Got rammed by a Merc MPV... 3 times... then he drove off

Getting off the bike at work this morning, the light hit the exhaust and I notice it had crumpled a bit just behind the hanger (so when he shunted the bike he obviously shunted the exhaust too and crumpled it).

Best get back on the phone...

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

This sounds like a pretty horrific experience and you did well to stay on the bike under the circumstances. Have you any idea as to what provoked or caused the driver to do what he did? Given what you describe I'd be as disappointed as you are that the police are not going straight round there and looking into the incident, however before people write off an entire profession I think they ought to sit back and consider what they have to contend with here. Road rage incidents are incredibly common, I'm not saying they are acceptable, just common, and the police receive thousands of complaints from drivers about the actions of another. Unfortunately they are extremely hard to investigate because there are only two things that all drivers have in common, they all make mistakes and they all think they don't. Add to this that there are very rarely any independent witnesses and what you end up with is two different accounts from the drivers involved, both blaming the other, and no way of finding out the truth.
What makes this incident different is that there was contact and therefore potential for supporting evidence, and also the difference between the vehicles involved would tend to support one side over the other (He would have trouble arguing that you reversed into him three times), hence my disappointment that they have not taken your report more seriously. Unfortunately most Forces have policies about such things, and at least one force I know of will take no further action over allegations of bad driving unless there is an independent supporting witness, but I'm not sure about the Met.

They do however have different policies around the investigation of an alleged crime. When you reported it did you report it as a road traffic crash (RTC) or as a crime (criminal damage/assault)? It would make a substantial difference to their process.

Well when the Met wont even arrest someone who confesses to assault to them with members of the emergency services as witnesses......................

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Well when the Met wont even arrest someone who confesses to assault to them with members of the emergency services as witnesses......................

Well finish the story then, is that witnesses to the confession or the assault.....?

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Well finish the story then, is that witnesses to the confession or the assault.....?

See this thread

However CID do have it in hand now.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

See this thread

However CID do have it in hand now.

SK I do hope justice prevails for - it will restore my faith (a bit!) in the system!

[Red Herring]

I think your comment at the end of your first post (on the link) was about right. I imagine it must be really frustrating for the cops to keep investigating incidents, speaking to all the victims and offenders, filling in all that paperwork and then seeing some git in an office somewhere decide that there is less than a 99.9% chance of getting a conviction so they decide to drop the case. Eventually that will filter down to the cop and they end up making decisions not to proceed with something unless it's a stone bonker......which of course then means everybody thinks they are crap at their job. I think the days when a cop can summarily execute someone at the roadside (at least in this country) have gone, but it would be nice if the CPS would at least consider the needs of the public over their conviction statistics.

The Met have rung (quicker than I expected - was told it would be a week!) and I spoke to the PC who's going to be investigating it. I'm going to their police station next week to review my statement (for some reason I need to give another) and he explained the procedure and that I may need to go to court (more than happy to).

Will keep you all posted...

Good luck!

[Red Herring]

Let us know if it does go to court, might be quite a full public gallery......

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

See this thread

However CID do have it in hand now.

I've just read your OP in that post. A couple of minutes research on t'internet will tell you that police cannot arrest someone simply because a crime has been committed and there has to be a whole series of facts present to justify arrest and if it can be dealt with by any other means, i.e a summons to court, it will. Arrest is not a punishment.

There are more knee jerk reactions and assumptions on this thread than I've ever seen-it seems to me that the OP is getting a fairly decent service in regards to this horrible incident.