Goochie

I need some advice on reporting a dangerous cyclist.

On my way home every day, on the same road, at the same time, I pass a cyclist dressed in dark clothing with NO LIGHTS at all! This is on a winding B road through woodland etc. in the middle of the countryside. It's quite a busy road and while the guy hasnt been hit yet it seems that it wont be long until he is.

I really want an officer of the law to stop him endangering the paintwork on the passing cars..... and his own life I suppose!

Is this something that;d be taken seriously or would I just be wasting my time.

Its in the Thames Valey Police area - just down the road from the Bicester Traffic HQ.

SiDHEaD

Tell them he was speeding


Seriously though they SHOULD do something as he is endangering others! If they swerve upon suddenly seeing him there could be carnage

Andy

ProperCharlie

should have just run the **** over.

tiggers

You're not serious about that question are you?

tiggers.

Howee

No use reporting him as there's no revenue to be gained from it so I doubt they'd be interested TBH, especially Thames Valley plod.

Anyway, with the traffic these days it won't be long before he gets knocked off, that'll teach him.... Trouble is the poor bu99er that does hit him will have to live with the consequences.

r32

Report it to the local Bill, he should be easy if its the same time every day.
Insist they do something.
See what happens and tell us of their response.
It could be you that hits him ........... bloke must be a tosser.
STEVE..................

ajm

I normally wind down the window and yell "LIGHTS D!PSH!T!!!" at cyclists with no lights.... whether or not they pay any attention I don't know... but it makes me feel better.

Hopefully natural selection will remove them from the gene pool without taking anyone else with them!

Goochie

Exactly! I really wouldnt be worried if he got flattened by someone else but I really dont want to hit him myself.

Its a regular route for car transporters cutting through to the A34 though so I can always live in hope

tiggers

I like your style ajm. Might have to adopt that!

Katana

Its Oxford dude. Theres nothing you can do about it. The council for our area is anti-car to begin with. Having said that, I saw a cop stopping a cyclist for jumping a red light near Cowley. I laughed out at him and went "Haha" like Nelson from the Simpsons.

The Zohan

It seems to be the trend where i live not to have lights or reflective bits/clothing. It seems to be mostly kids and i have had a few near misses as they ride like tw@ts at times, I only imagine the parents do not know what their offspring get up to. Still with all the vandalism and graffitti around here i doubt very much they do.

I also yell 'lights Dip****e!' at them.

Goochie

I often give him a large ammount of horn. I'm thinking of equiping my passenger with a super-soaker

NENO

I struggle to believe the hostile attitude of some people on SN towards cyclists

Report him to the cops like you would a drunk driver or someone else who's a danger - abusing him isn't going to fix it

ajm

They are annoying, dangerous and wear disgusting coloured lycra - why is it so hard to believe we are hostile towards them?

StickyMicky

neither is reporting him is it?

do u think the police would stop him and tell him off?
i dont....

AvalancheS8

Yes, and they break the rules of the road, ride dangerously, don't use lights and so on. BUT, they are no more protected than a pedestrian if you hit them with your car. These people may be annoying you, putting you in danger of getting your car scratched or dented, breaking the law or whatever, but it DOES NOT give you the right to put their lifes in very real danger by driving agressively in order to scare them or hit them. To anyone who, even jokingly suggests knocking a cyclist off their bike - Would you suggest deliberately hitting a pedestrian who crossed the road in front of you ? It's much the same - very little danger to you while they could easily be killed.

I do cycle (using lights at night, stopping at traffic lights, playing by the rules) and it annoys me just as much to see people ride through red lights, or not using lights at night or whatever but it is very, very clear when you are the one on the bike that anyone threatening you with their car is literally attempting to commit at least GBH on you. That's not funny, at all.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do about this guy other than reporting him to the police, or winding down your window and suggesting he wises up, but FFS people, lets not see anyone suggesting putting someones life in danger over something like this.

Hos

iTrader: (1)

Oxford is the worst place for cyclists! The worst case is when they pull out of side streets into the main road and don't even look. Even worse is when they have a little kiddy on the back in a home made type seat!

ajm

I don't think anyone was *seriously* suggesting injuring the two-wheeled menaces.... it would make too much of a mess of the car's paintwork

Which is exactly what I suggested..... in so many words.....

Tiggs

you may find he thinks its no big deal...if he gets a "oi, get some lights mate" shouted at him by a passing car that may be all it needs...i dont think you need SWAT yet.

AvalancheS8

Yes, I wasn't really having a go at you, more at this:
I know you don't think anyone was seriously suggesting running cyclists down, and I hope that ProperCharlie's comment was a joke, but a significant number of drivers do actually drive so as to frighten cyclists, hit them, or knock them off if they see one doing something that they take offense to (often not even something that is braking the road traffic regulations). I don't know anyone who cycles regularly who hasn't had this happen to them at some point (I'm prepared to bet that no one on this board has had a fully loaded artic truck travelling at high speed try to run their car off the road into the back of a parked vehicle, which would be pretty equivalent to what I've had a car try to do to me while I was on my bike for just going close to their car to filter to the front at traffic lights). Being on the receiving end of that for something like riding up to the front of the queue at traffic lights (which is allowed) leaves you with a long term sense of humour failure about it, believe me.

America is worse, have a look at this.

ajm

Its a shocking story, I admit, however it doesn't mention what the cyclist did to make the motorist that angry which is a shame because it should be as much a warning to cyclists to behave as motorists to keep their cool!!!

Goochie

Ummm......... I think people have gone way way off topic here - I never suggested beating the guy with a hatchet!

ajm

You did ask for ideas though

AvalancheS8

Ahem!! Sorry !!

Brendan Hughes

I spent many happy years pedalling before I passed my test. Might even start again, if I want to die early (Portuguese drivers, yeah right...)

I rarely rode without lights (wouldn't dare nowadays), jumped red lights, etc. There are those that do, I don't like them as it gives cyclists a bad name.

But I want to stress, if you do get mad at a cyclist, shout, that's great. Get out and challenge him to a punch-up if you want. But aiming a ton of metal at him is WAY over the top. Yet that's most drivers' reactions. I agree with the earlier comment, people like that should be charged with GBH - and banned from driving for a year. The biker may have done something bad, but surely not enough to give the driver a licence to seriously injure or kill him.

It's funny, we're having a reasonable discussion on the gun control thread. Yet at 17 it's easy to get hold of a ton of metal that does 100mph and has the explosive power of I don't know how many sticks of dynamite in the boot. Frightening eh?

Hatchets Don't even go there...

Crapaud62

My brother in law is a traffic cop in the Thames Valley area and he is often the first on scene at fatal RTAs. I could copy this thread to him and he might just take an interest as it might be one less pile of blood and guts for him to clean up.

wazza2770

well well well ello ello ello i is one of those nasty Thames valley Police traffic Cops (Not bicester) yep push bike riders are a pain in the ***** when they ride without lights. yep they sure are. Try driving passed him (her) stop and speak to the rider point out the errors of riding no lights, you never know they might even be human. or hey its christmas nearly go buy him a back light stop him and let him have a pressie, or get him the battries and tell him now go get the light to go with the batteries. Dont be tempted in buying a battery and throwing it at him will you. why do you need a cop everytime to do the work, you are a disgruntled driver try the DO IT YOURSELF approach first. and HAPPY HUMBUG TO YOU ALL. wazza