Going on right now at http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/category/ter-live/
Just said they're going to send the bike officers along the Roseburn path to look at safety issues
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Live blogging with the polis
(10 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
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Supt. Carradice has a cycling sounding name! ;-)
Posted 12 years ago # -
I quickly posted a question/suggestion (thanks Kirst for following it up :). It wasn't answered though :(
I've a suggestion to make cycling in Edinburgh far safer: "undercover" police on bikes. Fairly regularly me or my friends are "punishment passed", e.g. it happened to my partner a few weeks ago by a taxi near Haymarket - this is where a driver will pass deliberately close (probably to intimidate the cyclist)... If myself or my partner were a police officer, we would be able to act. At the moment, there's nothing we can do.
They didn't reply to my suggestion to put police 'undercover'. Instead the advice they gave was:
Murray Dykes: Mike. I would encourage you or your partner to report such incidents to us. If it does happen gather as much information as you can, don't get involved in any confrontation........
David Carradice: I endorse that it is really important that these type of incidents are reported to us. All too often people do not tell us about such incidents and this does not allow such behaviour to be stopped
So from now on: Every time a car comes deliberately too close we should send in a note with the numberplate, time, place, description.
Maybe they've got a point: Serious cases must happen about once a week to me, I imagine it's the same for most of us on here. That'll be 100+ reports/week...
If they keep getting that quantity, they might do something, just to get the paperwork down?
Posted 12 years ago # -
PC: All too often people do not tell us about such incidents and this does not allow such behaviour to be stopped
I'll reserve judgement until my hit and run has been resolved, but given that it took 2 months for my statement to be taken when a collision did take place, if there isn't contact I'm with Min (threads passim) in doubting their interest or prioritisation of this sort of threatening behaviour.
However I've stepped up reports to employers now that I've got video footage of their mobile reputation wreckers...
Robert
Posted 12 years ago # -
I don't feel unduly greeninky in declaring that Tesco's name should be mud here, given recombodna and magnatom's dealings with their drivers and subsequent complaint-fobbing specialists.
Posted 12 years ago # -
We haven't done any shopping in Tesco since.
Posted 12 years ago # -
The policeman did say that such incidents should be reported. He didn't say that anything would be done about them.
I'm kind of with lionfish - if lots of cyclists start reporting this sort of thing, then it becomes something that the police have to do something about. The police are supposed to respond to the concerns of people in their area. If lots of cyclists are expressing concern, then the police are supposed to respond.
Which leaves me regretting that I didn't get the registration of the car that hooted at me for taking a wide path round a parked car - I must have been directly in front of him for all of 10 seconds.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"So from now on: Every time a car comes deliberately too close we should send in a note with the numberplate, time, place, description"
Must get back in touch with Act. Sgt. Quentin - there were rumblings of some reporting line being put in place to gether info such as this. It was pointed out that unless patterns in places, or specific reg. plates were showing then it would be a data gathering exercise, but honestly I think the gathering of data is useful.
On the 'undercover' query, I asked Quentin about this when meeting him ages back to talk about the L&B Polis schemes that were coming up. They're wary about doing it for the reputational damage (in much the same way that if something happens to him in civvies, unless it's really serious, he'll not whip out his warrant card, but instead note the details and he at least has the ability to check up at work. It happened to him one day on the canal - suspicious chap on bike too good, he recognised him, ran a check, and it was nicked (I think that was the story, need to check my notes)).
I guess it's like speed cameras being brightly coloured. And I'd question the deterrent element of someone being stopped once in a blue moon by undercover police cyclists; after all, there are unmarked police cars and people still drive daftly with that possibility don't they?
Posted 12 years ago # -
"... if lots of cyclists start reporting this sort of thing, then it becomes something that the police have to do something about. The police are supposed to respond to the concerns of people in their area. If lots of cyclists are expressing concern, then the police are supposed to respond"
This.
(after all we're told that pavement cycling and the like is targetted because it comes up with community meetings and things - we just need to get bad driving higher on the agenda by complaining about it more)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Someone just said "this" to one of my posts. I have arrived ;-)
A bit of poking about here: http://www.lbp.police.uk/my_neighbourhood.aspx and I've found that there appear to be email addresses for each police station - that might be a good way to report this sort of thing. (Of course what we really want is something like the scheme they have in London which is specifically for reporting road issues to the police.)
Posted 12 years ago #
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