Detective OCUK forums! Help me find this registration of this close pass driver.

Soldato
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The press keep referring to a change in the law, but I can't actually see what regulation has changed. With that said, it's a bit academic if police will summons you to court anyway.

You could summons someone to court and nothing happen though right?

For me it's too much of a gray area. Same with other things not just this. The police can only do so much unfortunately.
 
Soldato
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Sorry to hear you ended up in hospital, but I don't think this guy has done much wrong.

This is obviously quite a polarising case (and topic in general)

Out of curiosity, would you (or anyone else with the same view) care to put an estimated distance on how close you think the door mirror came to the rider's arm, and how much closer would they have to have come for it to be an issue?
 
Associate
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Roads are only so wide, and with cars parked on either side in many occasions I don't think you can legally realistically do anything unless they knock you off.
 
Associate
OP
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I love all the people here who say 'it isnt that close' and there is your problem and the EXACT reason why this needs to be sent to the police. It is nothing to do with an axe to grind or any of that nonsense. I wish to use the roads and not have people close enough to scuff my arm say 'thats not close'. Imagine a 2 tonne piece of metal passing you at any speed, its bloody scary and any little wobble because I am avoiding pot holes, puddles etc will result in me or someone else getting injured.

For context, there is a police reporting utility you fill out a little form, you send them the location and the footage and you get a response like this. They actively encourage people to do this and even have a little box for 'close passes'

Then the driver ends up with points /warning letter or nothing depending on what the police deem to be appropriate. It isn't hard to just give someone a little space in the road!

Thank you for your recent submission to the DASH CAM reporting process.



The matter will be reviewed by a Roads Policing Officer who will determine the appropriate action:



· Summons to court (usually for the more serious offences)

· A conditional offer (usually points and a fine)

· A Driver Educational Course (which they have to pay for)

· A warning letter

· No further action for an offence, but footage to be used to update our intelligence on the vehicle. (Note, intelligence may also be passed on to 3rd parties with an interest in the vehicle, such as Insurance and Finance companies).

· No further action



Where we identify that action will be taken against the driver, we will contact the registered keeper.
 
Caporegime
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In acme's chair.
The Police won't do anything about that. As has already been pointed out. Even if you get the plate, sending it to the Police will just be a waste of your time, and a waste of time for the person who has to watch it.

I've watched the videos several times, and shown them to a couple of other people who are both drivers and cyclists. He was a little close to you, but not so close that you should be getting your knickers in a twist about it.

He was over a metre from the person you were following. Perhaps you should take a leaf out of his book and ride a little further to the left, then we probably wouldn't even have this thread.

I hope you are OK after your incident last weekend, but it seems to me like you are just trying to take it out on the next person who passed you at a distance you personally find unacceptable, in an attempt to make an example of them.

close enough to scuff my arm
A slight exaggeration perhaps... If that were the case, I would be saying something completely different. Drivers that actually endanger cyclists by passing them with inches to spare need dealing with.
 
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Soldato
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North Yorkshire
I love all the people here who say 'it isnt that close' and there is your problem and the EXACT reason why this needs to be sent to the police. It is nothing to do with an axe to grind or any of that nonsense. I wish to use the roads and not have people close enough to scuff my arm say 'thats not close'. Imagine a 2 tonne piece of metal passing you at any speed, its bloody scary and any little wobble because I am avoiding pot holes, puddles etc will result in me or someone else getting injured.

For context, there is a police reporting utility you fill out a little form, you send them the location and the footage and you get a response like this. They actively encourage people to do this and even have a little box for 'close passes'

Then the driver ends up with points /warning letter or nothing depending on what the police deem to be appropriate. It isn't hard to just give someone a little space in the road!

I completely agree with you, this things goes further than cyclists though. For whatever reason people have the mentality that cars are the dominant vehicle on our roads. Bloody tractors, lorry over taking a lorry, bloody cyclists etc etc.

Attitudes needs to change,until this happens incidents like this will always be happening.
 
Man of Honour
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I completely agree with you, this things goes further than cyclists though. For whatever reason people have the mentality that cars are the dominant vehicle on our roads. Bloody tractors, lorry over taking a lorry, bloody cyclists etc etc.

Attitudes needs to change,until this happens incidents like this will always be happening.

It is my belief after a multitude of incidents that this stems from motorists thinking they pay an imaginary road tax and we cyclists pay nothing.
 
Soldato
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It is my belief after a multitude of incidents that this stems from motorists thinking they pay an imaginary road tax and we cyclists pay nothing.

I don't agree with everything Chris Boardman says but he raises some interesting points of discussion. One of the recent ones being we need to challenge the assumption of however large my car is I have a right to a parking bay to fit.

As I say I don't know what my thoughts are on this, but it is an interesting point.
 
Soldato
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He was over a metre from the person you were following. Perhaps you should take a leaf out of his book and ride a little further to the left, then we probably wouldn't even have this thread.

So how close was the car to OP in that case and how much closer would the car have passed if OP was further left?

