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news
Driver threatens to set dog on cyclist (Twitter: @jaj991)"I'll set my dog on you!": Driver dangerously passes cyclist, and then threatens to make his dog attack him
What would you do if a driver dangerously close-passed you and then threatened to have you mauled by his dog? Maybe just hope he actually doesn't do it and then report it to the police? Well, road.cc reader James did all of that, but the West Midlands Police weren't of much help to him in the aftermath...
The incident took place on 5 July in Coventry, with the cyclist sharing the footage on YouTube yesterday after the police force told him that no further action would be taken against the driver as they were unable to trace him due to an unregistered licence plate.
James was riding along Stoney Stanton Road when the driver overtook him while another car was approaching from the opposite direction, leaving the cyclist almost no room on the road — only for James to catch up with the driver and move ahead of him within half a minute as he waited at a traffic light.
He set off on his way once again, but around two minutes later, the driver who had been behind him all this time, tried to pass James once again at the next set of traffic lights, but had nowhere to go this time.
As the cyclist read out the licence plate of the car, the driver got out and said, "What're you looking at... I'll set my dog on you, you daft c***!", before proceeding to usher the dog a little bit out of the door and give the cyclist a glimpse of what seemed like either a Labrador or a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (or something in between).
Upon getting back home (fortunately without any brawls with a dog), James reported the incident via 101 and West Midlands Police assigned a police officer to the case.
He told road.cc that the police officer contacted him and informed that the driver was known to police and they were trying to get in contact with him with no success. However, when he reached out to the force a month later for an update, they told him that they still hadn't been able to make contact with the driver, but were going to attempt a few more times and then issue a warrant for his arrest.
"That was the last I heard until this week when an officer contacted me to tell me there'd be no further action on this because they had been unable to identify the driver," he said.
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James said: "I did ask why I'd previously been told the driver was known to them and he told me that the person identified as the driver was a 25-year-old male and really wasn't the driver - officer was unsure how this mistake had been made.
"The lack of a registered keeper is something I've seen several times now, I'm not sure how a vehicle comes to be unregistered but it's not that unusual."
He also added: "My first contact from WMP told me this was going to be charged as a public order offence. I suggested it would be best disposed of as a community resolution (assuming this was deemed suitable) and the officer agreed.
"While I would have gone to court, and have several times for other incidents, I didn't want to go to court for this tone because the magistrate/judge may just decide that the best course of action would be to put the dog down (unlikely but possible)."
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after completing his masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Cymru, and also likes to write about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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50 comments
The good old "It's too difficult box" frequently ticked by your local police constabulary country wide. Arsehats.
tell me again about licence plates for cyclists being the panacea for road safety.
Honestly with all the ANPR out there any dodgy plates should be flagged up on the system for pulling over next time a patrol car with number plate recognition comes across them.
Angry fat slug.
I used to work with the police (not for the police) at various 'road safety' events, including things like Exchanging Places. I was told on several occasions that, according to Police stop and checks, around 1 in 8 cars in London was illegal; not registered, not insured, false plate etc. So be careful who you pick a fight with - they could well be an untraceable thug.
It's a fact that there are more unregistered/ uninsured cars on the roads than total bikes. But WE are the problem, not the uninsured drivers that every insured driver is paying for.
Some people, eh?
Looks like they need a support dog, not attack dog. But probably also someone to ensure they take care of it properly.
Without a change in road design, I think these kinds of interactions will always happen. This road doesn't look much fun to ride down, and even less so with people like this driver right behind you.
It's hardly a surprise that cycling isn't more popular when you see videos like this. Is there even one other cyclist in the whole clip? Several minutes of a few pedestrians, one cyclist, and endless cars.
Neither I don't think, definitely no Staffie, some border collie there. Looks very cute and thoroughly unlikely to attack - Mr Gobshite definitely doesn't deserve him.
Not convinced of the collie in there. Muzzle too short and wide.
All in all a pretty wierd interaction. Had to tell if the initial pass was a punishment pass or sloppy driving. The sharp cut in suggests punishment.
I presume the use of the horn was all on the driver too.
Probably needs nicking on general principles.
I thought collie from the markings, perhaps some St.Bernard or Newfoundland to give that face shape.
I don't know the law on this one, I assume it's similar to any other form of threatening behaviour such as threatening to knife someone, even if you don't show them the knife if they have reasonable grounds for fear it's still an assault. Even though the dog looks pretty pacific and even soppy, a lout like that threatening to release a dog on you could certainly lead to a justified claim of having been caused fear, particularly if the victim was scared of dogs.
