Reporting dangerous driving

[James]

So in my case when I attended the station and filled out the report and the officer came and looked at my car etc, that would have counted, but phone calls / verbal reports don't. Makes sense I guess. Would you recommend not bothering with verbal reports / phone calls then as nothing will come of them, and it would be sort of wasting the officer's time?

I dont know where you live or the circumstances around what happened to you, but if a report was written out and made then it sounds like a report was done. Was it a fail to stop accident? This sort of thing is reported.

Verbal reports and phone calls can still be very useful, it may be a local vehicle that is known to police, and if it's details are circulated it may be that a police unit sights it and decides to stop it. It could lead to all sorts of successful scenario's.

[Johnnie]

I dont know where you live or the circumstances around what happened to you, but if a report was written out and made then it sounds like a report was done. Was it a fail to stop accident? This sort of thing is reported.

Verbal reports and phone calls can still be very useful, it may be a local vehicle that is known to police, and if it's details are circulated it may be that a police unit sights it and decides to stop it. It could lead to all sorts of successful scenario's.

Thank you. That bit (in italics) is what I wanted to know.

My accident was a fail-to-stop, which I reported to the local station, mainly because it left some bits of the front end of my car in the road (although the officer I spoke to told me to go back to the scene of the accident and brush the bits off the carriageway) and because I got a whiplash injury from it. I did fill out an official form, so I suppose it must have been recorded. More details in the "Hi all" thread I posted a few days ago.

[Loch Broom]

Sorry to say but unless a police officer witnesses something, or is directly involved in the incident, no prosecution will be bought. Even with video evidence or photographs, they will not be deemed credible evidence as lawyers could argue they could be fabricated or not 100% genuine. Even if they do not, the "Police" tend to be the only credible witnesses as they are deeemed to be "Trained Observers". Don't shoot the messenger, because even if I make a call, off duty to report that I am following a vehicle concerned in Dangerous Driving, I will be told (and have been) "The vehicle will be circulated, thanks for your call".

Unless the driver has committed a CRIMINAL OFFENCE and not a TRAFFIC OFFENCE, it is unlikely the police will take action.

A driver has reported me for dangerous driving and has a 'non independent' witness as I do. There was no vehicle contact, damage or injury but a minor misunderstanding that he has taken grievance with by taking this action. Would the police prosecute on this alone?

[martine]

A driver has reported me for dangerous driving and has a 'non independent' witness as I do. There was no vehicle contact, damage or injury but a minor misunderstanding that he has taken grievance with by taking this action. Would the police prosecute on this alone?

Welcome Loch (interesting name!) to ADUK.

I'm no police officer but I would be very suprised if anything came of this bearing in mind the comments above from 'James' who is a policeman.

Can I ask what the minor misunderstanding was? We all make mistakes and part of advanced driving is analysing what went wrong and learn from it.

[jasonh]

I've reported one or two extreme cases - the police cannot prosecute on my report alone but it does give them a heads-up to look out for, for example, the 5-up black BMW with tinted windows that was tearing around Derby. I also report if I see somebody with faulty/no brake lights so that they can inform them, if I wasn't able to tell the person myself.

[brianhaddon]

for example, the 5-up black BMW with tinted windows that was tearing around Derby.

I think you may find that driving offences are the least to worry about from the occupants of this car - possibly, allegedly, etc.

[Loch Broom]

A driver has reported me for dangerous driving and has a 'non independent' witness as I do. There was no vehicle contact, damage or injury but a minor misunderstanding that he has taken grievance with by taking this action. Would the police prosecute on this alone?

Welcome Loch (interesting name!) to ADUK.

I'm no police officer but I would be very suprised if anything came of this bearing in mind the comments above from 'James' who is a policeman.

Can I ask what the minor misunderstanding was? We all make mistakes and part of advanced driving is analysing what went wrong and learn from it.

