Alright it is poor driving that is all too frequent on the roads and not by any means exceptional. However the Post Office have a lot of vehicles varying from large to enormous. It would be good to think that they were trained and drove to the highest standards.
Here is my e mail to the Chairman (surprise, surprise the website does not volunteer an e mail address to comment about driving so better head for the top).
"Dear Mr Brydon,
Please find attached some footage showing how I was overtaken by a Royal Mail van BX08NHM in Chiswick this morning. Clearly the driver should not have overtaken me alongside a traffic island and even with my swerve to the nearside this was much too close.
I am sure you would wish Royal Mail drivers to demonstrate the highest standards of competence and safety. They should no doubt all be very familiar with the Highway Code including rule 163 (I attach a part of the code for you convenience).
It is a sad fact that many vehicles give cyclists insufficient room and thereby endanger them. Please do not think I am picking unfairly upon the Post Office. However I hope you may find this of interest and be able to respond constructively with appropriate improvements in driver training.
Yours faithfully,
Martin Porter"
The attached part of the code was of course this:
"I have therefore spoken to the Acton Delivery Office Manager and passed with my concerns regarding this matter. I have also forwarded your footage to them so they can appropriately address the matter with the driver in question. They have also confirmed that they will be speaking with our other drivers to remind them of the importance of driving safely and appropriately, so as not to endanger other road users. I am confident that this action will be sufficient to prevent a reoccurrence of this problem in the future.
Please be assured that all of our drivers are subject to ongoing driver training and assessment, and we take instances such as this extremely seriously and I will ensure that the information you have provided is utilised to make further improvements where necessary."
It seems to me to be a reasonable response.
Heard nothing yet from AXA or from Tellings Golden Miller to whom I have directed similar e mails.
Martin, you sent me to look at the Walthamstow Forest blog, and he sent me to GAZ545' blog (http://croydoncyclist.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/meeting-road-safe-london/) so I'd urge you to report the incident to the fuzz, and see what they say.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim,
ReplyDeleteThat site does indeed look useful. I have in the past found reporting to employers quite effective.
Instead of the Royal Mail van I have used the police site to report S553DVV, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_2rGW3PGAg
and HY03VLB, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsXw5zgHbJ8
Both are from today and quite a bit worse.
Shows how common this stuff is.
I think I'm going to make the investment in a helmet camera: today I have restricted myself to fulminating on Facebook at Discovery drivers who ignore the clearest signal I can possibly give!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I may spend a bit of lunchtime looking up "Taste of Sicily" as a business ...
Please keep up with the video and blogging - I find your blog very well-written and thought-provoking.
Almost all road crashes are caused by reckless or aggressive driving, training and assessment can help drivers to avoid making lapses, mistakes and violations.
ReplyDelete