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Close Pass Actually Being Prosecuted!

I'm a bit gobsmacked this morning.

Last Tuesday, I'd barely done half a mile from home, when there's a stretch of road with about three sets of bollards, each probably about 150 yards from the next.   I'm used to drivers squeezing through next to me, so when I go through those bollards, I 'take the lane'. 

Tuesday morning, I'm going through the last one, and I can 'sense' the driver just yards behind me, chomping at the bit to get past.   I've barely cleared the bollard when he overtakes with inches to spare.

I waver a bit, and swear to myself.  As he's pulling ahead, I see his left hand indicator go on, and he points to the left. 

Home that evening, video uploaded and sent to the Old Bill.  and forgot about it.  This morning, I get an e-mail that a Notice of Intended Prosecution has been sent to the driver. 

I would give anything to be a fly on the wall when the envelope drops through the selfish prick's letter box!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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12 comments

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carlosdsanchez | 4 years ago
2 likes

I’ve had a reasonable amount of success reporting drivers to Norfolk Constabulary now they have a web page that you can make a complaint on. They send you an email with witness statement form which you fill in and a drop box link where you upload the footage. They used to be pretty good at telling you if they were sending out warning letters or a notice of intended prosecution. I’ve even been to court as a witness for the prosecution, which was successful – the driver got 3 points, a fine, court costs and victim surcharge. However, in that case the conviction hinged on the oncoming car having to swerve to avoid a collision rather than passing me with 20cm to spare at 60+

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
2 likes

Result, let us know outcome fine/points and if you can and if the driver contests.

Avatar
cycle.london replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
10 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Result, let us know outcome fine/points and if you can and if the driver contests.

I'm not expecting him to get anything more than a slap on the wrist.  But on this occasion, that's enough, because his 'get over to the left' was quite evidently based on a belief that it's 'his road', and that cyclists 'should ride on the left'.

A driver awareness course isn't much, but it might make him stop and think.

Avatar
maviczap | 4 years ago
3 likes

Great! Which constabulary?

Avatar
cycle.london replied to maviczap | 4 years ago
4 likes

maviczap wrote:

Great! Which constabulary?

The Met.

I know, right??

Avatar
srchar replied to cycle.london | 4 years ago
5 likes

cycle.london wrote:

maviczap wrote:

Great! Which constabulary?

The Met.

I know, right??

Come on, tell us all how you managed to extract this level of service from the Met. Is this your bike?

 

Avatar
cycle.london replied to srchar | 4 years ago
7 likes

srchar wrote:

cycle.london wrote:

maviczap wrote:

Great! Which constabulary?

The Met.

I know, right??

Come on, tell us all how you managed to extract this level of service from the Met. Is this your bike?

I really have no idea.  They have rejected some close passes (as well as some deliberate attempts to run me off the road) which were far worse than this one.

It might be that I have gained the reputation of being a troublemaker with them.  When they reject footage and refuse to prosecute, I complain.  When the complaint is rejected, I appeal.  When that's rejected, I Cc: my MP into my response.  I write directly to the Commissioner.   She never responds, of course, but I occasionally get a letter from her 'private secretary', telling me that my complaint has been sent to their Professional Standards Directorate.  Of course, they then write to me to tell me that my complaint has been refused, and so the whole process of complaining about that, starts again.

A rare 'victory' has been cycle lanes.  The Met tried to tell me that they no longer policed cycle lanes, and that it was a matter for the councils.  I wrote to the councils in question, asking them to let me know how I could report drivers who use the cycle lanes.  'Wot you talking about?' was their response.  They said that it wasn't their job, but the police's.  Back to the police, who denied that they were responsible for it.  Back to the council, same response.  Eventually, I wrote to my MP, who contacted Jesse Norman (Minister for Transport) who wrote back and confirmed that it was indeed the job of the police.   I sent a copy to the police, who responded with an apology that there had been 'a misunderstanding'.  

Of course there had been 'a misunderstanding', and that 'misunderstanding' was the lazy, feckless bastards at the Met who thought that they could fob me off and I'd just lie down and take it.

Another one was the ASL.   I had sent footage of a couple of drivers in their BMWs and Mercedes, blithely gliding into the ASL as if they had every fucking right in the world to be there.  The Met wrote back to say that they wouldn't be prosecuting as 'the ASL is for guidance only'.    I wrote back to say basically .... erm, excuse me?

Cue several letters back and forward, during which I pointed out that use of the ASL was (except for certain circumstances) illegal, and that it wasn't their job to usurp Parliament by decriminalizing their use.   They then said that there had been ... yep, you've guessed it .. 'a misunderstanding', but that now, they actually had decided not to prosecute unless there was actual danger presented to cyclists. 

I tried to get a prosecution for misconduct in public office against one of their guys working out of Marlowe House in Sidcup.  He said written to say, 'having viewed the evidence, we have decided not to prosecute...'

The only thing was that the lying fuck hadn't 'viewed the evidence' since YouTube's 'view counter' was still at 0.   They refused to entertain my attempts to have him prosecuted for lying. 

So yes, I'm a bit of a pain in the arse.   Maybe they've decided to placate me a bit.