There were faults on both sides and I will learn from it because I don't like dealing with the aftermath. A good deterrent then. I don't want to disclose too much information, but it did involve a hearse travelling at 20mph for 8 miles on a single lane carriageway.

[Loch Broom]

Received the 'No Further Action Will Be Taken' letter today.

GET SLOW DRIVING HEARSES OFF THE ROADS. The overcrowded British roads are a place of work for transport. It is not an appropriate place to demonstrate mourning.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

When a close relative of yours dies, no doubt you will recommend that they just take a taxi to the crematorium then ...

[ROG]

When a close relative of yours dies, no doubt you will recommend that they just take a taxi to the crematorium then ...

It's in my will - normal driving only on public roads.


Reporting dangerous driving is easy in my area - police have special forms - no witnessses necessary.

If the police think that a 'word' is approproate they will call on the driver at home - just to let them know that they are 'aware' of them

I will say that presenting a good detailed report on the incident will get a more positive reaction from the police and stating any of ones own driving 'credentials' helps as well - advanced driving observer is one

[Loch Broom]

When a close relative of yours dies, no doubt you will recommend that they just take a taxi to the crematorium then ...

You've missed the point,

Use a hearse but don't drive dangerously slow.

[jcochrane]

Reading this thread reminds me of an incident I witnessed a couple of months ago. The road climbed steeply through a densely wooded cutting, no pavements and only room for two cars. There are two sharp, blind left hand bends a few yards apart. To overtake a stationery car, between the bends would be very risky, let alone a moving one. A police vehicle on twos and blues tried to overtake a car on the first bend. A car coming down the hill braked hard to avoid a collision as did the police car and it just managed to tuck in before impact. This did not stop the police car overtaking between the bends and was offside approaching the next blind left to overtake another car in front of him, on the bend. A car coming down the hill locked up his brakes. Fortunately the car the police were attempting to overtake, recognising the inevitable head on accelerated hard to create an escape route for police car. Had he not done so a two or even three car pile up would have resulted. I turned my car round and reported what I had seen to the police station in town.

Although a note was made of my report I heard nothing further and from what I have read here I very much doubt if an further action was taken.

I have a lot of respect for police drivers,having many times trained with them, and it is a demanding job. However, what upset me most about this was that whilst we all can make a mistake this police driver having made one bad judgement call immediately repeated the same error and only thanks to a member of the public was a serious accident avoided.

Gripe over.

[zadocbrown]

Although a note was made of my report I heard nothing further and from what I have read here I very much doubt if an further action was taken.

Gripe over.

I should think if that episode was typical of that driver then his passengers would soon make sure something was done about it. I wouldn't put up with a work colleague putting my life at risk.

[michael769]

I have a lot of respect for police drivers,having many times trained with them, and it is a demanding job. However, what upset me most about this was that whilst we all can make a mistake this police driver having made one bad judgement call immediately repeated the same error and only thanks to a member of the public was a serious accident avoided.

Gripe over.

Of course not all Police drivers have the same level of training. There are still several forces that allow officers to drive on blues and twos using the speed limit exemptions without any extra training beyond the DSA's L-Test.

[Renny]

Sorry to say but unless a police officer witnesses something, or is directly involved in the incident, no prosecution will be bought. Even with video evidence or photographs, they will not be deemed credible evidence as lawyers could argue they could be fabricated or not 100% genuine. Even if they do not, the "Police" tend to be the only credible witnesses as they are deeemed to be "Trained Observers". Don't shoot the messenger, because even if I make a call, off duty to report that I am following a vehicle concerned in Dangerous Driving, I will be told (and have been) "The vehicle will be circulated, thanks for your call".

Unless the driver has committed a CRIMINAL OFFENCE and not a TRAFFIC OFFENCE, it is unlikely the police will take action.

Scotland seems to differ. A mate received a NIP for dangerous Driving after overtaking a car who accelerated whilst he was alongside. The overtaken driver made a complaint with his passenger as witness.