A first yesterday, heading out of Harrison Road at the Slateford Road/Angle Park/Ardmillan Terrace lights I encountered a driver in a large expensive white car, fully in the advance stop box, *facing me*. Having just come round a corner I've no idea how they got there. Sat stationary in front of them for a few seconds wondering what they'd do before relenting and going round them on the right.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish driving...
(11333 posts)- Started 13 years ago by Stepdoh
- Latest reply from wishicouldgofaster
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Posted 6 years ago #
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Last week I met a driver in the bus lane of Lothian Road going in the wrong direction for most of a block.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Posted 6 years ago #
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@Murun Buchstansangar: That would explain why I had a sneaking feeling that I had actually seen a taxi with a YE52 CAB plate myself recently.
Tell you what, though: if you're going to drive a taxi with a vanity plate, it's a good idea not to drive it like a k**b. People can remember the plate and decline to hire you.
There used to be (may still be) a taxi in Edinburgh with the plate TII PME. I never saw that one driven badly - but I would definitely have remembered it.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Driver of the white van last night who overtook me when I was doing 25 mph along Queen's Drive, ~25m before the roundabout at Meadowbank Terrace.
I swore loudly, driver brake checked me after the roundabout. I overtook the van / swerved to avoid going into the back of him, he then pulled alongside me and swerved hard into me - definitely deliberately - causing me to do a superman impression, landing on my head and shoulder. Driver fled the scene at speed.
Helmet is a write off, bike is going to need some seeing to, rear brakes at least have been detached. I'm fine, just scrapes and bruises. most annoyingly, the impact caused the camera to fail and not record anything.
The police were too busy to attend the scene when I called 999 at the time, too busy to see me last night and have called to say they're too busy to see me tonight either, so will hopefully take a statement tomorrow. A driver of a white van who admitted hitting a cyclist turned himself in about an hour after the incident, so hopefully that's the driver, since I've got b all in the way of a description of him or the van. Got details of two witnesses and Strava telemetry if that's worth anything (probably not).
Still, it's an excuse to get some mileage out of the spare bike...
Posted 6 years ago # -
Gosh, that's awful, hope you're recovering from the shock and bruises. Take it easy.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@ECC - hope you are ok - really sorry to hear this.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@edinburghcyclecam
Look after yourself. You might wish to contact Cycle Law Scotland?
Posted 6 years ago # -
That's awful. If only someone had warned the police about drivers routinely speeding on Queen's Drive, eh?
Posted 6 years ago # -
Thanks all!
@IWRATS - Probably only about £200 of repairs, I'll take the bike to get checked out once the police have seen it - so perhaps not worth talking to legal folk. No injuries to me apart from scrapes and bruises, and I was well enough to cycle in to work on the spare today. But I'll definitely give it some thought, thanks!
@Frenchy - I was thinking about this actually; I don't think I ever actually contacted the police to complain about the speeding, other than my ranting on twitter. I'll mention it when the police take a statement for sure though.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@ECC
You've hit the bike hard enough to take the brakes off. Quite possible the frame has been damaged. Can take a while to manifest.
Same with your body.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Also don't forget this guy was angry enough to hit someone and run. Even if he handed himself in it's still pretty horrifying if this goes without punishment.
Hope you're healed up quickly
Posted 6 years ago # -
Glad to hear you're walking, but give the Cycle Law people a shout. Scrapes and bruises are all evidence of what happened, so document them. GPS info would be useful to corroborate time/place data with that from the driver's electronics, including anything to support the van's speeding or confirm the driver's location. Did you see which way they went? Pop along and have a look to see if they'll have passed any CCTV cameras, or traffic cameras like the Jock's Lodge bus lane camera if it's still there. Give the frame to a shop to officially assess, damage/alignment-wise. Might be worth trying some disk recovery software on the camera's memory card to see if any readable file fragments can be preserved (or certainly copied elsewhere to be worked on before the camera overwrites them).
Posted 6 years ago # -
Hope you recover quickly @ECC.
It is worrying that bad driving and angry people are more common than we'd like. And so little enforcement.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Might be worth trying some disk recovery software on the camera's memory card
Oh yes. Yes yes.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Unfortunately in my befuddled state, after seeing that there was nothing recorded I turned the camera back on while I was waiting on the police and while I was walking home, so anything on the camera is almost certainly gone now. I'll give it a check over tonight anyway, in case there's something still there.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@ECC - others have definitely asked (including by more formal means than twitter) the police to enforce the speed limit on Queen's Drive. Perhaps now...
My own, today:
vlcsnap-2018-11-14-11h27m53s552I hope their dovetails fit as tightly as I did in that space.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@edinburghcyclecam "The police were too busy to attend the scene when I called 999 at the time, too busy to see me last night and have called to say they're too busy to see me tonight either, so will hopefully take a statement tomorrow."
WHAT. The police were "too busy" to attend the scene of an assault? I'm - what? WHAT? I'd be making some sort of offical complaint about that. He SWERVED A VAN INTO YOU. GAH.
Sorry this happened, and glad to hear you're ok, but please do speak to the legal people, for yourself first and foremost but also because, as @ARobComp notes, this guy is a danger.
Posted 6 years ago # -
My more quotidian bad driving reports are both straightforward examples of drivers who think right of way only applies to cars.
