CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
stickyThe impatience thing is funny sometimes. Y'know, the drivers who just have to overtake in front of a traffic island/pinch point (especially if you're taking primary to try and stop them), in order to join a queue at the red light 100 yards on. It happens so often, I barely concern myself over it these days.
I do however turn my head to peer in the window at them as I filter past a few seconds later.
@fimm, yup had that only in my case the driver moved as I was entering the ASL so I ended up draped very gently on their wing. Then the lights changed...
"I do however turn my head to peer in the window at them as I filter past a few seconds later."
I do that too. Usually with a smile, or I've perfected a mobile Gallic shrug.
This morning (I'll be doing a vid of this) just out the house virtually, someone over took over a speed cushion (which was fine, there was room) then immediately swung in left coming rather too close for comfort (especially as I'm holding a line there as it's a downhill 20mph zone, with a lovely wheeltrap crack right down the middle of the lane, and a road narrowing at the bottom).
Tesco delivery van BD11OKT. As I passed the van at the traffic lights at holy corner noticed that the driver was engrossed in reading a piece of paper (delivery note). kept up with the traffic round to bruntsfield place where the tesco van passed me. Myself and another cyclist then passed him again at which point he beeped his horn.I was keeping up with the car in front when I looked round and saw the front bumper of his van about 30cm away from my back wheel. At this point I moved left and was passing leamington terrace when The Tesco van Turned left down leaminton terrace Knocking me from my bike and underneath the van........... At this point any sane driver would stop......... but the guy kept going with my legs and bike under the van. I managed to roll free of the van and whisk my bike out with millimeters to spare only to watch the Tesco van accelerate hard down the road tyres squealing as he turned left again into westhall gardens. I jumped on the bike and chased him as he turned right down viewforth then left into montpelier terrace hammering it up the 20mph zone on montpelier park he turned hard right into merchiston place then right again into merchiston park all the way down the hill and right onto gilmore place then along past the lights and right up leamington terrace ( Where his shopping delivery was going). I pulled up beside him and asked him to stick around because he'd just been involved in a hit and run then I phoned the police.
The guy started to deny everything "I never saw you" Changed to "You stopped in the middle of the junction" which in turn changed to "You punched the side of my van" ( I did punch the side of his van as I was falling to the ground but I only got one in before I had to quickly save my legs from a damned good crushing) Anyway the long and short of it was the driver got some driving "Advice" from the police and as I can apparently appreciate because nobody was hurt and no damage occurred they can't count it as an accident."This sort of thing happens every day in Edinburgh" The thing is I KNOW that the guy deliberately tried and succeeded to run me over but I can't prove it and I wasn't injured enough to warrant police time being spent on this Minor traffic incident.
Keep an eye out and give the tesco vans a lot of space...... Every Little Helps.
Do Tesco not have a "Report my driving hotline" ?
Good grief, that's awful!
(and 'never saw you' - what on earth was he beeping his horn at then?)
Bloody hell. I hope you're reporting this to Tesco. Did you get some contact details for the attending constables?
That is truly horrendous. Sounds like you are lucky to be here to tell the tale. As 559 says you should definitely be reporting this to Tesco if you haven't already done so.
" Did you get some contact details for the attending constables?" no I didn't......
Do you think it's worth reporting to tesco's ??
crap. Glad you're okay.
Yup! Even with out any evidence if he's had other issues then this might be enough to get the moron off the road or at least out of a heavy van.
Holy cow, recombo. Glad you're here to tell the tale!
Do you think it's worth reporting to tesco's ??
It's certainly worth reporting to Twitter. I already avoid shopping at the big T on account of their monopolistic business model, and this isn't helping me to change my mind.
make sure you tell them you drive a van yourself!
Report, and keep at the police until they apparently appreciate that the guy was trying to run away and shake you off.
That's a serious psycho. Glad you're ok.
There's a world of difference between bona fide accidental collisions versus assault using a vehicle as a weapon. It's not a computer game, it's not funny, it's not a tribal question of 4 wheels v 2 wheels. It's flesh, blood and people's lives.
If you think he knew what action he was taking, that means he knew the likely consequences, and that means it's attempted GBH/murder and you have every right to ask the police to treat it as such.
That may seem extreme but if you hadn't rolled out from under the van, we'd all be having a sadly different conversation today.
I have sent an email to Tesco. The police really didn't want to do anything and I had no witnesses so I don't see how I can pursue this ...... It could have been worse but luckily it wasn't. The police said they will contact his employers breathalize him and check his details.........
I'd definitely be pressing for it to be pursued by the Police and Tesco - if he'd threatened you with a non-motorised weapon, they would take greater interest, or perhaps not.
Given that I'm hassling the police over a hit and run where I wasn't knocked off, I'd be much more militant in the case of being rolled under the wheels!
Glad that you managed to escape unscathed - that could have been much nastier.
Time for a camera?
Robert
Injuy lawyers for you or similar. Surely the Police should have given you an incident number? Get yourself and bike checked out pofessionally. Get a report from bike shop/A+E and pursue Tesco civilly.
"This sort of thing happens every day in Edinburgh"
Says it all really, doesn't it?
A casual shrug from L&B's finest.
Hope this doesn't eat you up for long.
Have the police recorded this as an Incident?
If they have you will have been given a slip of paper with a reference number on it, the details of local stations and (usually) the surname and collar ID of one f the PCs
If you haven't been given this then its more than likely they haven't even bothered to record that this occurred: given the description above that alone is outrageous and worthy of complaint.
what gets ignored and brushed under the carpet will never be improved!
Just realized the date........ 13th innit???
"... if he'd threatened you with a non-motorised weapon, they would take greater interest, or perhaps not"
Equivalent situation, man swings baseball bat at another man who ducks out of the way and isn't hit and there are no witnesses to it.
As Mr Bodna says, sadly there really isn't anything the police can do. With no witnesses, and no injuries, it genuinely is one man's word against another. The police are in a pretty much impossible position with this - think of the alternative, they report to the fiscal for investigation every single claim of wrongdoing that has no evidence to support it.
It does show again though why so many people (myself included) ride with a camera attached (not that it would show the homicidal intent necessarily, but it would show the collision and the driving off - depending on the mount/angle it might get the 'trying to drive off with someone underneath the van' as well, which would then go some way to showing the intent).
@14westfield I was given nothing they took my details and was given a 3 digit incident number by the call centre. What is making me angry now is that they probably gave the van driver the same schtick they gave me " this sort of thing happens all the time don't worry mate blah blah blah on yer way mate nothing to see here" Anyway one of the mums in the playground who I'd never met came up to me and said she saw the whole thing and couldn't believe it. "I thought you were dead then you jumped up and disapeared after the truck...." adrenalin really makes you cycle fast!!!
Mr Cow you are sadly correct........ Maybe a camera for christmas.
So you DO have a witness. Get back to the Police!
The van might have some sort of tracking device? Might have logged the guy driving round in circles trying to shake you off having deliberately run over you. or is that just for big lorries?
I'm with Min, chase this up while it is still fresh in everyone's mind.
Sounds grim. Also sounds like you've just found a witness, which presumably changes everything with regards to the police.
Echo the above with regards to getting yourself and bike checked out. Useful stuff here:
I know I now have a witness....... Now I have to decide if I want to drag someone else into this whole thing and deal with lots of bureaucracy .... F***ing Tesco home delivery T***s... Going for a lie down!
Witness = get the b**r.
Seriously. HE TRIED TO RUN YOU OVER!
I would email the Chairman of Tescos, lay it on thick about this driver, in a Tesco branded vehicle. Always worth a go.
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