Reporting a Driver

[jbsportstech]

andburg said:

if its a large company, enough for the guy not to be in charge then call and report him.

every company I havw worked for has taken these type of incident very seriously

Small companies I don't bother one I called the driver gave a different version and the guy didn't want to believe mine. Another company who did school IT works and he was undertaking all over the motorway I called and the guy the other end went mad about me calling while driving and hung up

[Nigel_O]

I had a not dissimilar issue a few months ago - got properly chopped up at a roundabout by a Virgin Media van (he also tried to chop up the huge four-axle truck ahead of me, but baled out when the truck didn't flinch...)

Anyway, I sounded my horn at my displeasure (he missed me by less than 6 inches at 30mph)

Shortly afterwards is an uphill section with two lanes going up and one coming down - the van overtook the slow truck and pulled in to the nearside lane - the van wasn't all that quick, so I stayed in lane two and started to overtake - just as I got to his rear end, he pulled out into lane two (there was nothing in front of him). I baled out, he pulled in, so I tried again - he repeated the stunt.

I pulled in behind him, noted his registration and stayed there - got to work and reported him.

I don't care if he was pi$$ed at me for sounding my horn at him - trying to run someone off the road is not the behaviour of a person that should be allowed to drive for a living.

When I eventually got through to Virgin Media's transport division, they initially denied they had a van with that registration. I commented that it had bloody huge Virgin Media advertising along the side and they still "couldn't find it". I said I would call the Police and a couple of minutes later, they managed to find the details. I arranged for the transport manager to call me and suggested that they speak to the driver for his version of events. Mr Transport Manager then explained that they didn't need to, as there was a GPS tracker in the cab and they could see that the driver had been weaving - I didn't take it any further, but I'm assuming the driver was given a talking to

OP's experience sounds similar and even if blame can be levelled at the OP for getting exasperated and making gestures to the van driver, there really is no excuse for the van driver's behaviour

I would report it to the company - it might be the latest in a line of the van driver's misdemeanours and your call may result in some training that ultimately prevents an accident. The worst that can happen is nothing.

[btcc123]

First you said you raised your arm in a questioning manner and then changed your story to a shrug of your shoulders.I am guessing it was either the coffee bean shake,two fingers or just the one.

[covboy]

jshell said:

Advanced driving tells you not to move over for traffic joining and it's the joining vehicles responsibility to match speed to gaps. At least it was a few years ago when I got marked down in an assessment for moving over!

Was it ever explained to you why this was the case. It seems only sensible (and courteous) to me to move over if other traffic conditions allow.

[Osinjak]

All that jazz said:

hopelwillis said:

I managed to get his reg, and I have sent an email to the company. He must have forgotten he had the company’s name in very large writing all over his van… idiot.

Or you could just learn how to drive instead of blaming everyone else for your own shortcomings.

Brilliant, just brilliant. So it's the OP's fault that the bloke purposely blocked him in a right hand lane and tailgated him as well. Riiiiiight.

[shakotan]

[quote=hopelwillis... an illegal undertake,...

[/quote]

Undertaking isn't illegal.

[Retroman]

shakotan said:

Undertaking isn't illegal.

Passing on the left is illegal if you do it specifically to gain an advantage over the traffic you're passing.
I.e you pass on the left, then pull out in front of the car you passed.

[hopelwillis]

btcc123 said:

First you said you raised your arm in a questioning manner and then changed your story to a shrug of your shoulders.I am guessing it was either the coffee bean shake,two fingers or just the one.

No change of story. It was a raise of the arm in a questioning manner, sort of like you would shrug your sholders, but you cant really see a shrug of the shoulder from a car, so my arm was raised.

I still dont think any of this condones his behaviour later on down the road.

[shakotan]

Retroman said:

shakotan said:

Undertaking isn't illegal.

Passing on the left is illegal if you do it specifically to gain an advantage over the traffic you're passing.
I.e you pass on the left, then pull out in front of the car you passed.

It isn't.

However it can be interpreted as Dangerous Driving or Driving Without Due Care.

Regardless, the act of passing someone on the left itself is not illegal.

[All that jazz]

Osinjak said:

All that jazz said:

hopelwillis said:

I managed to get his reg, and I have sent an email to the company. He must have forgotten he had the company’s name in very large writing all over his van… idiot.

Or you could just learn how to drive instead of blaming everyone else for your own shortcomings.

Brilliant, just brilliant. So it's the OP's fault that the bloke purposely blocked him in a right hand lane and tailgated him as well. Riiiiiight.

