Switching off someone else's ignition

Tobster86

I'll keep this as simple as possible.

A driver nearly kills a cyclist in a blatant act of dangerous driving. The cyclist has a bicycle mounted camera that records the entire incident, and pursues the driver.

Upon catching up with the driver who has reached stationary traffic, the cyclist opens the drivers door and switches off the ignition. The driver is startled by this and yelps audibly, but the ensuing 'lecture' from the cyclist is not particularly aggressive and contains no swearing; as confirmed by the video.

Has the cyclist committed any offence, which may render them liable for prosecution if they tried to report the driver to the police for dangerous driving?

[edit] Before people start to put the popcorn on; if the idea of two wheeled, human-propelled vehicles fills you with angst, please read 'cyclist' as '(an)other road user'.

marleyboy

Possibly trespass or unauthorized entry. I'd liken it to someone entering my home uninvited and turning my television off.

colino

Perhaps the Police will consider charging being a !!!!!! in a built up area?

Tilt

Sounds like a case of taking the law into your own hands. Far better thing would of been to pass the footage to the police. If it was as serious as you say, they should take an interest.

However, if the driver was obviously in an unfit state to drive (drunk etc), then yes, I would agree that preventing him/her to continue would be appropriate.

Strider590

marleyboy wrote: »

Possibly trespass or unauthorized entry. I'd liken it to someone entering my home uninvited and turning my television off.

Going off on a slight tangent in order make my point.......

It's legal for example to own a large kitchen knife, one which has a fixed blade of some 20cm in length, within the confines of your own home.

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

It however an offence to carry said knife in a public place, equally if you carry such a knife in your car you would also be committing an offence.

By this standard, there can be no trespass, because if the vehicle is in a publicly accessible space, it too becomes public space.

Iceweasel

Tilt wrote: »

Sounds like a case of taking the law into your own hands. Far better thing would of been to pass the footage to the police. If it was as serious as you say, they should take an interest.

However, if the driver was obviously in an unfit state to drive (drunk etc), then yes, I would agree that preventing him/her to continue would be appropriate.

The 'other road user' should be prepared to say that due to the manner of the other person's driving he had a reasonable doubt that the driver was not in a fit state.

Spicy_McHaggis

Strider590 wrote: »

Going off on a slight tangent in order make my point.......

It's legal for example to own a large kitchen knife, one which has a fixed blade of some 20cm in length, within the confines of your own home.

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

It however an offence to carry said knife in a public place, equally if you carry such a knife in your car you would also be committing an offence.

By this standard, there can be no trespass, because if the vehicle is in a publicly accessible space, it too becomes public space.

Flawed logic there.

Is it an offence to buy said knife in asda and carry it home?

For offensive weapon its other than your place of abode, so a chef commits the offence at work?

Strider590

Spicy_McHaggis wrote: »

Flawed logic there.

Is it an offence to buy said knife in asda and carry it home?

For offensive weapon its other than your place of abode, so a chef commits the offence at work?

No...... I put the link in there so I wouldn't have to explain all that!

Spicy_McHaggis

Strider590 wrote: »

No...... I put the link in there so I wouldn't have to explain all that!

Your link explains only part of your claim.

So your cars a public place, so if a tramp can unlock your car without damaging it he's free to sleep in there and you're happy about that?

straighttalker

Strider590 wrote: »

Going off on a slight tangent in order make my point.......

It's legal for example to own a large kitchen knife, one which has a fixed blade of some 20cm in length, within the confines of your own home.

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

It however an offence to carry said knife in a public place, equally if you carry such a knife in your car you would also be committing an offence.

By this standard, there can be no trespass, because if the vehicle is in a publicly accessible space, it too becomes public space.

Yes but the interior of the car should remain someone's private haven?

By your flawed logic, if I walk down the High Street, I am in the public domain so someone can walk up to me, put their hands down my pants and have a fumble?

fred246

If a crazy gunman was indiscriminately endangering people's lives and someone managed to disarm them they would be seen as a hero. This is what happened in this case. The cyclist should have removed the keys and called the police thereby preventing any more deaths or injuries.