Was I wrong?

Originally Posted by Precision_Bearing

The police sounded intent on taking dangerous driving seriously, however they need all the information

I think that depends on which copper and which station. Also I suspect they may not be quite so intent when you have gone and it is just another piece of paper.

However, I have been known to do a few mirrors or headlights (MX boots make a great job of kicking them it!) in my time, but I dont think it is the best thing to do because of the potential knock on effects (criminal damage, bad image......).

As Viney (shock, I agree with him ) and others have said, best to just ignore and get on your way. Report for driving without due care if you can be bothered, if the Police do actually follow it up then it may make the driver think twice next time.

I have reported a car driver for due care once after a push bike accident, I got a good result in the end (6 points for him I think) but it was a very long and hard slog, but the Police were excellent.

I had a few mates that used to kick mirrors off and bash cars doors - to be honest they were no better than the drivers that had the poor attention span.

It is criminal damage and gives a very bad impression of bikers. Next time that person sees someone on a bike they could well take their agression out on them.

Not a good score - if your getting angry - road rage - whatever you want to call it then its time to take a break - you shouldnt be riding full stop.

No matter whether or not someone drives into you - you shouldnt retaliate. What would happen if someone kicked your bike as you pushed your way to the front of the queue to save yourself 2 seconds?.

Think - riding defensive - if your getting tired or ratty then take a break. Just remember its not good to be bashing others around for the sake of an incident

Biking should be fun afterall

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Precision_Bearing

Do you think if I'd just strode off on my motorcycle, chav 1. on mobile phone or chav. 2. would really have behaved any better for anyone else?.

No, I sincerely doubt it, but then I doubt even more that such actions will have changed anything for the better either

Originally Posted by Precision_Bearing

It's a bit hysterical to suggest that flipping someone's car mirror constitutes criminal damage.

Sadly, no it isn't at all hysterical, I know of two occasions where what you or I might consider petty actions such as you describe have resulted in prosecutions for criminal damage, it can and does happen be not mistaken about this, it's a slim, yet very real possibility. Also there is the possibility, if you ride off, of a prosecution for leaving the scene, I have knowledge of this happening too. I despatched for a long time, this sort of crap is only too common, trust me.

Originally Posted by Precision_Bearing

especially if in a court of law, the fact that the driver was using a mobile phone and not paying duty of observation to other road users is demonstrated as the antecedent (or even worse - malicious obstruction leading to recklessness). ?.

Won't make any difference at all I assure you, the two circumstances - a motoring offence and a criminal offence will be considered entirely separately.

I'm not happy about that either, I'd like to think that we could realistically expect the law to take account of the likely circumstance you're in when some **** decides your life is worth risking if it takes 3 seconds off their trip to work, but it doesn't - it won't be considered at all.

personally ill beep my horn and shake my head and move on...only if they proceed to open their mouth and say its my fault whe it certainly isnt will they get an earful...

never damage the car though as i can see the point in taking the risk. i want o be a copper i dont want criminal damage on my record, nor assaulting some of the Belligerent and anal muppets on the road.

let it slide...patt yourself on the back for avoiding the crash, learn and move on...

if they knock you off however and its their faukt well they are fair game if they arent apologetic etc....verbaly abuse thm all you like

andy

Flipping someones mirror is criminal damage or incitement.

If someone flicked your mirror what would you do?.

Originally Posted by Viney

i dont agree at all. Then that driver will have something against rdiers, and possibly take it out on someone else. you lot are just a bunch of ****s imho.

Okay, I would like to say that I would never ever damage anyone's property and I hate it when my stuff is damaged (by me or someone else) cos I'm a perfectionist. I would hope all drivers/riders were courteous on the road and there was no road rage. But that never will happen, all I can do is be courteous myself on the road and be aware of any idiots and keep clear of them, my comments will not change anyone else's thinking.

Sure we all see our fair share of bad driving, happens from time to time to me, nothing serious - pulling out a bit too slowly/too close, not signalling etc etc. But most of the time we can all see that coming and prepare for it. And sometimes they just dont realise, in which case its only worth a shake of the head and maybe a point at the mirrors. Hell, we all make mistakes, I even accidentally clipped a womans mirror yesterday filtering, 1st time thats happened. Lights were red, so I stopped, wheeled back, flipped it into place and apologised.

