Any idea how to file a complaint against the MOD (Navy)

[beanbag]

I've been trying to do this for the past couple of days but I seriously have no idea how to go about doing so.

I was almost knocked off my bicycle by a Royal Navy vehicle yesterday morning. I caught up with the driver at some lights and told him the next time he passes me, perhaps he could be a bit more considerate and give me at least a meter of space.

I was quite angry but I never swore and I did plan to take it much further but the driver decided to tell me to fk off and I had no right to use the road. He told me I was swerving about (I call it avoiding pot holes), and I was too slow, (even though I caught up and passed him at the lights).

This was a uniformed Navy personnel member and after his lack of apology and retort, I decided to make a complaint....but there doesn't appear to be any means of doing so. No phone number or email!

I've filled in a form on their website but have not had a reply and I've even raised it on twitter without a single response.

Any ideas?

[Soov535]

Drink less coffee?

[Medic-one]

Nothing will come off it so you might as well give up.

We all experience near misses or get 'almost hit' by other traffic, sometimes their fault, sometimes our fault (you admit to swerving), sometimes a combination.

He's not hit you, you weren't hurt, it'll be your word against his with no evidence, so nothing will ever come off it, i highly doubt the Navy will issue some official apology so a cyclist for a non-event.

[anonymous-user]

Get in touch with George with the details

https://www.gov.uk/government/people/george-zambel...

[anothernameitist]

What ever yuo call it you were avoiding pot holes / swerving.

Same thing I'm afraid.

Maybe best action is to call the Council and report the potholes.

HTH

[mehball]

Nothing happened, you weren't hit and nothing was damaged. Your word against his with no witnesses = Nothing will happen, have a beer and move on.

[beanbag]

anothernameitist said:

What ever yuo call it you were avoiding pot holes / swerving.

Same thing I'm afraid.

Maybe best action is to call the Council and report the potholes.

HTH

I wasn't exactly swerving per-se....however the road narrows into a single lane in the middle of a busy town so I tend to ride in the middle of the road. That's what he calls "swerving".

I wouldn't normally care less but I just think Royal Navy personnel carry a lot of responsibility and have a duty not to act like tts when on duty. He was driving a Royal Navy van so was on duty.

[anothernameitist]

^ Might be stolen

[geeks]

beanbag said:

I wasn't exactly swerving per-se....however the road narrows into a single lane in the middle of a busy town so I tend to ride in the middle of the road. That's what he calls "swerving".

I wouldn't normally care less but I just think Royal Navy personnel carry a lot of responsibility and have a duty not to act like tts when on duty. He was driving a Royal Navy van so was on duty.

Doesn't mean he was on duty at all! He doesn't have a duty not to act like a tt, he has a duty to protect our country and thus doesn't need some self entitled cyclist critiquing his driving skills who has already just admitted to swerving around avoiding potholes!

I would have probably told you to fk off too!

[Baryonyx]

geeks said:

Doesn't mean he was on duty at all! He doesn't have a duty not to act like a tt, he has a duty to protect our country and thus doesn't need some self entitled cyclist critiquing his driving skills who has already just admitted to swerving around avoiding potholes!

I would have probably told you to fk off too!

Protecting our country by running over cyclists, by the sounds of it!

[Retroman]

I'm a believer if a vehicles passes so close that you're able to kick it, it's driving too close.

I'm also a believer that you if are going to change your road position to the middle of the road, you need to check behind you to make sure no one is about to pass, signal to indicate your intentions then move to the middle of the road.

If the road surface in your area is so bad that you need to constantly avoid potholes, then as suggested inform the council. choose another route, or purchase a bicycle more suited for the road surface you're using it on.

[anonymous-user]

I wonder if one of those 'search engines' could help? https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/contact-us

[Pixelpeep7r]

i hate people that do it but i see an opportunity so im taking it.

'Thread not going the way the OP planned..'

There. i said it.

OP - he say she say is always a hiding to nothing, unless you have time and money to burn put it down to experience.

[geeks]

Baryonyx said:

geeks said:

Doesn't mean he was on duty at all! He doesn't have a duty not to act like a tt, he has a duty to protect our country and thus doesn't need some self entitled cyclist critiquing his driving skills who has already just admitted to swerving around avoiding potholes!

I would have probably told you to fk off too!

Protecting our country by running over cyclists, by the sounds of it!

Not really what i said though was it?!?

OP is making a level of assumption to which he has nothing to back it up with, then admits to riding in a manor which could leave others to consider him swerving around and then implies that said Naval employee is in the wrong and that he would like to try and find the guys CO to get him bked.

If the guy had not been in a naval uniform, what then?

[Pothole]

beanbag said:

anothernameitist said:

What ever yuo call it you were avoiding pot holes / swerving.

Same thing I'm afraid.

Maybe best action is to call the Council and report the potholes.

HTH

I wasn't exactly swerving per-se....however the road narrows into a single lane in the middle of a busy town so I tend to ride in the middle of the road. That's what he calls "swerving".

I wouldn't normally care less but I just think Royal Navy personnel carry a lot of responsibility and have a duty not to act like tts when on duty. He was driving a Royal Navy van so was on duty.

You don't know him or what kind of a day/week/month/life he was having. Do you really want to jeopardise his career over something so petty? Grow up.

[beanbag]

geeks said:

Baryonyx said:

geeks said:

Doesn't mean he was on duty at all! He doesn't have a duty not to act like a tt, he has a duty to protect our country and thus doesn't need some self entitled cyclist critiquing his driving skills who has already just admitted to swerving around avoiding potholes!

I would have probably told you to fk off too!

Protecting our country by running over cyclists, by the sounds of it!

Not really what i said though was it?!?

