Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
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Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby whitey » Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:59 am
Basically some tailgating followied by dangerous overtaking, and cutting off. Ended up making slight contact with the car. Could have been a whole lot worse.
I was hoping that if I report this to the police they will give him a call and just explain that cyclists can take a lane legally. Will police help or am I wasting my time??
My heros for the day are the passersby who just started walking up and writing their names/numbers down as witnesses and one guy in particular that went out of his way to calm the situtaion down and help the driver undertsand the seriousness of his actions.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby hannos » Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:19 am
It can't hurt and if you do not report it, you know nothign will be done.
It's technically a road rage incident and you have witnesses supporting your complaint.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby wombatK » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:12 am
+1.hannos wrote:It's technically a road rage incident and you have witnesses supporting your complaint.
OP has not listed his location in his profile. If he were in NSW, complaint to police would be first step, but also would be very worthwhile making a complaint to NSW Transport. Just like taxi-drivers, there are professional standards that hire car drivers should be observing - and that's clearly not the case here.
http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/hirecar/feedback.html
Cheers
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby whitey » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:13 am
Ruined a beautiful ride.
On a positive note I feel like I kept my cool.
Will have to review my riding habits, I possibly could have pulled off the road earlier to a complete halt. But I cant do that every time there is a car behind me
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby hannos » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:14 am
I've walked into my local before and asked if I could make a road rage complaint. The bobbie said yes, by all means!
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby whitey » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:17 am
(AT) hannos - I'll try again.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby othy » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:19 am
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby zero » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:57 am
If you are frustrated by lack of action, then ultimately get a camera, mount it visibly from your helmet and watch behavior change.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby sogood » Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:00 pm
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby jules21 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:09 pm
can anyone confirm if such a database really exists? it's been suggested it collectively comprises of the notebooks issued to each member of the force.sogood wrote:If you have the time and desire some kind of record in the police database against that driver, then go ahead.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby whitey » Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:10 pm
I think thats a likely outcome.zero wrote:Report it imo - especially if there was contact.
If you are frustrated by lack of action, then ultimately get a camera, mount it visibly from your helmet and watch behavior change.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby il padrone » Thu Dec 16, 2010 2:13 pm
You probably should have ridden wider to maintain your position in the lane. Pulling left into the gutter is an open invitation for hoons like this to cut you up close.whitey wrote:Will have to review my riding habits, I possibly could have pulled off the road earlier to a complete halt. But I cant do that every time there is a car behind me
"An unjustified and unethical imposition on a healthy activity."
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby jet-ski » Thu Dec 16, 2010 2:38 pm
I knew a guy from highschool who lost his license for yelling at an old man in a car v car road rage incident. He was threatening the old man with a chain or something. Surely threatening someone with the vehicle itself is pretty serious.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby whitey » Thu Dec 16, 2010 2:42 pm
Hi il padrone - I took your suggested approach, I took the whole lane as I knew it was too narrow to ride left. He ended up overtaking me on the left as the road widened at the roundabout. To be honest I reckon this guy is an accident waiting to happen. Karma catches up with people like this, just hope he doesnt take a cyclist out when it does.il padrone wrote:You probably should have ridden wider to maintain your position in the lane. Pulling left into the gutter is an open invitation for hoons like this to cut you up close.whitey wrote:Will have to review my riding habits, I possibly could have pulled off the road earlier to a complete halt. But I cant do that every time there is a car behind me
I am gonna look into a camera for the bike so at least if there is a next time I have some evidence. I am looking forward to my next ride.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby Mulger bill » Thu Dec 16, 2010 3:40 pm
It's a great idea tho'. If you look like an unsteady n00b they seem to give you more room. I don't get why tho', they don't seem to mind scratching their somokeboxes up as long as it's on their terms
London Boy 29/12/2011
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby zero » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:44 pm
In NSW there is an anti road rage law known as predatory driving. As its a criminal offence, would need a high standard of evidence to get a result. Riders word vs drivers word won't cut it, because the driver will surely be represented by a lawyer in court.jet-ski wrote: I knew a guy from highschool who lost his license for yelling at an old man in a car v car road rage incident. He was threatening the old man with a chain or something. Surely threatening someone with the vehicle itself is pretty serious.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby jules21 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:47 pm
yeah - as a rule, it's almost always the more serious the penalty, the more evidence you need to prove the charge.zero wrote:In NSW there is an anti road rage law known as predatory driving. As its a criminal offence, would need a high standard of evidence to get a result. Riders word vs drivers word won't cut it, because the driver will surely be represented by a lawyer in court.
