Police accuse cyclist of public order offence because he swore at an unmarked police car parked in a bus line - his swearing could have upset his children and it could have led to him being stabbed

[cakeorwine]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11474195/Moment-cyclist-swears-unmarked-police-car-officer-accuses-public-order-offence.html

This is interesting

Cyclist with children on the back had to swerve to get out of the way of a vehicle parked in a bus lane

He swore at the occupants.

Turns out to be an unmarked police vehicle.

Advised not to swear in public with his children as it could cause them upset. So that's a public order offence.

And also it's dangerous to swear at people in Wandsworth because he could get stabbed.

So I admit that I have sworn at vehicles on the road who don't seem to understand the Highway code. With DS present.

And it probably is dangerous to swear at people because you don't know how they would react.

It's horrible weather and conditions, the road is fast and you can see the cyclist looking right where there is a car directly behind him going quite fast. It's quite a difficult thing to manage on that sort of busy road when there is an obstruction.

So he swears - not a huge deal. Most of us do it, especially inside a car.

Police immediately pull out, lights on and stop him - he apologises and they go on at him for a bit.

If he were driving the police would not have heard him swear at them and he would not have been pulled over.

I think the Police are being unreasonable given where they were, the road and the weather conditions. They caused him to make difficult pass and he reacted to that in a fairly normal way. I don't think they needed to react in that way and if it happened to me I would complain about them.

shouldnt be riding in a bus lane that should read!

By the looks of it the photos they were indeed in an area where there’s quite a lot of gang activity. The police presence is unsurprising.

It's not acceptable for cyclist to abuse motorists. I've been subjected to this several times. Not for doing anything wrong I might add.

There's a bloody cycle lane on the pavement. Why was he in a bus lane?

I agree.
and if they had wanted him to realise that they were cops and that’s why they were parked so inconsiderately then a quick flash of blues once he was further off would have alerted him and they could have all carried on with their day.

Probably because he was transporting children. Trailers are often wide enough to take up a whole cycle lane so it is better to cycle somewhere where there is more room for them if possible, particularly as cyclists are allowed (often encouraged) to use the bus lane as a priority user.

Bus lanes generally aren't for parking in so the police really should have their lights in if they're going to.

This.
I nearly got knocked over in the city this week. Van driver just backed into me without even indicating onto a a pedestrianised area trying to deliver. There was a police van parked and no one immediately got out to remonstrate with him that I recall. Not whilst I was there anyway.

I've read the article and still have no idea why the police car was in a bus lane

Because it’s allowed. And as someone pointed out, the small cycle lane wouldn’t be suitable for him.
What isn’t allowed is parking in the bus lane.
The pic is from just up the road in the direction the cyclist just came from

mobile.twitter.com/BeebsG/status/1596875736371015680

Bike lane is closed apparently.

In a choice between bus lane and a mixed use path I'd use the bus lane. Far safer.

I've watched the video but without audio - he didn't have to swerve to avoid the car?

99% of police officers have an IQ lower than a postage stamp. They're drawn to the job by the power and they are fucking useless.

Cyclist was totally in the right to get pissed off about a random car blocking traffic in a cycle/bus lane and having to pull out into traffic. I'd have probably called him a dickhead too.

Actually considering the cyclist immediately says "sorry I didn't realise you were unmarked police" implies "I didnt realise you were there doing a job". I'd be curious to know why they were there.

The copper is a complete overly officious prick in this situation, although on the bright side he's a good example for the kids in this video as to why we don't blindly follow authority I guess. As far as I'm aware there's no law about not swearing in front of your kids.

The copper is a complete overly officious prick in this situation, although on the bright side he's a good example for the kids in this video as to why we don't blindly follow authority I guess. As far as I'm aware there's no law about not swearing in front of your kids

There was no attempt at deescalation in this situation. You can see how that could have flared up if the person on the bike had not been co-operative and could in fact have been the kind of person to get annoyed with others and maybe use a weapon.

Overly officious prick should be compulsory on any of these fucking idiot's bios. They're disgusting.

Are you going to tell us your job so that we can all make sweeping generalisations about your character based on our worst experiences of your colleagues?

That police officer was totally out of order. The kids are going to be far more traumatised by a police car blue lighting and pulling their dad over than a random swear word.

I’ve seen far worse examples of the police throwing their weight about and actually arresting people for public order offences just because they kept (firmly but calmly) arguing about something. Seems to me these days you just have to agree with the police even if you don’t or you get arrested for wrongful thinking.

i do think though the copper had a point about someone else could have taken offence and mowed him down. I cycle a lot and while I wave my arms at idiot motorists I try and keep the swearing to a minimum. Friend of mine was out cycling with friends a bit ago and someone in a 4x4 did a close pass, one of the guys swore at him and the driver did a U turn and came and drove into her. Wrote her bike off. Yes he’s getting a conviction now but she could have been killed.

No. I genuinely don't give a fuck about anyone else's opinion. I, first hand, know this to be true. I maintain, 99% of police are cunts.

Would this have happened with a female police officer and a female cyclist?

And the police clearly weren't responding to an incident if they could immediately spend 10 minutes dealing with the cyclist.

I wonder if this is being reviewed on police courses.

Show the first bit of the video.

Then ask them what should happen next?
And so on

A WWYD for the police.

This would be an interesting one for Alfie Moore (It's a fair cop)

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b060fj66

Is it? I find that surprising but I'm my area the bus drivers are maniacs if you get to your destination on time without breaking down or randomly bursting into flames you should play the lottery their best trick was stopping children getting rowdy on the bus by breaking sharply the bus was overful and several children got hurt thankfully no breakages but they still somehow have the contract for school transport we have had a couple of fires and on two occasions the bus showed up at the school with no actual windows left

I would rather eat my own toenails than come face to face with that driving 😂

If you saw a parent swearing in the street with his children present, you'd be pretty disgusted, yet people here are saying it's ok because he is on a bicycle?

The fact Jeremy Vine supports him tells me all I need to know. Although if he has had to swerve to avoid it, he sounds dangerous - I've never had to swerve to avoid an already parked car since I tend to use my eyes to look ahead for any obstructions so I can safely move out on time.