reported a dangerous driver - now charged with dangerous cycling. Help please

oh for god's sake man. See them in court. That way the magistrates will see your statement and probably give the CPS a rocket. They are going to need to prove that you were cycling dangerously and they probably can't except that your ststements says you were holding on to the window. But you made the complaint.

They are not going to find you guilty and so what if they do. If they do the absolute Max fine is £1000. So that would be absolutely bang to rights for the most eggrwith every single agravating factor, ie drunk or drugged, extended period, multiple instances, poor record, attempting to deny or evade, failing to assist the police etc etc. Since you have oodles of mitigation even if they technically find you guilty it's a slap on the wrist job.

Get a lawyer if you want and remember most home insurance policies will have cover for that. But seriously man - take the opportunity in court to embarass the silly buggers.

Apart from all the sanctimonious twats on here, what I find most annoying is that the police/CPS or whoever is responsible for this, is wasting time and money prosecuting the fella. Surely there are more important things to be dealing with...

Also, there is a big difference between leaning on a stationary vehicle to gain balance while staying clipped in, and holding on, as the OP states he was.

If the situation arose and I couldn't unclip, but felt I had to stop to 'discuss' with the cabby, I certainly wouldn't hold on. Instead, I would simply lean using my palm, such that if he drove away, I could easily push off, avoiding this very scenario.

I'm not condoning the cabbies actions, but it seems this whole situation could have been avoided if the OP had just been the better person and got on with his life.

YOLO after all.

"as I came along his inside, he engaged me in conversation. I held onto his window frame to balance (clippy pedals)"

and

"I was holding on to a stationary taxi . he drove off knowing i was holding on"

The only available analysis of the facts here is that:

1- the Taxi was stopped.

2- the OP, cycling, clipped in, was overtaking on the left hand side. Presumably he considered there was sufficient space to go past on the left.

3- the taxi driver "engaged him in conversation."

4- the OP chose to stop.

5- But instead of unclipping to stop, he decided to keep his balance by holding on to the window frame.

As to the wisdom of the OP's behaviour:

Debatable points

- without knowing more detail, there is at least a questionmark as to whether he should have been passing on the inside at all.

- should he have stopped and engaged in conversation with a predictably irate cabby, or just got on with life.

BUT- NO DEBATE ABOUT IT:

- Unclip and put your feet down- do not lean on a vehicle.

If you are unable to unclip sufficiently quickly to do this, it is blindingly obvious you shouldn't be riding on the road clipped in- ride with flats until you can safely ride clipped in, which means being able to unclip when necessary.

If he could have unclipped but simply chose not to, that is both foolish and rude- and totally unacceptable, in my book- behaviour.

No view on the rights and wrongs of the prosecution, but no sympathy here for the OP. Brought it on himself.

Drivers are generally awful in London. My GF has to drive to work because she does shifts at all hours - SE15 to Chiswick - and her experience in a small car is sometimes almost as terrifying as riding a bike can be. People cut people up, pull out stupidly, lean on their horns, tailgate and brake check - all the shit we have to deal with. Ok, you're protected in the metal box, but it's still shit.
There's just too many of us in London; using the congested roads is a stressful experience for everyone because there's a significant minority using the roads in an angry and aggressive way - and I would include some bike riders in that too, though bikes can't really cause damage to anyone (pedestrian crossing jumpers aside ).
For our safety and sanity, segregated routes are the only real solution. You can't, sadly, stop motorists from making mistakes, being angry, or generally being fucking tools.

abudhabichris:

Eh, a trademark restricts the ability to trade using a certain mark - the clue is in the word. Merely cycling on a bicycle with fake badges on can not breach trademark law. Further, trademarks are a civil matter - you generally can not be prosecuted for a breach of trademarks, in the sense that word usually applies to being prosecuted by the state for a breach of criminal law.

Copyright on a bicycle: Bicycles are pretty generic. They pretty much all look very similar. Even the latest high-end bikes often have few distinguishing features. Further, such features would have to be creative - not functional - to be covered under copyright. There are also design rights, but those have to be registered. Then there are patents, but there's little to be patented on a bicycle (outside the groupset perhaps - the big groupset makers patent every silly little thing they can). Also, again, these are all civil matters, and they can't be brought against the person who bought the bike (though, the bike could conceivably be confiscated, however the bike owner could pursue the vendor for their money back).

Basically, you're bringing up some rather flawed reasons for why we should disapprove of the OP.

A few words of advice:

Get a camera, if someone cuts you up then just get home and report it to the police. An errant driver is far more likely to listen to advice from a policeman who has seen the video evidence than they will listen to you, after all a policeman has a personal invitation to a police cell if the taxi driver argues with them.

Learn to unclip from your pedals and in future don't lean on Vehicles (stationary or not) and definitely don't hold onto them.

