Report Dangerous Driving?

sdavies13

Other week quietly cycling along behind a car when heard a revving engine coming up behind. I pulled sharply to the left just as a car came to a screeching halt behind the car I was behind!

Driver then started swearing and being racially abusive to the driver who pulled over. Said driver then roared up behind another car and started swearing and shouting at them.

Foolishly I went past this only to have the guy come roaring along again, cut me up forcing me to brake hard to avoid being hit.

Admit I shouted "!!!!!! you up to mate?" at which point the guy starts swearing at me, making threats. As he pulled into a road ahead and got out he told me to "f*ck off otherwise you'll end up in hospital!" with more swearing and threats as I went past.

I don't have a camera but did note his license plate, road name, build, etc. Should I report to the police or will it be a waste of time?

I'm torn as I am not a fighter and slightly worried he'll come after me (top of his road is along my daily commute) but the way the guy was driving he is liable to injure or kill someone and not sure I'd want that on my conscious...

esuhl

Definitely report it! He sounds like the kind of guy who is going to cause an accident before long.

He won't have any way to tell who it was that reported him (so hopefully you'll be safe).

I don't know what the police will do, but the more information they have about people's dangerous antics... well... I would hope they'd have a word with him, or maybe put a "marker" on his registration number so any (unmarked?) police cars he happens to drive past can be on the lookout for any signs of dangerous driving.

DUTR

sdavies13 wrote: »

Other week quietly cycling along behind a car when heard a revving engine coming up behind. I pulled sharply to the left just as a car came to a screeching halt behind the car I was behind!

Driver then started swearing and being racially abusive to the driver who pulled over. Said driver then roared up behind another car and started swearing and shouting at them.

Foolishly I went past this only to have the guy come roaring along again, cut me up forcing me to brake hard to avoid being hit.

Admit I shouted "!!!!!! you up to mate?" at which point the guy starts swearing at me, making threats. As he pulled into a road ahead and got out he told me to "f*ck off otherwise you'll end up in hospital!" with more swearing and threats as I went past.

I don't have a camera but did note his license plate, road name, build, etc. Should I report to the police or will it be a waste of time?

I'm torn as I am not a fighter and slightly worried he'll come after me (top of his road is along my daily commute) but the way the guy was driving he is liable to injure or kill someone and not sure I'd want that on my conscious...

I can't see why it would be on your conscious?
The driver has got one on him for some reason we do not know, you don't want to end up like that knob on the internet, cycling around with his umpteen cameras and posting his views on youtube.

hugheskevi

I had a similar thing happen a couple of years ago, with a driver forcing me off the road, then getting out and arguing for some time, threats, etc, followed by more dangerous driving in heavy traffic.

There was a witness (my wife), and I reported him to the police who wrote to him asking him to contact them, but he didn't respond to them.

The whole proces was a lot of hassle, with a police officer coming out to take details from us. Then they asked me to go to a police station to make a statement, which was cancelled twice at very short notice, for which they said it was not necessary for my wife to attend. When they decided they wanted my wife to go to the station to make a statement (all without them actually talking to the driver) I gave up and withdrew the complaint.

Personally I won't bother reporting anything like that again based on my previous experience.

fannyadams

this is operation crackdown from Sussex Police
http://www.operationcrackdown.org/

but I am sure YOUR local police force have something similar.

[Deleted User]

Unless there are injuries and witnesses they're not likely to do anything other than humour you.

I reported a car that knocked me off my bike in 2006, but they didn't want to know as I was only bruised.

I reported a kid who shot at me from an upstairs window with an airgun once. She reached for a scrap of paper:
"Name? Address? Ok, we'll get someone to look into it."
"So don't you want to know where it happened, then?"
"Oh, er, yes........."

Marco_Panettone

Definitely report it. It may come to nothing, but it'll certainly come to nothing if you don't!