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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to email a company grassing up a speeding driver?

70 replies

normalishdude · 03/02/2014 12:48

I live on a 30 mph limit road. There are schools close by. I saw a van going at around 50-60 mph along the road this morning at around 8 am-I could have easily pulled out in front of it and been hit if I hadn't been as alert as I was. Should I email the company or does that make me even more of a mean spirited, grumpy old bastard than I already am?

OP posts:

AnUnearthlyChild · 04/02/2014 11:38

Yes absolutely. I reported the driver of a well known utility firm van, texting as he pulled up to stop for a lollipop lady crossing school kids.

Bartman · 04/02/2014 13:02

How do you know how fast he was going? I've had many occasions travelling at 30mph in a loud car with moron pedestrians waving and shouting slow down - it just shows how shit the general public are at judging speed. Also it's laughable that you think the police will do anything - at worst a visit for a telling off but going 'no comment' usually does the trick.

SirChenjin · 04/02/2014 18:06

Experience.

Gingefringe · 04/02/2014 18:37

I think the company would want to know, especially since they are probably paying the insurance premiums.

Hoppinggreen · 04/02/2014 18:40

I took a photo of a van parked in the parent and child parking while the drivers ate their lunch and emailed it to the company on the side of the van.
I got an apology and they ( hopefully) got a bollocking!!!!
Do it !

Pixel · 04/02/2014 20:26

I emailed a photo to British Gas van as one of their vans was parked in a disabled bay. Never got a reply though so I doubt they were bothered.

Pixel · 04/02/2014 20:26

British gas, not British Gas van, obv!

GrumpyRedhead · 04/02/2014 20:35

I've worked for companies with a fleet of drivers, if you contact them they will take it seriously. The driver will (quite rightly!) be taken down the disciplinary route, and will eventually be dismissed if there are repeated complaints.

RigglinJigglin · 04/02/2014 20:57

Definitely do it, I do this all the time regularly. As another poster I ring my landline and leave a message of details, then I'll email or call the company concerned.

Have done this with speeding, tailgating, undertaking, using the hard shoulder during an accident - I feel like a one woman brigade against shitty drivers.

When I'm a passenger I also take pictures of van / wagon drivers on their phones and email it to their employers.

RigglinJigglin · 04/02/2014 20:58

Meant to add - I call from my Bluetooth, safely.

VegetariansTasteLikeChicken · 04/02/2014 21:40

God mn is getting boring. A poster uses "grassing up" a bit tongue in cheek and people feel the need to comment.

Let's get rid of wankbadger/norks/twunt/naice and everything else why don't we? Seriously why do people give a fuck how another adult speaks?

OP yanbu, you should do it because this won't be the only time he does it will he?

vj32 · 04/02/2014 22:12

I emailed a company about one of their employees eating a banana while driving down a residential road. While isn't that bad, except there was thick ice and people had been told to stay at home unless their trip was really necessary. It was a garden landscaping van. Exactly what kind of emergency garden landscaping can you do under heavy snow and ice?? Absolute twat. Got no response.

Stinkyminkymoo · 04/02/2014 22:14

Yes, do. I had this, the stupid arse had pulled over to make a delivery at the pub down the road too so I took all his detailed and emailed the company.

We have no pavement in our village and the driver was rude when I told him he was speeding.

I got a polite reply from the MD of Delice de France and was told the driver would be dealt with and he apologised for his drivers rude behaviour.

I hate it when people speed down our village, it gives me the complete rage

stiffstink · 04/02/2014 23:32

I send sarcastic emails for minor intrusions into my personal driving space...

kitcac.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/dear-overpriced-bakery/

But for speeding near a school I would be sending a strongly worded letter (aka opening the gates of hell).

wilkos · 04/02/2014 23:47

I have reported twice, to separate companies. I live on a main road through a village and it amazes me just how inconsiderate and entitled the drivers - in both company and private vehicles - who use the road as a rat run are. I have been sworn at many times for having the audacity to pull out of my own driveway too slowly, lorries speed past the infant school at pick up and drop off, and me and DC were nearly killed by a recovery vehicle rounding a corner at what must have been twice the speed limit.

Both companies, one local and one not, dealt with it very well I felt. The local one actually rerouted their lorries through a less residential area as a result, which was fab.

I do sometimes wonder if these drivers realise that it would take just a split second to take a life, and in so doing ruin their OWN life forever. Just to "personal best" the length of their commute

Tryharder · 05/02/2014 00:38

Ok.

Were you carrying a speed gun?
Was anyone injured?

I'm not meaning to be facetious but it's difficult to gauge speed when observing someone driving. It might have looked fast but possibly not as fast as you thought.

I can't believe people have advised you to phone the police. Seriously? As if the police would be interested that you thought someone was speeding!

I would leave it. What if that person lost his or her job? And then couldn't pay the mortgage? And his wife left him taking the kids and this ruining the kids' lives....

Tryharder · 05/02/2014 00:43

Wow. Can't believe all the posters going round self righteously penning multiple complaints about other people's alleged bad driving.

I can't believe someone complained about someone eating a banana in a van.

I am actually quite shocked by the level of moral outrage on here.

SirChenjin · 05/02/2014 07:53

The only person who needs to consider the outcome of his/her actions on his/her mortgage or marriage is the speeding driver...ever heard of personal responsibility?

As for your shock at the moral outrage - oh, the irony!

Binkybix · 05/02/2014 08:00

As a pedestrian in London I see appalling driving every day. It makes me so cross. Report away!!

fairyfuckwings · 05/02/2014 08:52

I've got to agree with tryharder. My dad used to work in accident investigation for the police. He always said that eye witnesses always always overestimated the speed cars were travelling at. He used to calculate the exact speed by measuring the skid marks left. He said that even experienced traffic officers were often amazed by just how wrong their speed estimates were.

So unless you had a speed gun I seriously doubt the driver was going as fast as you say. I very much doubt the police would be interested.

vj32 · 05/02/2014 08:57

Tryharder really? You think it is acceptable to eat a banana while driving a van on thick ice?? Hope you don't live near me.

vj32 · 05/02/2014 09:02

People on their mobiles really piss me off. My DB was nearly killed and perm disabled by a driver on their handheld phone. It is also really stupid as aside from being dangerous its easy for the police to prove.

Sadly many people know someone who has been killed or seriously injured in a car accident, hence the disgust at people driving like complete idiots on the roads.

Joysmum · 05/02/2014 09:06

It may be hard to accurately estimate actual speed, but anybody can spot a vehicle that is going significantly faster than everything else, or driving too fast to be safe as even driving under the speed limit can be against the law too if it's not safe to do so.

Binkybix · 05/02/2014 09:10

Also, if you're actually driving you can often compare to your own speed, which is being recorded.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 05/02/2014 09:14

"Grassing up" is just a colloquialism, not sure why people are getting knickers in a twist about it in peevish manner.

YaNBU

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