbour? Multiply that by every holier than thou road user for every junction and try and get the police to 'advise' the motorists for each example reported? Good Idea..lets tie up the police dealing with all this minor infringments and no consequence bad driving examples..then see what else the police have got time for? Very little me thinks...Get real!

Most of the examples of bad driving at your imaginary junction would not affect me. I'm not particularly bothered if somebody wants to run a red, use their phone, roll a joint or whatever while they're driving. These things go on around us all of the time, they never get reported, occasionally the driver will come up against the law of averages and get caught, most of the time not, fine. That's just how people drive.

On the very rare occasion that somebody delibarately puts my life in danger by trying to educate me with a ton of steel i don't think it's unreasonable to expect a degree of interest from the police.
To suggest that i'm expecting the police to deal with every infringement on the road is a bit childish.

 

[Dan B]

How do you stop malicious/false claims?

You don't have to pay out just because someone claims, and you probably wouldn't pay out without some convincing evidence or a reputable-sounding claimant. What you do do is collect the data and look at it in aggregate when assessing premiums: if customer A has had twenty of the things in the past year from completely different people and customer B has had two, or has had thirty all from the same claimant, it's pretty obvious who's more likely in the future to be involved in a serious incident and who's pretty safe or has annoyed someone with a grudge.


Think of it as extending the principle behind those "How's my driving?" stickers from fleet vehicles to the private motoring public

 

[Bman]

Minor driving offences or poor driving that go unpunished just re-inforces driver perception that they can get away with it.

This leads to more minor offences and more poor driving by them and others. Us cyclist get the brunt

 

[Mad at urage]

Passing and hitting a cyclist is both more serious and less common than your straw man.

OP was a reported close pass with no evidence of any collision.

Sure, we have the OP's word (and we believe him 'cos ? Well 'cos this is a cycling forum and we are all cyclists and frankly, because it has happened to all most of us at some time).

But the police are not allowed to presume a driver guilty on the say-so of a single person (many probably most on here, including me, would be extremely opposed to that), therefore this 'serious' offence that should be logged (and actioned?) is actually a reported close pass and that is all!

I'm not into defending police inaction: When I showed the local police the evidence of someone pulling straight out at on a roundabout, their immediate reaction was "That's reckless driving!", then when the number plate wasn't found in the database they NFA'd it, despite the road he pulled out of being a dead-end industrial estate (offices) where he probably parks that car daily.

But expecting them to do anything about a report "He came too close and I know he touched my panier" when nothing can be proved, is expecting too much IMHO.