Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

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Highkicker79
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Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Highkicker79 »

I currently report near misses via the Road Safe London form: https://secure.met.police.uk/roadsafelondon. However, a recent particularly bad near miss by a taxi driver led me to not only report them using the form but to also make a complaint to the taxi company (http://www.londonblacktaxis.net/complaints.htm).

The reply from the taxi company was very dismissive simply saying they can't do anything and the incident should be reported to the police. The reply back from Road Safe is equally poor with a general message of "A letter has been sent out giving guidance to highway code but without further corroboration, nothing can be done". I'm not sure what that means.

Has anyone gone to a Police station to report near misses? Is there any success? What do people do with near misses?

I think we can all agree near misses bring about a huge range of strong emotions. Most people will ignore it and do nothing about it. I know it's hassle but I prefer to report these incidents and to also upload the video captured incident on YouTube. I'm hoping that may be the driver will come across it and realise the seriousness of what they did but also, if they are a persistent offender then hopefully others will do the same and thus a history of incidents will build up for the same driver/vehicle and hopefully Police or someone else can give it more due attention.

What do you all do?
iviehoff
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by iviehoff »

Read this case. (This is the last post on it, there were earlier posts for the full details.)

http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... pdate.html

Essentially he did report a near miss and the driver accepted a caution for careless driving. Porter was livid because he felt it was quite clearly within the criteria for dangerous driving, and the CPS simply fail to acknowledge his arguments for this, rather asserting "there is no evidence for it", when Porter has apparently given a clear demonstration of just why it is.

It helped that the incident was on film and the complainant was a QC who knew how to avoid being fobbed off - avoid being fobbed off entirely that is, he still feels he has been fobbed off on the real point.
fluffybunnyuk
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by fluffybunnyuk »

I skip the police stage now, and jump to the "name and shame online" stage. Provided you can prove your allegations there isnt alot the perp can do :mrgreen:

Note: Im not recommending this as an action to take, Im just saying its what i do...
TheLondonCyclist
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by TheLondonCyclist »

The Police couldn't care less. What I think, is there's an automated system of some sort, and it sends letters to "reports of bad driving" to the number plate mentioned in the report itself. Like it reads specific words, like "near miss" "close overtake". It would save a lot of money on employees reading every report, but I could be totally wrong. You could take them to small claims court and claim their near miss left you alarmed and distressed, which could result in the accused being fined for "careless driving", but this is the extreme approach.

If you really care about these close passes, then just upload to YouTube with the number plate in the title like most of the other YouTube cycling vloggers do, but prepare for a lot of viewtopic.php?f=10&t=57492 coming your way from car drivers. I don't do it myself on my channel, unless it's a crazy pull out of some sort while I'm at high speed.

Good luck with your case.


- TLC
Highkicker79
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Highkicker79 »

TheLondonCyclist wrote:The Police couldn't care less. What I think, is there's an automated system of some sort, and it sends letters to "reports of bad driving" to the number plate mentioned in the report itself. Like it reads specific words, like "near miss" "close overtake". It would save a lot of money on employees reading every report, but I could be totally wrong. You could take them to small claims court and claim their near miss left you alarmed and distressed, which could result in the accused being fined for "careless driving", but this is the extreme approach.

If you really care about these close passes, then just upload to YouTube with the number plate in the title like most of the other YouTube cycling vloggers do, but prepare for a lot of **** coming your way from car drivers. I don't do it myself on my channel, unless it's a crazy pull out of some sort while I'm at high speed.

Good luck with your case.


- TLC


Yes, I already upload to YouTube with their number plate. I do it from a separate Gmail account completely unlinked to everything else I have so I don't get any crazy stalking (cyber or real) in revenge.
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Vantage
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Vantage »

Unless a driver completely kills you with an RPG and does it deliberately, you might as well forget it and try enjoy the rest of your ride. I dare say that even in those circumstances if the driver was 'in control' of his/her car, the best you could hope for is them getting a small fine, a few points and a slap on the wrist.
I'm being optimistic too.
Bill


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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

I've had great success reporting minor incidents to the police. They smile nicely and move on...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Highkicker79
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Highkicker79 »

Vantage wrote:Unless a driver completely kills you with an RPG and does it deliberately, you might as well forget it and try enjoy the rest of your ride. I dare say that even in those circumstances if the driver was 'in control' of his/her car, the best you could hope for is them getting a small fine, a few points and a slap on the wrist.
I'm being optimistic too.