OP is positioned where he should be. Any cycle training will teach that position rather than riding in the gutter.

roadpositioning-3.jpg


https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/road-positioning-cycling-explained

Not aimed at you in particular, acme, more of a general observation: many people are in favour of mandatory cycle training but seem blissfully unaware of what that would include, i.e. teaching cyclists to ride further out from the gutter. I think most people who only drive would think the courses would teach the opposite.
 
Soldato
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Bedfordshire
I'm not concerned about the car, you almost made contact with the cyclist in front in the video after the car. Why were you not giving that cyclist in front more space? If it had to swerve or brake suddenly you'd not be able to react in time.
 
Capodecina
Soldato
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People probably going to bash me for this, But that's the exact reason I ride on the pavement, Sure it's illegal..but hey I'm safe!

Obviously i don't go anywhere near the speeds I could if i was on the road, in fact, the fastest I probably ride is 5mph been vigilant of people pulling out drives, people walking, etc giving them plenty of space, Never in the 14 years of doing this have i ever had an accident with anyone...nor been stopped by the police and fined, And I've had plenty of police pass me. . . .
I can entirely understand the temptation to and people's desire to cycle on the pavement and I don't doubt that many of those who choose to do so are considerate and careful. Sadly, this is not always the case; as a pedestrian, I have had occasion to jump out of the way when a cyclist comes haring along the pavement as if they own it.

To be honest, a lot of this is down to people's lack of consideration - both motorists and cyclists :(

As an aside, I reckon that one in a hundred cyclists ever bother to use a bell when approaching pedestrians from behind - both stupid and inconsiderate :mad:
 
Soldato
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Near Cheltenham
So how close was the car to OP in that case and how much closer would the car have passed if OP was further left?
OP is positioned where he should be. Any cycle training will teach that position rather than riding in the gutter.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/road-positioning-cycling-explained
Not aimed at you in particular, acme, more of a general observation: many people are in favour of mandatory cycle training but seem blissfully unaware of what that would include, i.e. teaching cyclists to ride further out from the gutter. I think most people who only drive would think the courses would teach the opposite.


I think you have to be far more aware of your situation before you decide on riding assertively or passively.. I treat every road differently in an aim to reduce the risk as far as I can so mix things up accordingly, sometimes assert my position, sometimes be passive to not be a deliberate slow moving hazard..

In this case I think the OP is not in the right position.


If we look at the cyclist in front and the offending car (who is just in his lane at this point, his tyres just touching the white markers)
l3Ko5lMl.png.jpg

The cyclist is a good few cm's out from the double yellows and so not what I would call 'in the gutter' but approaching a practical 'secondary' position, one where they have room to move around whilst still allowing cars to pass easily without having to really go out of their lane, in this case I'd say around 1M+ enough to be perfectly 'safe'.

Then you have the OP, he's actually created the very situation where "Riding in or near the gutter increases the chances of drivers buzzing past you with inches to spare" except he's done this from the middle of the lane.. he's left just the wrong amount of room that two cars can fit between him and the central reservation.. This is a dual carriageway with two lanes at this point.

I can honestly say I'd be adopting the same position the cyclist in front is, it's the safest position..


Also anecdotally from my own commuting on a bike, I've noticed a contingent (not necessarily the OP) of cyclists that need camera's as they keep running in to problems that always blame everyone else and haven't asked the obvious questions of "what can I do to minimise risk? or perhaps is my road craft or hazard perception not very good?"..
 
Soldato
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Your road position was incorrect for the circumstances. The cyclist in front has a better position. In fact, you're probably obscuring the driver from seeing the cyclist in front of you fully. Also consider leaving a two car length gap between you and the cyclist in front to make it easier to be overtaken.
 
Associate
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9 Feb 2004
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1,612
Hello folks! I had a driver knock me off my bike over the weekend and I ended up in hospital ( sadly no video ), and tonight I had someone close pass me I am obviously sick of this and want to report these people before they kill someone.

Here is the driver from this evening, I cannot quite make out his registration, it looks like a Blue Audi and something like yk07 nzW

https://www.rapidcarcheck.co.uk/free-car-specs-by-entering-registration/

https://store.boxrick.com/close/front.mp4
https://store.boxrick.com/close/rear.mov

Can anyone make out the registration of this vehicle, perhaps putting the washed out frames through photoshop and adjusting the contrast?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!


Remind me again how much road tax you pay to ride your bicycle and get in the way of paying motorists?

Oh that's right.. you don't. Then you're not entitled to be on the road either.

Suck it up cupcake, it's not YOUR road. You don't even pay towards it's upkeep. (As a cyclist)
 
Caporegime
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Liverpool -> London
^ Silly comment.

Anyway, I'm amazed that anyone thinks that this is something to bothered about at all. This will be about the average amount of space you get on London roads every single day of the week. Like others have said, you're too far out from the kerb, probably due to you being too close to the guy in front of you. Unless you get taken out by someone else then nothing actually happened to be fair. Assuming you're wearing hi-viz like the guy in front of you the car driver saw you miles back and while admittedly he can't drive for ****, there was never anything to be concerned about at all.
 
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