But someone that is intentionally trying to take you off is a different kettle of fish IMO (which happens to be right by the way ). In which case they get whatever theyve got coming to them. I just dont think that taking the moral high ground, letting it slide etc is acceptable. I see that as giving them the green light. I know im inviting angry replies with such a tenuous link but you wouldnt just shake your head and tut at someone who, for eg. fired a gun close to you or threw something dangerous at you and just missed. Driving a hunk of metal at someone at speed had its consequences. And if they exhibit this sort of behaviour then theres not likely to be any damage to the 'biker image', they obviously have no respect for it anyway. People who act like that are utter scum, the dregs of society and should get whats coming to them. What good is a warm cosy righteous feeling for you when more than likely chav boy has blasted home to tell Lee and Shazza that he had a right larf nearly hitting some bike on the way home to his council flat. Let him spend his damn dole money on fixing his mirror rather than the newest Ibiza compilation to blast out at 120dB. And god help him if he gets out of his car for a confrontation. I'm not a fighter, its not fun, but im not going to let him waltz around like hes invincible. Might even capture him and drag him where his electronic tag says he cant go

Ooh, and a random addition. I cant for the life of me remember where I read this, maybe a bike mag or MCN, probably the paper. Anyway, theyve shown that its an optical illusion that encourages cars to pull out in front of bikes. The smaller the vehicle, the slower the brain perceives it as travelling so they pull out thinking theyve got more time than they actually do. So sometimes its just a bit of bad luck!

Originally Posted by MeridiaNx

Sure we all see our fair share of bad driving, happens from time to time to me, nothing serious - pulling out a bit too slowly/too close, not signalling etc etc. But most of the time we can all see that coming and prepare for it. And sometimes they just dont realise, in which case its only worth a shake of the head and maybe a point at the mirrors. Hell, we all make mistakes, I even accidentally clipped a womans mirror yesterday filtering, 1st time thats happened. Lights were red, so I stopped, wheeled back, flipped it into place and apologised.

But someone that is intentionally trying to take you off is a different kettle of fish IMO (which happens to be right by the way ). In which case they get whatever theyve got coming to them. I just dont think that taking the moral high ground, letting it slide etc is acceptable. I see that as giving them the green light. I know im inviting angry replies with such a tenuous link but you wouldnt just shake your head and tut at someone who, for eg. fired a gun close to you or threw something dangerous at you and just missed. Driving a hunk of metal at someone at speed had its consequences. And if they exhibit this sort of behaviour then theres not likely to be any damage to the 'biker image', they obviously have no respect for it anyway. People who act like that are utter scum, the dregs of society and should get whats coming to them. What good is a warm cosy righteous feeling for you when more than likely chav boy has blasted home to tell Lee and Shazza that he had a right larf nearly hitting some bike on the way home to his council flat. Let him spend his damn dole money on fixing his mirror rather than the newest Ibiza compilation to blast out at 120dB. And god help him if he gets out of his car for a confrontation. I'm not a fighter, its not fun, but im not going to let him waltz around like hes invincible. Might even capture him and drag him where his electronic tag says he cant go

with you on that one!

As a biker with less than a weeks experience since passing my test, reading this thread has frankly left me feeling pretty depressed - is this the sort of ******** I have to look forward to?

In ten years of car driving I never knew whether filtering was legal or not until I did my DAS, but whenever I did see a bike approaching from behind I'd do my best to get out of the way, not really to help them out, I did it to stop my car getting hit (although I do admit I really appreciated the rare occasion I'd get a thankyou wave for my trouble).

Only once did I get gesticulated at by a biker, and that was exiting a roundabout. I had no idea what I did wrong, indeed I never saw him coming.
I probably did something careless so I can understand why he was upset, and I was a bit more careful at the same roundabout the next time.
However, if he'd touched any part of my car I'd have been spitting nails, it's completely unecessary and doesn't help anyone or teach anyone anything (other than the false idea that all bike riders must be scumbags).

Suppose the next time you made a mistake on your bike someone decided that it was therefore ok to nudge you with their bonnet? Would you think 'Oooooh, he's right, I should be more careful', I don't think so!

I know being blocked by drivers is a different case and those drivers that do this are mind-bogglingly stupid, and I can understand bikers loosing their rag and lashing out, but really, kicking cars or whatever will always do more harm than good, if not to you then probably some other biker in the future.

I've enjoyed riding my bike so far, despite already being blocked and harassed by car-drivers.
It's just my opinion, and maybe I'll feel different after a couple more years behind the handlebars, but I think it's best to leave the road-rage ******** to four-wheelers and rise above it.