it's a trade off, makes it harder to get tough on these behaviours. that's why a lot of cyclists want strict liability laws for being hit by cars.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby Ross » Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:06 pm
Isn't that hit and run? Surely the cops have to take that seriously and at least file a report?whitey wrote: Ended up making slight contact with the car.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby high_tea » Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:28 pm
News to me. Last I looked, the standard was beyond reasonable doubt for all criminal offences.jules21 wrote:yeah - as a rule, it's almost always the more serious the penalty, the more evidence you need to prove the charge.zero wrote:In NSW there is an anti road rage law known as predatory driving. As its a criminal offence, would need a high standard of evidence to get a result. Riders word vs drivers word won't cut it, because the driver will surely be represented by a lawyer in court.
But yeah, cops seem reluctant to pursue anything without corroboration. Easier to stick to DUI and speeding where all those pesky evidential issues don't come up. Can't say as I'm wild about it, but there you go.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby jules21 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:02 pm
ok, so i'm not a lawyer, but i was under the impression that if you charged someone with murder, say, there seems to be a higher burden of proof on eliminating reasonable doubt, than for say, a criminal road rage offence. if it's a summary (non-criminal) offence - the most common for discretions against cyclists, then the burden is even less.high_tea wrote:News to me. Last I looked, the standard was beyond reasonable doubt for all criminal offences.jules21 wrote:yeah - as a rule, it's almost always the more serious the penalty, the more evidence you need to prove the charge.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby high_tea » Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:32 pm
I think I see what you're getting at. Some offences are much easier to make out, that's certainly true.jules21 wrote:ok, so i'm not a lawyer, but i was under the impression that if you charged someone with murder, say, there seems to be a higher burden of proof on eliminating reasonable doubt, than for say, a criminal road rage offence. if it's a summary (non-criminal) offence - the most common for discretions against cyclists, then the burden is even less.high_tea wrote:News to me. Last I looked, the standard was beyond reasonable doubt for all criminal offences.jules21 wrote:yeah - as a rule, it's almost always the more serious the penalty, the more evidence you need to prove the charge.
Although murder and speeding both must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. There are some things that make speeding easier to prove - specific evidential provisions for speed camera readings, no element of fault/intent.
So yeah, I can see how you'd say some offences need less evidence than others.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby The Womble » Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:09 pm
Can I just point out (just coz it was on the radio as a topic that made me laugh last week) that it was a near miss because you actually did hit the car
if you hadnt hit the car it wouldve been a near hit. A near miss implies that you dont miss something at all. I like it
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby trailgumby » Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:26 pm
In NSW the system is called COPS, and the cops give you an incident number.jules21 wrote:can anyone confirm if such a database really exists? it's been suggested it collectively comprises of the notebooks issued to each member of the force.sogood wrote:If you have the time and desire some kind of record in the police database against that driver, then go ahead.
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby martinjs » Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:46 pm
I've had a similar experience once on my Motorbike claiming the lane and having the idiot pass me on the left (A lot of good it did as it was the end of Hoddle Street in Melbourne, very narrow going under a bridge as soon as the road got wider I past him and left him in my dust. )
Also recently in Leeton while moving out to claim the lane through a round a bout the clown speed up and zoomed around me nearly taking me out! Claiming the lane does NOT always work.
As to the near miss, not much you can do, despite what a lot of people think the police are at times very busy and with out proof nothing will happen.
Martin
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Re: Worth reporting a (very) near miss to the police?
Postby The Womble » Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:04 pm
Report, report, report. Its time we all started putting pressure on in order to get things done. And buy a camera.
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