You seem to be completely correct. I reported this incident to the Public Carriage Office and they basically said they didn't want to know unless the police were making the investigation. And so they suggested I make the complaint to the police. Filling in the RoadSafe form, they replied back saying they forwarded it to the the PCO so I know that's not going to go anywhere. It is crazy that vehicle drivers can effectively carry out an attempted murder manoeuvre and completely get away with it. Something needs to change to stop this behaviour. I'm happy to help support any movement in this but I just don't know what to do to help.
Bicycler
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Bicycler »

So did you not report it to the police? We can't complain about their lack of action until they are given the chance to act. Do you have camera footage of this particular incident. That might provide some corroborating evidence.
Ben@Forest
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Ben@Forest »

Many years ago when crossing a road next to a junction I was very nearly hit by a car racing round the corner transgressing the Highway Code as below:

170
Take extra care at junctions. You should

watch out for cyclists, motorcyclists, powered wheelchairs/mobility scooters and pedestrians as they are not always easy to see. Be aware that they may not have seen or heard you if you are approaching from behind
watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way
watch out for long vehicles which may be turning at a junction ahead; they may have to use the whole width of the road to make the turn (see Rule 221)
watch out for horse riders who may take a different line on the road from that which you would expect
not assume, when waiting at a junction, that a vehicle coming from the right and signalling left will actually turn. Wait and make sure
look all around before emerging. Do not cross or join a road until there is a gap large enough for you to do so safely.


Despite having to really jump out of the way, sprawling across the road, I got the make/model and reg number and phoned the police to report it. They did phone me back to say this car (or individual who owned and I suppose usually drove) was 'known' the advice was 'Keep out of the way if you see it again'. I was not impressed but I suppose there would have been no way of proving who was at the wheel.
xbnm
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by xbnm »

Ive reported 5 Incidents to the police and the results have been mixed. I only report the really bad ones !

1) Car pulled out in front went over bonnet minor injuries only no action taken didn't have video and the witness were contradictory.
2) Very close overtake on a blind bend narrowly missing (1-2cm) both me and an oncoming car they couldnt see. (driver ended up on a awareness course) was a branded company car so may have been some employer involvement.
3) Less close overtake on blind bend with a stationary car in the opposite lane on the apex of the bend lots of theories by police (one officer in particular) about why the driving was fine and he could tell using esp what gear the stationary car was in.
4) Close left look on a empty road with a mile in front and behind with me as the only traffic driver got a visit and warning about future driving
5) A failed to see and pulled out in front on at a roundabout that i still don't know how there wasn't contact got a visit and warning about future driving.

Overall i am fairly happy with the above outcomes except for the first one which as clear a case of careless driving as you can get.
Highkicker79
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Highkicker79 »

xbnm wrote:Ive reported 5 Incidents to the police and the results have been mixed. I only report the really bad ones !

1) Car pulled out in front went over bonnet minor injuries only no action taken didn't have video and the witness were contradictory.
2) Very close overtake on a blind bend narrowly missing (1-2cm) both me and an oncoming car they couldnt see. (driver ended up on a awareness course) was a branded company car so may have been some employer involvement.
3) Less close overtake on blind bend with a stationary car in the opposite lane on the apex of the bend lots of theories by police (one officer in particular) about why the driving was fine and he could tell using esp what gear the stationary car was in.
4) Close left look on a empty road with a mile in front and behind with me as the only traffic driver got a visit and warning about future driving
5) A failed to see and pulled out in front on at a roundabout that i still don't know how there wasn't contact got a visit and warning about future driving.

Overall i am fairly happy with the above outcomes except for the first one which as clear a case of careless driving as you can get.


How do you go about reporting these to the Police? Do you just go to the nearest Police station and fill in an inch thick form?
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Highkicker79 wrote:
xbnm wrote:Ive reported 5 Incidents to the police and the results have been mixed. I only report the really bad ones !

1) Car pulled out in front went over bonnet minor injuries only no action taken didn't have video and the witness were contradictory.
2) Very close overtake on a blind bend narrowly missing (1-2cm) both me and an oncoming car they couldnt see. (driver ended up on a awareness course) was a branded company car so may have been some employer involvement.
3) Less close overtake on blind bend with a stationary car in the opposite lane on the apex of the bend lots of theories by police (one officer in particular) about why the driving was fine and he could tell using esp what gear the stationary car was in.
4) Close left look on a empty road with a mile in front and behind with me as the only traffic driver got a visit and warning about future driving
5) A failed to see and pulled out in front on at a roundabout that i still don't know how there wasn't contact got a visit and warning about future driving.

Overall i am fairly happy with the above outcomes except for the first one which as clear a case of careless driving as you can get.


How do you go about reporting these to the Police? Do you just go to the nearest Police station and fill in an inch thick form?


Only about 8 pages IIRC
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Vorpal
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Vorpal »

There is loads of good advice on this thread viewtopic.php?f=7&t=69901
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
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thirdcrank
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by thirdcrank »

We had a bit of a discussion recently about priorities and in any sort of wider picture, that's where the future lies. Dealing with bad driving isn't much of a police priority and the trend is for it to become even less of one. I fear things have gone too far to make much significant difference any time soon but nothing else will affect this. It means everybody who is concerned about this to take every possible opportunity to lobby, especially their local police and crime commissioner. I don't mean a single letter, which will just receive the brush-off, but a situation where they can see that a lot of people take this seriously. It's now a good 30 years since local consultation procedures were set up in response to the Scarman Report on the Brixton riots and the police have tried all sorts to drum up interest ever since.
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