OP is making a level of assumption to which he has nothing to back it up with, then admits to riding in a manor which could leave others to consider him swerving around and then implies that said Naval employee is in the wrong and that he would like to try and find the guys CO to get him bked.

If the guy had not been in a naval uniform, what then?

I haven't admitted anything of the sort when regarding my "cycling manner". I moved into the middle of the road to avoid a series of large manhole covers and pot holes. The driver of the van accused me of swerving; I call it using the road. I never went in and out....I stuck to my line and unfortunately drivers feel cyclists have to stick to the gutter when that is absolutely not the case. Cyclists have every right to use all the available lane space where appropriate.

My gripe isn't the fact that he drove past me dangerously, it's the fact that I don't expect a uniformed pleb to tell me to fk off and fk this and fk that. Would you accept the same from a uniformed police officer?

The answer from any decent person would be no, and we'd call him a tt if he were to do this.

The same goes for a uniformed person from any MOD unit. An apology or even an acknowledgement would have been fine so my gripe is at the attitude of the individual.

Nevertheless, I've finally (through several contacts), found the details for the squadron he is based at and I've put through my complaint. I hope he genuinely does gets a bking, not just for his actions but his stty attitude which is a poor representation of our armed forces. He'll think twice before doing it again.

[beanbag]

Pothole said:

beanbag said:

anothernameitist said:

What ever yuo call it you were avoiding pot holes / swerving.

Same thing I'm afraid.

Maybe best action is to call the Council and report the potholes.

HTH

I wasn't exactly swerving per-se....however the road narrows into a single lane in the middle of a busy town so I tend to ride in the middle of the road. That's what he calls "swerving".

I wouldn't normally care less but I just think Royal Navy personnel carry a lot of responsibility and have a duty not to act like tts when on duty. He was driving a Royal Navy van so was on duty.

You don't know him or what kind of a day/week/month/life he was having. Do you really want to jeopardise his career over something so petty? Grow up.

So if a member of the police verbally abused you, you would be ok with that and just shrug it off with a, "must have been a bad day for him" response?

FFS! Get a grip!

[Baryonyx]

geeks said:

OP is making a level of assumption...then admits to riding in a manor which could leave others to consider him swerving around and then implies that said Naval employee is in the wrong and that he would like to try and find the guys CO to get him bked.

If the guy had not been in a naval uniform, what then?

The OP has stated he was avoiding potholes. It's commonsense, never mind Highway Code, that drivers give cyclists space and anticipate that they might move around the lane. Also, one would consider if it was really necessary for the Navy lad to pass, especially since the OP caught up quite easily soon after - I see plenty of this sort of thing and wonder why many drivers will squeeze past a cyclist to beat them to a queue of standing traffic. It shows a lack of forward planning and creates an unnecessary risk to both parties.


I think the complaint is more due to the fact that this was a liveried vehicle with a uniformed member of staff driving, of whom we expect good manners and decent driving. I know the Navy aren't trained drivers, but that doesn't excuse driving a liveried vehicle like a lout, or reacting like a yob when criticised. If the driver had been wearing a Tesco uniform and driving a Tesco van, I'm sure you'd all be encouraging the OP to go ahead with his complaint.

Are we right to expect a high standard of conduct from uniformed personnel on our streets and roads? Definitely. You wouldn't expect a police officer to drive like that, nor would you expect a paramedic to tell you to 'fk off' over a driving dispute etc etc. I'm no apologist for cyclists; indeed I see them tempting fate and riding like idiots on a fairly regular basis but 'having a bad day' or whatever doesn't excuse you from taking due care and attention and showing a little courtesy.

[Retroman]

I'm a cyclist myself but if i was about to pass a cyclist in my car and they suddenly and without signalling moved from the side of the road to the middle, i'd be pretty pissed off as well.

I wouldn't try and drive close or knock them off but i'd tell them to piss of if they had a go at my driving as well.
ps off, is usually the response i get when i chin fellow cyclists when they cycle through red lights and i ask them wtf they're up to.

[dingg]

beanbag said:

I haven't admitted anything of the sort when regarding my "cycling manner". I moved into the middle of the road to avoid a series of large manhole covers and pot holes. The driver of the van accused me of swerving; I call it using the road. I never went in and out....I stuck to my line and unfortunately drivers feel cyclists have to stick to the gutter when that is absolutely not the case. Cyclists have every right to use all the available lane space where appropriate.

My gripe isn't the fact that he drove past me dangerously, it's the fact that I don't expect a uniformed pleb to tell me to fk off and fk this and fk that. Would you accept the same from a uniformed police officer?

The answer from any decent person would be no, and we'd call him a tt if he were to do this.

The same goes for a uniformed person from any MOD unit. An apology or even an acknowledgement would have been fine so my gripe is at the attitude of the individual.

Nevertheless, I've finally (through several contacts), found the details for the squadron he is based at and I've put through my complaint. I hope he genuinely does gets a bking, not just for his actions but his stty attitude which is a poor representation of our armed forces. He'll think twice before doing it again.

Good rant

but the last person who called someone a pleb in such fashion got a large legal bill

If I'd have been driving the van I'd have told you to fk off too , you on a bike!

I would have chucked what was left of my lunchtime sarnies at you too for good measure, perhaps followed by my can of redbull.

Maybe I'd have found out where you lived fked your dog/missus/g/f and hammered some sausages into either all of them or your lawn (am I doing this right?)


st thought we were in the lounge there

sensibly just forget about it you were swerving into the path of a van and got a bit close , no contact took place , you had a go at one of OUR service people and didn't get the response you thought appropriate and now try and make mischief for the driver - back in the lounge mode 'yer a wker' on yer bike