I appreciate it would be useful to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience (clearly not from the responses) but please try not to discuss this any further in a public forum. If anyone has any useful advice, PM them instead, it may be better for you if you don't effectively give a witness statement in a public forum.

Seek legal advice from a law firm who specialises in bicycle related law not just the local solicitor, a specialist may be aware of similar cases and can give you more informed advice and representation. Thankfully I have never had need to use one so unfortunately for you I cannot recommend one.

Finally, don't take legal advice from people on forums.

Sounds like someone failed the attitude test.

IMVHO there may be something missing from the initial account. It would be highly unusual for a court summons to be issued in any situation on the strength of the uncorroborated word of one person against another. When applied to cycling/motoring issues, this sometimes works for the individual, and if they feel wronged, sometimes against them. There can be few of us who have never reacted to events in the heat of the moment, and thought better of it later. Safe riding all.

OFFS do not feed the troll.

My advice is don't get legal advice on an internet forum!

There you go, sound advice from abudhabiChris.
Also find it hard to believe an initial consultation with a solicitor will cost as much as you think. In my experience that is usually free.

I raised eyebrows when I saw the OP yesterday and the subsequent discussions and OP's contributions have done nothing to lower them.

You want opinions from a forum where you've been a member for one day, apparently joining just to vent a story.

You get annoyed that not everybody is being sympathetic and not giving the advice you want. On the internet.

You have been abusive to posters very quickly and completely inappropriately, which may be an indication of how you handle confrontations.

Your profile says you ride a Condor "pirate version". Does that mean a fake copy or a homage to Marco Pantani? if you are happy to tell everyone you ride a counterfeit bike then you seem to think the law doesn't apply to you when you feel like it.

Presumably you aren't a member of CTC or LCC or some other group which provides 3rd party insurance and legal access either.

As for your story, you initially didn't mention anything about damage to yourself or your bike or the driver not giving details in an accident. Or that he had stopped again after this altercation. Why didn't you call the police then and there? Did you not mention that to the police when reporting the driver? I find it hard to believe they have ignored this completely. Leaving the scene of an accident is generally frowned upon.

So, you want advice...

Your tale has too many holes and inconsistencies for me to have much faith that we've heard a complete and objective account. Forgive me if I am misjudging here, but from what I've read it all seems to be about You.

I suspect the police have a similar view and if your current conduct is anything to go by so will the magistrates. You may well be an innocent and blameless victim, meek as a lamb and pure as the driven snow, but I doubt your ability to convince them.

So, either plead guilty and take your fine, or get proper professional legal help and pay someone else to fill in the gaps and draw attention from the holes.

Why in god's name would you hold on to someones car?

I've decided to start using my GoPro camera when cycling in town. I don't want to end up in the same unfortunate situation. Best of luck. You need some.

P.S. Discussing this further on the forum is not going to help your case. Go and speak to a solicitor.

Seek a solicitor, you need to know what options you have. Will this charge, if convicted affect other aspects of your life, getting new job, current job, insurance, loans etc. Can you plead it down to a lesser charge?

Seek professional help

You must have been interviewed and admitted your part in this, correct ?

Otherwise where did the info come from for the Police to make the decision to report you for the offence ?

You have to be cautioned and reported for the offence, did this not make you think about what was happening ?

There may well be blame on both sides, but it does seem vindictive of the police to charge you.
Don't think there's many cyclists who haven't got in a shouting match with some c-unit on the road before. Near death experiences will do that to you.

You shouldn't do anything before talking to a lawyer. Specially if it is IANAL advice from the Internet (sorry guys, it's the truth).

Man comes on to the internet for sympathy. Said man is shot down for being in the wrong. Internet wins. Again.

It was a simple cutup and you escalated it to a ridiculous level. In the law's eyes, it isn't in the public interest to let an unremorseful, aggressive car grabber go his merry way. Be remorseful and you may get a lighter judgement.

Personally I think that you should bite the bullet and plead guilty, explain the circumstances, be incredibly contrite and hope for a judge with common sense. Otherwise it could go tits up. As others have said. You should have put your foot doŵn. Personally I ŵould have dropped back after yelling as that would have made it less likely for the confrontation. But then hindsight is 100% perfect. When you gave your statement did you state both were stationary before he moved off? The constable gives you the opportunity to review and point out any thing missed in translation before you sign it. As for being cut up by the taxi driver. It makes little odds if you were a cyclist or not. These buggers treat ALL road users with total contempt. The other day I watched one blaring his horn, Erving his engine and yelling abuse because the driver in front wasn't clearing a busy junction quickly enough due to one of the lanes being obscured.

If you do set up a crowd source for a defence fund I'm more than happy to chuck a few quid your way.