Should I report a police driver?

[martine]

So tonight travelling back home I had a mildly scary situation...

here

Oncoming cyclist just on the downhill and then a police car towards appears over the hill and proceeds to overtake the cyclist! The car was probably doing 60 (in a 40) with blue lights but no sirens. He came over the centreline to overtake - I instinctively hit the brakes and moved further over but to be honest by the time I had done so, he was past me. The cyclist was surprised enough to swear. The police car was close to the cyclist and me as he went through the gap.

The google view doesn't show the steepness of the crest as it's a much higher viewpoint than from a car. Surprisingly the centre line is not solid - I've not consciously noticed this before but it really should be.

I understand it's sometimes not appropriate to use sirens but approaching a blind crest? The police driver could not stop in the distance he could see.

Should I report the incident? Is there any point? Am I over-reacting to a situation where no harm was done?

[skodatezzer]

Might be tempted to kick up a bit of a fuss - tho' you're the one who was there so it's really your call. Be interesting to know what species of plod driver you encountered - was it a bit of professional arrogance from someone with an Advanced qualification, or a Divisional clodhopper on his basic driver's licence. In the latter category, it really is a case of "they know not what they do"!

[jcochrane]

Given your experience you have the right to judge the quality of the driver. As with any job if it is done badly then reporting is appropriate. Police should be treated no differently from any one else and be accountable for their actions.

[125isfine.]

I wouldn't bother. A few years ago my the boss was nearly knocked off his scooter by a police vehicle, after my friend sounded his horn the driver stuck two fingers up at him. Now my friend is not the sort of person to take that lying down, so after a fairly high speed chase through St Albans, they ended up at the Police station, the car went flying into the yard and the driver went running into the building. My friend went steaming into the front office incandescent with rage demanding to speak to an Inspector. An Inspector eventually came out and calmed him down apologizing profusely for the actions of the driver and assuring him he would be dealt with. What the Inspector didn't realise was that officer could be seen through a door laughing !.

[martine]

Might be tempted to kick up a bit of a fuss - tho' you're the one who was there so it's really your call. Be interesting to know what species of plod driver you encountered - was it a bit of professional arrogance from someone with an Advanced qualification, or a Divisional clodhopper on his basic driver's licence. In the latter category, it really is a case of "they know not what they do"!

The car was a focus so I suspect the driver wasn't particularly highly qualified.

[Angus]

If you didn't get the car's registration, I wouldn't bother. In a similar situation a few years ago I was nearly hit by an oncoming police car overtaking on a blind bend. (He was on blues & twos so I was aware there was something in the area) When I tried to complain I was told that there was no way of tracing the driver without registration even given the exact time and location and the fact that he was/should've been on a call.

It's unfortunate that the standard of most non-traffic officer's driving is no better than joe public's

[Horse]

(He was on blues & twos so I was aware there was something in the area) When I tried to complain I was told that there was no way of tracing the driver without registration even given the exact time and location and the fact that he was/should've been on a call.

I hesitate to accuse them of lying, but . . .

Given that it's highly likely that the vehicle was fitted with a 'black box' recorder, that there will only have been a finite number of officers on duty and a few vehicles available . . . well . . . telling 'porky pies' somehow seems appropriate (and apologies to any BiB offended there*).

* Some aren't; I knew a trafpol who had a large cut-out fluorescent orange pig on the inside of his bike's fairing.

[Horse]

Most of the black boxes are ADR (accident data recorders). Given the mileage covered by a typical job car over a day, there's too much data to forensically examine so only 'interesting' bits of data are stored.

Fair cop

[cupraray]

I've seen police drivers with their elbow resting on the window ledge ( I hate that)...they are not class 1 drivers, just doing a job and holding their hand out on a friday for their money.

[TripleS]

I've seen police drivers with their elbow resting on the window ledge ( I hate that)...they are not class 1 drivers, just doing a job and holding their hand out on a friday for their money.

Deity on a f$cking velocipede... for 95%+ of Police drivers, driving is a secondary task to what they're meant to be doing. The look of the thing is unimportant, provided the driver is safe.

I'm not going to argue with that.