Avatar
Simon E replied to cycle.london | 4 years ago
2 likes

cycle.london wrote:

So yes, I'm a bit of a pain in the arse.   Maybe they've decided to placate me a bit.

Full marks for persisting with these issues.

But what a litany of lies and blatant couldn't-give-a-toss!

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to cycle.london | 4 years ago
1 like

cycle.london wrote:

So yes, I'm a bit of a pain in the arse.   Maybe they've decided to placate me a bit.

Maybe they've decided to start doing their fricking job.

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to cycle.london | 4 years ago
3 likes

cycle.london wrote:

srchar wrote:

cycle.london wrote:

maviczap wrote:

Great! Which constabulary?

The Met.

I know, right??

Come on, tell us all how you managed to extract this level of service from the Met. Is this your bike?

I really have no idea.  They have rejected some close passes (as well as some deliberate attempts to run me off the road) which were far worse than this one.

It might be that I have gained the reputation of being a troublemaker with them.  When they reject footage and refuse to prosecute, I complain.  When the complaint is rejected, I appeal.  When that's rejected, I Cc: my MP into my response.  I write directly to the Commissioner.   She never responds, of course, but I occasionally get a letter from her 'private secretary', telling me that my complaint has been sent to their Professional Standards Directorate.  Of course, they then write to me to tell me that my complaint has been refused, and so the whole process of complaining about that, starts again.

A rare 'victory' has been cycle lanes.  The Met tried to tell me that they no longer policed cycle lanes, and that it was a matter for the councils.  I wrote to the councils in question, asking them to let me know how I could report drivers who use the cycle lanes.  'Wot you talking about?' was their response.  They said that it wasn't their job, but the police's.  Back to the police, who denied that they were responsible for it.  Back to the council, same response.  Eventually, I wrote to my MP, who contacted Jesse Norman (Minister for Transport) who wrote back and confirmed that it was indeed the job of the police.   I sent a copy to the police, who responded with an apology that there had been 'a misunderstanding'.  

Of course there had been 'a misunderstanding', and that 'misunderstanding' was the lazy, feckless bastards at the Met who thought that they could fob me off and I'd just lie down and take it.

Another one was the ASL.   I had sent footage of a couple of drivers in their BMWs and Mercedes, blithely gliding into the ASL as if they had every fucking right in the world to be there.  The Met wrote back to say that they wouldn't be prosecuting as 'the ASL is for guidance only'.    I wrote back to say basically .... erm, excuse me?

Cue several letters back and forward, during which I pointed out that use of the ASL was (except for certain circumstances) illegal, and that it wasn't their job to usurp Parliament by decriminalizing their use.   They then said that there had been ... yep, you've guessed it .. 'a misunderstanding', but that now, they actually had decided not to prosecute unless there was actual danger presented to cyclists. 

I tried to get a prosecution for misconduct in public office against one of their guys working out of Marlowe House in Sidcup.  He said written to say, 'having viewed the evidence, we have decided not to prosecute...'

The only thing was that the lying fuck hadn't 'viewed the evidence' since YouTube's 'view counter' was still at 0.   They refused to entertain my attempts to have him prosecuted for lying. 

So yes, I'm a bit of a pain in the arse.   Maybe they've decided to placate me a bit.

Top man, I managed to get a black mark on the perm record of a desk sergeant and also got an Inspector to get a warning with regards his conduct on the same matter after I made an official complaint against them both. Hertfordshire chief of police in our meeting was just attempting to placate me with her bullshit and the driver who initially swerved at me got off scot-free.

it all just gets really tedious and massively time consuming, which is basically how plod want it, to be as hard as possible so as to dissuade people from making the accusation of a crime being committed in the first instance and from that so that they don't have to deal with it.

Basically breaking their sworn attestation/oaths and thus not fit to be a constable, rather a cuntstable.

Avatar
Awavey replied to cycle.london | 4 years ago
1 like
cycle.london wrote:

A rare 'victory' has been cycle lanes.  The Met tried to tell me that they no longer policed cycle lanes, and that it was a matter for the councils.  I wrote to the councils in question, asking them to let me know how I could report drivers who use the cycle lanes.  'Wot you talking about?' was their response.  They said that it wasn't their job, but the police's.  Back to the police, who denied that they were responsible for it.  Back to the council, same response.  Eventually, I wrote to my MP, who contacted Jesse Norman (Minister for Transport) who wrote back and confirmed that it was indeed the job of the police.   I sent a copy to the police, who responded with an apology that there had been 'a misunderstanding'.  

Slightly veering off the main topic I know,but does that guidance apply to all police forces?,as I fear I'm about to get the same runaround trying to find someone to take responsibility for persistent vehicles blocking of a cycle lane which has on several occasions caused near misses to me whilst cycling around them.

Avatar
jh27 replied to srchar | 4 years ago
1 like

srchar wrote:

cycle.london wrote:

maviczap wrote:

Great! Which constabulary?

The Met.

I know, right??

Come on, tell us all how you managed to extract this level of service from the Met. Is this your bike?

 

I wonder if the question we should be asking is 'who is the driver' - i.e. what grudge do the MET have against him/her, which warrants a small amount of justice?

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