Deliberate close pass by taxi

Just been passed with about 6" to spare by a taxi in N. London
outskirts, near Enfield. This was certainly deliberate. The road was
wide and unobstructed and the taxi moved in and slowed slightly,
presumably the better to judge the distance.

There's obviously nothing to be gained by reporting him to the police,
since there are no witnesses. Would it be worth reporting him to the
Public Carriage Office or do they only deal with complaints about fares
etc.?

--
Anthony Campbell - [email hidden]
Microsoft-free zone - Using Linux Gnu-Debian
http://www.acampbell.org.uk (blog, book reviews,
on-line books and sceptical articles)

I believe that if you report it as a 'suspicious incident' then it will
be kept on record and possibly investigated.It sounds as though he was
driving in a threatening and aggressive way , but so unusually that you
might have wondered whether he was quite sane or might have been
drunk.Could he be a stalker or serial killer.There was nobody to
witness the event?Or might he have been trying to make an assault look
like an accident?

I once had an episode to report and was given this advice.
I was told that if I made a complaint it would only be kept on record
for a few weeks then scrapped unless corroberated.

TerryJ

Quoted message said:

I believe that if you report it as a 'suspicious incident' then it will
be kept on record and possibly investigated.It sounds as though he was
driving in a threatening and aggressive way , but so unusually that you
might have wondered whether he was quite sane or might have been
drunk.Could he be a stalker or serial killer.There was nobody to
witness the event?Or might he have been trying to make an assault look
like an accident?

I once had an episode to report and was given this advice.
I was told that if I made a complaint it would only be kept on record
for a few weeks then scrapped unless corroberated.

TerryJ

I rang the police, who tell me that the Public Carriage Office does deal
with complaints of this kind and not just with fare matters etc.

I have therefore emailed their complaints department.

Anthony

--
Anthony Campbell - [email hidden]
Microsoft-free zone - Using Linux Gnu-Debian
http://www.acampbell.org.uk (blog, book reviews,
on-line books and sceptical articles)

Anthony Campbell said:

Quoted message said:

I believe that if you report it as a 'suspicious incident' then it will
be kept on record and possibly investigated.It sounds as though he was
driving in a threatening and aggressive way , but so unusually that you
might have wondered whether he was quite sane or might have been
drunk.Could he be a stalker or serial killer.There was nobody to
witness the event?Or might he have been trying to make an assault look
like an accident?

I once had an episode to report and was given this advice.
I was told that if I made a complaint it would only be kept on record
for a few weeks then scrapped unless corroberated.

TerryJ

I rang the police, who tell me that the Public Carriage Office does deal
with complaints of this kind and not just with fare matters etc.

I have therefore emailed their complaints department.

Anthony

Keep us all posted then! Good luck

Mike Hibbert said:

Anthony Campbell wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I rang the police, who tell me that the Public Carriage Office does deal
with complaints of this kind and not just with fare matters etc.

I have therefore emailed their complaints department.

Anthony

Keep us all posted then! Good luck

I have now received the following email from the PCO:

Dear Mr Campbell,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 2 October 2005 regarding the actions
of a licensed taxi driver.

Firstly, I would like to say that the Public Carriage Office has no
legislative power to investigate possible road traffic offences
committed by cab drivers and can only advise you that if you have a
complaint about the driving behaviour of a cab driver you must report
the matter to the nearest police station in person.

Whilst I recognise that the police have many responsibilities placed
upon them, the fact remains that they are the only authority that can
investigate the road traffic offences that you describe. In any event
that action is taken, for example by way of conviction this will
result in the taxi drivers fitness to remain licensed being reviewed
by the Licensing Authority.

However your comments have been noted and your complaint will be
placed on file for future reference. I am sorry that I am unable to do
more in this instance.

Kind regards

Mr Valentine Owoade
Complaints Administrator.

Taxi Complaints.
Public Carriage Office
15 Penton Street
London N1 9PU.

Actually, their website does say that they don't deal with complaints
about driving so it looks as if I was misinformed by the police (not the
first time this has happened to me in a case of that kind).

I suppose that it is a good thing that they have a record on file about
this particular cab in case he does something else in the future.

Anthony

--
Anthony Campbell - [email hidden]
Microsoft-free zone - Using Linux Gnu-Debian
http://www.acampbell.org.uk (blog, book reviews,
on-line books and sceptical articles)

Anthony Campbell said:

Quoted message said:

Anthony Campbell wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I rang the police, who tell me that the Public Carriage Office does deal
with complaints of this kind and not just with fare matters etc. ...

Quoted message said:

I have now received the following email from the PCO:
...
Firstly, I would like to say that the Public Carriage Office has no
legislative power to investigate possible road traffic offences
committed by cab drivers and can only advise you that if you have a
complaint about the driving behaviour of a cab driver you must report
the matter to the nearest police station in person.

And very tedious it is. They require a paper form to be filled in and
signed in the presence of an officer. Then, no doubt, someone else
keys the details in to a computer.

They won't prosecute. But they might contact the driver and 'have a
word'. You should make sure they do this. With luck this will be
enough to deter future offences.

Quoted message said:

I suppose that it is a good thing that they have a record on file about
this particular cab in case he does something else in the future.

It would be nice if the police told him this too - so mention it to them.

Colin McKenzie