Juts reminded me of a tale recounted to me by my father of some guy squaring up to him in a pub "you're a big man, but I've got a dog" (probably sounded more menacing in his Belfast accent than from the originator). My father was 5'7" so the whole exchange was baffling. I can well imagine the dog in question was not a typical attack dog breed.
Hate to be that guy, but do y'all really feel that's a close pass?
In my job as a bike messenger here in the alledged 'cycling paradise' The Netherlands, I get passed like that every single day.
Reporting passes like that do more harm than good I'd say, as people will really feel like us cyclists are deliberately looking for something to complain about.
By the way, that driver is still an *sshole of course.
Can't agree with any sense of collective responsibility. If they felt it should be reported I have no right to tell them not to for my own benefit.
I never said or implied that he should not have reported it, just that this particular pass didn't seem dangerously close to me. In general, yes, I think it's good to sometimes step back a bit and look at the big picture.
I'd agree it wasnt a close pass, not even sure I'd have bothered reporting the part with the dog either, just shared it for some comedy gold.
But then my threshold for this stuff is stupidly high thesedays, just because it's become normalised behaviour.
Seen worse but firstly cameras always make the car seem further away than it was: the cyclist is a good metre out into the road, he'll be about 60cms wide, the driver is about 50cms into the lane as he passes, add those into a 3m wide lane and there's no way he's giving the cyclist 150cm. Secondly, it's not the pass so much as the fact that he made it into the face of oncoming traffic, forcing the driver of the oncoming red car to veer across the solid white line (cycle lane?) on their side. Add all that together and it's a pretty clear case of careless driving. Finally it appears in any case that the cyclist did not report the driving but the threatening behaviour, so it's a bit academic anyway.
Aaaaawwww, that's such a cute dog
This vehicle's MOT has expired
You can be fined up to £1000 for driving without a valid MOT.
This vehicle may be MOT exempt, for more information refer to MOT exemption guidance
DN09 LZH
KIA RIO
So it has no MoT, therefore no insurance and is being driven by a complete psycho and his dog, but the police aren't interested.
This vehicle's MOT has expired.You can be fined up to £1000 for driving without a valid MOT
You can, but you aren't. Mostly, the police just can't be bothered. 2 months without MOT?! Pff! You'd get a Citizen's Good Conduct Award in Lancashire for your MOT having only expired 2 months ago. I remind you, for the umpteenth time, of WU59 UMH with the 6 or so years of absent MOT, insurance and VED, regularly seen around Garstang and reported by me for many months. The vehicle bears the recently added logo of J Whitaker, a nearby Agricultural Groundworks contractor who has a Facebook page and a couple of mobile numbers quoted. The police never contact me because that would require an officer to identify himself. The reports are always immediately closed by an un-named officer, so that in the unlikely event (PCC isn't interested either) of LC ever having to justify themselves they could just state 'officer didn't sign the log'. For those who are sick of WU59 UMH, here is FM06 HUP- admittedly an ancient sighting
Lancashire Plod. They are beyond a disgrace.
The MOT was valid when this incident occurred, and not having an MOT doesn't necessarily invalidate your insurance.
Wot?! Not even after 6 1/2 years in the case of WU59 UMH?
I had this close pass which the Met police issued an NIP for:
https://youtu.be/eLZItGi5xuA
They then found that the plate was cloned so closed the case saying they couldn't trace the vehicle/driver.
I queried why they did so given they had TWO reasons (close pass AND illegal use of vehicle) to want to nab the criminal but got no response.
As almost all motor vehicles (except EVs) need fuel, I have often suggested that all petrol station CCTV systems should be linked to a police database.
That way any wanted vehicles could be flagged at the petrol station when the driver pays, nowadays with a card rather than cash.
Simple answer an unregistered plate/car should be seen with the same criminal intent as using burner phones... Using his pet as weapon when that fat p@#ck could kill anyone just by falling on them....with any luck this scum will develop diabetes as his Xmas karma. As for the boys in blue they couldn't find their own ass with a reach around from a friend! 😂
they normally miss when they try to fall on the cyclist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIWlNZGFV18
Things like this would be a good use of AI. Scan all live CCTV cams and flag any unregistered vehicle. Shouldn't be too difficult to pass on the location to nearest polis patrol (lol).
Unfortunately, AI tends to be trained on white faces and thus is poor at identifying other ethnicities which can lead to miscarriages of justice. I'd rather the police just do the job that they're paid for.
Didn't mean scan faces. Just scan registration plates. It should even be possible to track DN09LZH (or any other unregistered number) passing the same camera at the same time most days.
This would be a positive use of the technology - catch these scumbags. Sentencing is another issue though.
I see - that's just Automated Numberplate Readers (ANR) which are already in use in places like car parks.
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