Reporting Close Calls??

jgreene83

Hey guys, just looking for other peoples thoughts on close calls / dangerous driving and whether they should be reported or not?

Had a very close call this morning, albeit at low enough speeds (just taking off from the lights so only doing about 20km/h), at the junction of Dolphin Road and Herberton Road, heading towards the city center on Dolphin Road. A car overtook me leaving only about 3 inches or so to spare between my handlebars and him, even though there is plenty of room to overtake at this junction. I was in the cycle lane, which is dodgy at best here, got a good fright and had a bit of a wobble. Two junctions on we were both stopped at the lights again but I didn't confront him about it, just made a note of his reg number, etc.

I have the reg number, make, model and colour of the car, so I'm just wondering should I report him for not overtaking safely or is it even worth it?

Hmmzis

If in doubt, report it. You wont be any worse of it and the more reports come in to the guards the more incentive they'll have to do something about it. One report on one driver doesn't make a case but if another person reports that driver for dangerous/inconsiderate driving then it's two independent reports and witneses, enough material to slap the driver with hefty fine and/or points on the license.

feck sake lads

report to the guards your wasting your time.

hueylewis

I agree with Hmmzis.

I had a very similar close call last year that I felt strongly enough about to report to traffic watch. They took all the details, confirmed the make of the car, passed on the information to my local garda station who then followed up with me looking for a statement. So it'll potentially go that far at least. I chose not to give a statement and the garda I spoke to said they'll caution the person involved, and that's the last I heard about it. No idea if they ever got round to doing it, but hopefully somewhere along the line the report was officially associated with the driver of the car.

jgreene83

Ok guys, thanks for the feedback. I'll follow it up and see where it goes.

Unknown Soldier

jgreene83 wrote: »

Hey guys, just looking for other peoples thoughts on close calls / dangerous driving and whether they should be reported or not?

Had a very close call this morning, albeit at low enough speeds (just taking off from the lights so only doing about 20km/h), at the junction of Dolphin Road and Herberton Road, heading towards the city center on Dolphin Road. A car overtook me leaving only about 3 inches or so to spare between my handlebars and him, even though there is plenty of room to overtake at this junction. I was in the cycle lane, which is dodgy at best here, got a good fright and had a bit of a wobble. Two junctions on we were both stopped at the lights again but I didn't confront him about it, just made a note of his reg number, etc.

I have the reg number, make, model and colour of the car, so I'm just wondering should I report him for not overtaking safely or is it even worth it?

If I reported every instance of bad driving while driving or cycling I'd be very busy.

It's a judgement call. If it is worth reporting, then do it.

In 27 years of driving and 9 months of cycling I have only reported one driver, who was obviously very, very drunk.

CramCycle

If it was intentional, I report it, if it wasn't I will usually approach in a friendly manner and just point out how close/dangerous they were (always use a friendly tone, experience has taught me that a distraught or angry tone, no matter how appropriate will not help the driver learn). As said before if every case of poor driving was reported, I would never see my family.

jgreene83

Ah I know guys, I'm cycling on and off for the past 15 years, just thought I'd get some advice off others. It's the first time I've ever felt that I should do something about it. Just to emphasise how close he was to me, the car behind him (using that word loosely) was to his right and really only about 3/4 behind his car at the time and there was still enough room for both cars to get through the junction. I completely forgot about that until I thought about it more this evening. Should have mentioned it earlier but was caught up with work so didn't think of it!

RainyDay

Hmmzis wrote: »

If in doubt, report it. You wont be any worse of it and the more reports come in to the guards the more incentive they'll have to do something about it. One report on one driver doesn't make a case but if another person reports that driver for dangerous/inconsiderate driving then it's two independent reports and witneses, enough material to slap the driver with hefty fine and/or points on the license.

Good idea, it's fairly painless to report via the Garda TrafficWatch line.

OP - Consider getting a cheap helmetcam for €20 or so - you'll have hard evidence next time.

No Pants

Just had a reasonably close call myself at the Pavilions roundabout in Swords. What looked to be a flatbed Hiace or something very similar came very close on my exit, which was obviously a left hand bend, followed even more closely by the trailer he was towing. I think it was dangerous carelessness rather than malicious, but it gave me pause at the time.

omri

I reported dublin bus driver who flown past me and great speed and few inches from me. Almost got blown off the bike and got the biggest fright of my life as I did not expect him passing by so fast/close. That was at blackrock clinic. Caught the guy at the israeli embassy and gave him a little pep talk in return. He quite frankly didnt give a f*** anyway. So went to db directly and thats all there was. Some bus drivers are ok, some are heavy footed morons. Not only forgetting about other road users but the passengers too.

Id say if you feel like it was really close and could have ended up badly then report.