Yesterday: the white van turning right out of Bank Street onto the Royal Mile as I was going south across the junction from George IV Bridge. I was behind the first car through the green light, but he felt it was fine to just keep on turning right and driving directly at me - finally stopping so I could continue straight on and helpfully giving me the finger for delaying him in his quest to bully me out of the way.
Today: Almost the same thing only I was heading up the Mound and the car was turning across me into Market Street. Except this time I had to jam on the brakes to avoid being hit. Startled some tourists with my sweary shout too.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Second day in a row I've almost been taken out at that Gordon Terrace junction, despite yesterday's experience being very fresh in my mind this morning. I'd intended to take a strong primary round the bend, but the driver of the bin lorry vroom vrroom vroomed up beside me going through the junction (from Lady Road to Gordon Terrace), and I had no option but to slam on the brakes and let them past.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I find this thread usually depressing, but cathartic in a "it's not just me sort of way" in, probably, equal measures.
@ECC. Really glad you are okay. It's the situation I most dread and I'm sorry it happened to you.
"A driver of a white van who admitted hitting a cyclist turned himself in about an hour after the incident"
Will be interesting to see if the Police get this to a charge and what that charge will be. Given he driver handed themself in they might accept a careless driving charge, but may still resist the prospect of pleading guilty to a dangerous driving charge. Speculation probably not a help.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@ECC - this is thoroughly depressing, but glad you seem relatively OK. As others have said best that you get yourself and bike checked out for any less obvious damage.
Shame police CBA- less than a year ago @DomD was an active and helpful ally- assume he got moved on to different duties?
Posted 6 years ago # -
Thanks all. I spoke to Thomas at Cycle Law yesterday, who gave me some advice and talked me through the processes.
Police are due to visit tonight to take a statement, so I'll ask what they plan to charge the driver with, among other things.@unhurt - Yup. The only other time I called 999 was when I got into an argument with a driver about their parking, and they kicked my rear wheel, buckling it, bending the brake disc and damaging the derailleur. The police were too busy to attend then as well, despite the person in the control room repeatedly telling me to leave the area (And I was, but the guy kept following me) because the guy was screaming in my face and was likely to assault me.
I hung around at the scene the other night for about 20 minutes before the police called back and said they weren't coming and the driver never showed up or even drove past in that time - something I'm definitely pointing out to the police tonight - regardless of whether he went to a police station, he knew he'd hit me and I'd come off my bike, and yet he didn't stop or come back to check if I was seriously injured.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@EdinburghCycleCam that's shocking on several counts. Glad that you appear to be ok though. How did you describe the incident when you phoned the police? Given that the driver essentially attempted to kill you (they deliberatey made contact with you using a weapon that is more than capable of doing so) I wonder if the police would have found time to attend the scene if you had described the incident in more dramatic terms (assuming of course that you didn't). They would surely have to attend if someone reported being attacked by someone with a knife or something like that?!
Posted 6 years ago # -
@jdanielp How did you describe the incident when you phoned the police?
I reported it as a hit and run, and said that I'd definitely been deliberately swerved into. They asked if I needed an ambulance and I said that I thought I was ok, and just had cuts and bruises. I imagine if I said that I needed an ambulance they'd take it more seriously (Well, I'd hope so...)Posted 6 years ago # -
@EdinburghCycleCam fair enough, but still disappointing that they didn't take more immediate interest based on what you did say. I suppose that there may be a risk of over dramatising a report backfiring at some point later.
Posted 6 years ago # -
we had to call an ambulance once in Broxburn (guy just fell off) and it came within a minute or two and allowed him to take his bike on board (this is not guaranteed). Police will prioritise more if you do need an ambulance. What we see aS ATTEMPTED MURDER THEY will not even progress beyond maybe having a word with the driver. unless there is a trip to hospital. Also they like witnesses to the event else it will be your word against his. Still worth reporting as they can build up a picture as he could be a guy who drives around Edinburgh causing bother.
Hope all is well after this alarming incident.
bizarrely the most persistent lower level offender on my commute actually waved at me in thanks the other day having misinterpreted my hanging back from him as I know he is radge as me giving him the space to turn round after he changed his mind about driving in the queue of traffic. He was acknowledging the honourable cyclist in his mind.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Volvo XC90 (I think) driver who thought that it would be a good idea to overtake me while I was approaching a T junction, turning right, in the dark, with no visibility of the road ahead. They got a shouted Rule 2 (maybe also a bit of Rule 1) and ground to a halt completely on the wrong side of the road while another car came round the corner towards them. Slunk back behind me while I completed my turn.
(here: https://goo.gl/maps/ZiRhvGgEbeQ2 if you want to pin these things down).Posted 6 years ago # -
@ECC sounds frightening and painful. Be very careful what you say to the police as they have a habit of looking for fault on both sides and making things up. If the driver said he hit a cyclist he may have given them a 'story' already. I've called 999 before having been hit by a private hire coach and then assaulted on film by the driver. Despite having made the call, with film and witnesses and my bike still trapped under the coach..they interviewed the driver first and then had a go at me.... not to mention the time they entered my home to arrest me for posting a tweet of me being run over by another driver. Just be careful. They are really not to be trusted.
Posted 6 years ago # -
A couple of weeks ago, I emailed the Craigentinny/Duddingston local police team asking for some enforcement of the speed limit on Queen's Drive.
Today I got a (relatively) positive response.
Posted 6 years ago #
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