Reporting dangerous motorists

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

http://www.rmccrides.com/reportingdangerousmotorists.html#dangerous%20motorist

Found this on a Colorado cycling club's website, I'm curious to know what
other Coloradans on this NG think of it, and what some of the law
enforcement people on this NG have to say.

For those in Washington State, see
http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/agdrvng.htm
to report aggressive driving incidents to the Washington State Patrol.

--
[email hidden] is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Updated Bicycle Touring Books List:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/tourbooks.html>

mark said:

http://www.rmccrides.com/reportingdangerousmotorists.html#dangerous%20motorist

Found this on a Colorado cycling club's website, I'm curious to know what
other Coloradans on this NG think of it, and what some of the law
enforcement people on this NG have to say.

A brief summary for those who haven't clicked on it yet: the page has the
Colorado State Patrol's free cell phone number, and urges anyone
threatened by an aggressive driver to call the CSP and give them the
offender's license plate number and vehicle description along with a
description of the incident. The page also links to a page on the CSP
website which describes unacceptable aggressive behavior as including,
among other things, honking, yelling, and obscene hand gestures.

Over the last few years I've sensed an increase in the number of drivers
yelling at me to "get the f**k off the road" or "get on the bike path" .
I've also had a few episodes in which a motorist swerved at me in a
threatening manner, and one episode in which an egg was thrown at me. The
egg throwing episode prompted me to buy a can of Mace and carry it,
although I'm sure the situations where Mace would help are limited. I'm
tempted to carry a pencil, notepad and cell phone and report some of the
more blatant offenders I encounter, just to see what kind of results I
get.

Any comments?

All such incidents should be reported. People who do this kind of
thing tend to have a pattern of it. While you may get no action
initially you may help establish a history that eventually leads to a
conviction. Good police depts. have a system where such complaints are
filed and can be referred to later. These days it's usually in a computer
database, but in my hometown they did a pretty good job with index cards.

Throwing something from a vehicle at someone is a crime everywhere I've
checked. So is "buzzing" someone on a bike or in another car. A lot of
other aggressive behaviour is actually illegal too. For example, in VA
it's actually illegal to flash your high beams at someone.

Carrying Mace or pepper spray or a gun or whatever is not
the answer. Drive or ride defensively, and don't engage idiots. Most of
us seem to go through our whole lives without altercations, yet others I
know have a story of some confrontation every week. Try to be one of the
first group. Don't let the idiots get to you. You were screamed at, so
what. You may have been buzzed, but you weren't hit, right? You did get
hit with an egg, but you weren't hurt, right?

Matt O.

"Matt O'Toole" wrote

Quoted message said:

Carrying Mace or pepper spray or a gun or whatever is not
the answer. Drive or ride defensively, and don't engage idiots. Most of
us seem to go through our whole lives without altercations, yet others I
know have a story of some confrontation every week. Try to be one of the
first group. Don't let the idiots get to you. You were screamed at, so
what. You may have been buzzed, but you weren't hit, right? You did get
hit with an egg, but you weren't hurt, right?

Matt O.

You're correct on all counts, and I do try not to engage idiots. My
intention is to let the police engage them, which is part of what my taxes
pay them to do. I'm hoping that if a few of these losers get taken to task
by the authorities for their behavior word will get around, and they and
their friends will decide that harassing and threatening bicyclists just
isn't worth it.
--
mark

Sounds like as great idea. It would certainly be of use here in Chester,
where the cops are so in need of something to do that a simple traffic
stop can result in the gathering of as many as four squad cars as they
pass by.

- -
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Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

mark said:

http://www.rmccrides.com/reportingdangerousmotorists.html#dangerous%20motorist

Found this on a Colorado cycling club's website, I'm curious to know what
other Coloradans on this NG think of it, and what some of the law
enforcement people on this NG have to say.

A brief summary for those who haven't clicked on it yet: the page has the
Colorado State Patrol's free cell phone number, and urges anyone threatened
by an aggressive driver to call the CSP and give them the offender's license
plate number and vehicle description along with a description of the
incident. The page also links to a page on the CSP website which describes
unacceptable aggressive behavior as including, among other things, honking,
yelling, and obscene hand gestures.

Over the last few years I've sensed an increase in the number of drivers
yelling at me to "get the f**k off the road" or "get on the bike path" .
I've also had a few episodes in which a motorist swerved at me in a
threatening manner, and one episode in which an egg was thrown at me. The
egg throwing episode prompted me to buy a can of Mace and carry it, although
I'm sure the situations where Mace would help are limited. I'm tempted to
carry a pencil, notepad and cell phone and report some of the more blatant
offenders I encounter, just to see what kind of results I get.

Any comments?
--
mark

I think it is an excellent idea. The police may or may not do anything
when the problem is brought to their attention but you can be _sure_
that they won't do anything if they don't even know there is a problem.
And who knows they may be already looking for the driver and just need
a pointer to where he or she is.

Call early and often 🙂
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I think it is an excellent idea. The police may or may not do anything
when the problem is brought to their attention but you can be _sure_
that they won't do anything if they don't even know there is a problem.
And who knows they may be already looking for the driver and just need
a pointer to where he or she is.

Call early and often 🙂
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Apparently the Colorado State Patrol will do something. In a recent road
rage/ vehicular homicide case, much press attention was given to the fact
that the defendant had been named in numerous citizen complaints and the CSP
was preparing to contact the man about all the complaints. Apparently the
defendant's record of complaints was a factor in the state's decision to
press homicide charges, instead of trying the man on lesser charges.
--
mark

mark said:

I do try not to engage idiots. My
intention is to let the police engage them, which is part of what my
taxes pay them to do. I'm hoping that if a few of these losers get taken
to task by the authorities for their behavior word will get around, and
they and their friends will decide that harassing and threatening
bicyclists just isn't worth it.

Good man.

Note that there may be a pattern of other aggressive behaviour, like
fighting, already on record. There's actually a good chance a very
aggressive person is already on probation. With that, the police are
likely to follow up. You never know, and you have nothing to lose by
making the report. You may actually help prevent some other crime.

Matt O.

mark said:

I'm tempted to
carry a pencil, notepad and cell phone and report some of the more blatant
offenders I encounter, just to see what kind of results I get.

A small digital audio recorder is much smaller, lighter, and easier and
faster to use. No fumbling with pencils and paper. I bought a little
Olympus from an office supply store for something like $30. I'm sure
they can be had more cheaply online.

RFM
http://www.cyclelicio.us/

In article <[email hidden]>,

Fritz M said:

mark said:

I'm tempted to
carry a pencil, notepad and cell phone and report some of the more blatant
offenders I encounter, just to see what kind of results I get.

A small digital audio recorder is much smaller, lighter, and easier and
faster to use. No fumbling with pencils and paper. I bought a little
Olympus from an office supply store for something like $30. I'm sure
they can be had more cheaply online.

Is it possible for cell phone users to send themselves
a voicemail? If so, you've got a recorder /and/ a phone
all in one unit.

cheers,
Tom

--
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Above address is just a spam midden.
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