Yes, yes it is! If the OP hadn't spat his dummy out over not being able to drive straight through a give-way without yielding to the traffic with priority then none of retaliatory fkwittery by the van driver would have happened. It's pretty simple stuff really : drive like a knob, be treated like a knob.

[Retroman]

shakotan said:

It isn't.

However it can be interpreted as Dangerous Driving or Driving Without Due Care.

Regardless, the act of passing someone on the left itself is not illegal.

I guess so, in the same way doing donuts outside the front of the police station in a 350z isn't "illegal"

[Osinjak]

All that jazz said:

Yes, yes it is! If the OP hadn't spat his dummy out over not being able to drive straight through a give-way without yielding to the traffic with priority then none of retaliatory fkwittery by the van driver would have happened. It's pretty simple stuff really : drive like a knob, be treated like a knob.

I'm glad I don't know you in real life, your playground logic is truly laughable. Unless of course you're pulling my leg.

Edited by Osinjak on Wednesday 5th August 17:43

[court]

As far as I'm concerned any gesticulation in a vehicle means all bets are off. Very difficult get your point across in a vehicle. It would probably be misconstrued as there's no official arm based language in the highway code over the traditional signs for turning left, right or slowing down.

[Osinjak]

It's funny, whenever I come across bellendery on the road that directly affects me I tend to simply want to get away from it as quickly as possible. I have no interest in interacting with anyone who's not road savvy (no dig at the OP here), I'd rather protect myself and remove myself from the hazard. Juvenile behaviour to make it worse by immersing yourself in it even further regardless of who's at fault. Still, some people's lives are clearly not interesting enough I suppose.

[LoonR1]

btcc123 said:

First you said you raised your arm in a questioning manner and then changed your story to a shrug of your shoulders.I am guessing it was either the coffee bean shake,two fingers or just the one.

My exact thoughts when I read the opening post.

[BobSaunders]

This is brilliant. We have moved from supporting the OP to now slagging him off for the way he joined the road, and have totally forgotten about the other driver. Classic PH.

If this guy reacts like this to a arm movement, what will he be like if someone give him the beans properly?

Shop the guy, he is driving a company van, its a brand issue for the organisation in question - unless he owns it.

[All that jazz]

BobSaunders said:

This is brilliant. We have moved from supporting the OP to now slagging him off for the way he joined the road, and have totally forgotten about the other driver. Classic PH.

If this guy reacts like this to a arm movement, what will he be like if someone give him the beans properly?

Shop the guy, he is driving a company van, its a brand issue for the organisation in question - unless he owns it.

It was unlikely to have been just an "arm movement" unless it involved coffee beans. The OP has changed his story twice already so already lost any credibility he may have had and I stand by what I said earlier in that the van driver would not have reacted as claimed without some form of provocation, especially as this alleged happened ..

hopelwillis said:

10-15 minutes down the road.

.. after the event.

I call BS.

[iandc]

BobSaunders said:

This is brilliant. We have moved from supporting the OP to now slagging him off for the way he joined the road, and have totally forgotten about the other driver. Classic PH.

If this guy reacts like this to a arm movement, what will he be like if someone give him the beans properly?

Shop the guy, he is driving a company van, its a brand issue for the organisation in question - unless he owns it.

I think you are missing the point(s) everybody is making. I don't believe any responses are supporting the stupid driving by the van driver BUT would he have reacted as he did if he hadn't got the "gesture" from the OP in the first place. Try a rerun whereby the OP waits to join the dual carriageway, does so without "gesturing" to the van driver and both get on with their lives, to what happened.

[jshell]

covboy said:

jshell said:

Advanced driving tells you not to move over for traffic joining and it's the joining vehicles responsibility to match speed to gaps. At least it was a few years ago when I got marked down in an assessment for moving over!

Was it ever explained to you why this was the case. It seems only sensible (and courteous) to me to move over if other traffic conditions allow.

Yes, the Highway Code is specific about not causing others to take evasive action. What I see on a daily basis is people in L1 coming up to a junction, seeing joining traffic and either hitting the brakes, speeding up or pulling out into L2 without a glance causing other issues for neighboring drivers.

It's supposed to be up to the person approaching the give way lines to match themselves to the existing flow whether that is 1 or 100 vehicles. Yes, of course their are times when it's easy to pull over and we've all done it...

[rambo19]

covboy said:

Was it ever explained to you why this was the case. It seems only sensible (and courteous) to me to move over if other traffic conditions allow.

Agree with that.