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.

Have you seen the video?

He had to move into a busy road. Not ideal.

The police have to comply with the same rules as the rest of us unless they are responding to an emergency. I'd have got annoyed too. In fact I saw a police car parked on the pavement the other week and I was going to say something to them, but it was empty when I walked past. And still empty when I walked past again on my way home.

Drivers who park in bus and cycle lanes and on pavements are a menace. Whether police or not.

Username888, plenty of car drivers have sworn at me over the years with kids in the car, where are the police then?

Bus lanes are cycle lanes too

Yes, and the parked car is obvious the whole time, you can see the brake lights from the start of the video.
If he can't deal with merging onto a busy road it probably isn't a good idea for him to cycle. Around here, cycle lanes are rare, maybe there should be more, but often cyclists have to cycle on the main road.
As for the police officers pulling him up, I assume he would report it if a driver gave him abuse, he just seems to be annoyed that he was caught rather than getting to swear at someone and make a swift exit without having to face up to his actions. 🤷‍♀️

If he can't deal with merging onto a busy road it probably isn't a good idea for him to cycle. Around here, cycle lanes are rare, maybe there should be more, but often cyclists have to cycle on the main road

Cycling into a busy road is not ideal when the bus lane - which can be used by cyclists is occupied by a parked car.

You expect buses to be in there. I would wait for a bus - I wouldn't feel happy merging with busy traffic in London.

You don't expect cars to be parked there.

Cyclist here.

This is one of the self righteous types of cyclists that give us a bad name.

I’m all for taking and using the lane, but what if a bus was in the bus lane, picking up passengers, would he have sworn at it?

Stationary obstructions are a way of life, screaming at people isn’t ever going to endear you. And doing it when you have kids on the back - great example of poor parenting.

I see the same sort of behaviour when people make mistakes on the road…. The better drivers and cyclists know when someone ahead is dithering, confused, and just them a bit of space, rather than sit up their jacksy or toot horns or abuse.

The policeman was in the wrong and escalated the situation rather than apologise.

Nothing out of the ordinary then.

This. But as usual in this country cyclists are vilified no matter what.

Swearing wasn't appropriate.
The police behaviour wasn't appropriate.

I guess the policeman took 1 look at the cyclist with kids on the back and guessed it would be safe to act like that.

Would he have reacted differently had it been someone different on a bike who swore at him?

No, you were right the first time.

It's a very sad state of affairs that cyclists have to share the bus lane with buses, where people also sometimes park, endangering the lives of cyclists

The police car was clearly visible, even in the morning dim light, from quite a distance away. Therefore no need to 'swerve' into traffic- obeying the rules of the road, you check over your shoulder, indicate, and, when it is safe to do so, pull out.

It concerns me that this cyclist a) has poor eyesight (didn't seem to be able to see the car in good time to make his manoeuvre) and b) appears to believe that indicating = pulling out into traffic regardless of what's approaching. Also, bus lanes are prone to having vehicles in them, which will need to be avoided.

When you add into those things that he thought that the best course of action was to swear at the occupants of the car, I'd say that he's not safe to be on the roads until he's done a cycling proficiency course. Especially when he's got children in a little box at the front of the bicycle.

I noticed that he started simpering obsequiously when he found out it was a police officer challenging him on his profanity. I wonder what he would have done if it had been someone genuinely aggressive?

Shodan, meanwhile atrocious parking guy gets off Scott free?

@Devoutspoken Who knows why the police car is parked there? I don't- do you?

The car isn't 'atrociously' parked- it's parked in a normal manner, but with lights on. Whether it should be there is another question, but not one unqualified Twitter/Daily Mail/Mumsnetters can answer.

Transport for London’s bus lane policy exempts any vehicle used for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes if the observance of the controls of the bus lane would hinder the use of the vehicle, whether or not with blue lights.

That was as of 2021. So I guess it would depend on what business the police car was engaged with at the time, but on the face of it it seems that the police car was ok to be there, in which case there's even more need for the cyclist to stay off the roads until he's properly educated in safe cycling.

According to the article the police were there to stop a particular vehicle so they were on police business not cooping

That is utter bollocks. Other than yourself, who hasn't called an idiot driver something foul while driving? Just because he's on a bike doesn't make it any different.

If they were on undercover work, then pulling over a cyclist because he swore at them isn't that good an undercover tactic.

Its a hypothetical situation. The police were there on that occassion.

Quite, they can't have been that busy doing what ever police work they were doing if they had time to deal with a man swearing at them

@Idtotallybangdreamoftheendlessnotgonnalie

Speak for yourself but I've never ever sworn at a cyclist, other road user or pedestrian that they can hear. Yes, I've muttered to myself, but never sworn at anyone. The only people who have ever sworn at me are bloody cyclists, despite the fact I do everything I can to give them space and time. The Mamils are the arseholes of the road. The guys without helmets and lycra and just getting themselves from A-B never abuse anyone.

This wouldn't surprise me at all!

Username, ah, that's quite sweet that you think the police would intervene when an aggressive driver is swearing at a cyclist.

Meh. You go around swearing and shouting at people, you can expect swear and shout at the wrong person someday 🤷🏻‍♀️