Stop Line Bandits : What to do?

[Zimba]

Every morning I'm stressed out by people crossing the stop lines at roundabouts and T junctions before I'm even halfway across them. It's an epidemic of law breaking! I've actually pulled a few drivers up for this and got nothing but abuse. Should I report them to the police, garner evidence? I saw a hilarious thing in town regarding these Bandits, one guy in a huge truck pulled out on a cyclist, even BEFORE he was on the junction. The cyclist dismounted and threw his bike down in front of the truck and began taking copious photos. The driver, incensed, inched forward and then the cyclist immediately put his phone to his ear mouthing '999' to the driver. Sure enough, after a small crowd had gathered in support, the police arrived and took him away.

It seems the highway code has been torn up, or convienently forgotten. What to do about these dandy highwaymen!!?

[De Sisti]

Should I report them to the police, garner evidence?

Yes.
Who got taken away, the motorist, or the cyclist?

[Zimba]

The truck driver! The cyclist had lots of photos of him well over the white lines, which he retreated behind when the police were on their way. Afaik he's been charged with dangerous driving and various highway code infractions. To be honest, if I reported every Stop Line Bandit on my commute, I'd never get to work of a morning!

[andrewjoseph]

i don't get the first post either.

"huge truck pulled out on a cyclist, even BEFORE he was on the junction"

who pulled out before the junction? the truck can't pull out before he gets to the junction, if the cyclist wasn't at the junction then maybe the the lorry had right of way?

if the cyclist had the presence of mind to put his bike in front of the lorry and take photo's he wasn't very shaken up.

i'm not condemning the cyclist, but i don't understand the sequence of events.

[Ron]

...and all this is happening in Troon?

[Mick F]

This will be Troon in SW Scotland, not the Troon near Camborne in Cornwall.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.19489 ... 832111,12z

Troon near Ayr in SW Scotland is in a very busy area with many fast major roads and bypasses. I've driven and cycled round there, and also worked in Troon for a short while.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.534874,-4.6072723,11z

[Tangled Metal]

Mick, is there anywhere you haven't lived or worked in UK? Don't take it the wrong way but I'm sure I've heard you say you've lived/worked at a lot of places over a lot of threads over the last year. You must have had quite ab lot of jobs or work has moved you around a lot. Seriously, I mean no offence by that but you've travelled a lot in the UK I think.

[Tangled Metal]

Stop line bandits. I like that phrase.

I grew up learning not to get scared by my dad's last minute stops at roundabouts. However, working on the principle that every little helps I'm going to confront him about it very soon. He drives my toddler son around and I am plucking up courage to put him straight on stop line banditry plus tailgating.

Perhaps we should all confront those close to us who are such bandits. Sort out ourselves and friends/family and it's a start.

[Mick F]

Mick, is there anywhere you haven't lived or worked in UK? Don't take it the wrong way but I'm sure I've heard you say you've lived/worked at a lot of places over a lot of threads over the last year. You must have had quite ab lot of jobs or work has moved you around a lot. Seriously, I mean no offence by that but you've travelled a lot in the UK I think.

Yep!

Lived in N Wales as a young kid, then moved to Wigan Lancs for my school days. Parents and all the ancestors were Lancastrians.
Dad and Mum liked to travel, and Dad was a traveling salesman and knew his way up and down the country. I inherited a fascination for travel.
Joined the RN and moved to Devonport/Torpoint. Married and lived in Portsmouth, but prior to that drove up and down to Lancs from Pompey most weeks.
Sister was at Uni in Bristol and married a Bristol chap so spent some time there.
After living in Pompey after we married, we moved to E Scotland. I worked there for six or seven years, and one job saw me going out to various places in support of small warships. I spent a fortnight in Troon during a big NATO exercise supporting a minesweeper squadron.
Whilst living in Scotland, we travelled and camped just about all over! I cycled quite a bit back then too.
Later, we moved to Plymouth, then afterwards back to Scotland but on the W side. Again, we travelled all over, and I cycled lots too.
Meanwhile, we often visited Lancs, some of this pre M74 when the M6 was quite new so far north. I seem to know just about all the roads up and down the country, especially on the western side.

First time I drove to Devonport for Lancs, the M5 stopped at Tewksbury and you needed the A38 for the rest of the way. Also, when I was driving to Portsmouth, the route from Gloucester was on all the old roads through the towns an villages.
So yes, I do know my way round, and I have been to many places, though I'm a bit sketchy about the SE of England.

These days, retired, having left the RN in 1996, and lived here for just over 30years.

................. well, you did ask!

[ChrisF]

"huge truck pulled out on a cyclist, even BEFORE he was on the junction"
who pulled out before the junction? the truck can't pull out before he gets to the junction

I assume this was at a roundabout, the truck was pulling out into the roundabout while the cyclist (already on the roundabout, hence having right-of-way) was approaching the point where the truck should have stopped. This is a particular concern of mine, too, and I hate large busy roundabouts because of it, even with 50 years experience. Unless the vehicle has actually stopped at the white line, and/or you have good eye contact, there's no way of knowing if the driver has seen you.

[axel_knutt]

Unless the vehicle has actually stopped at the white line, and/or you have good eye contact, there's no way of knowing if the driver has seen you.

Tell me about it. On a roundabout that was clear of traffic behind me, I was passing an entrance with a queue of stationary traffic in the N/S lane waiting at the line, but there was a van tanking up the O/S lane past the queue. As he approached the line he looked to his right, behind me, and saw the roundabout was clear, so he just kept going. At the last instant before he crossed the line, he looked forwards and saw me right in front of him. He swerved violently, and missed my rear wheel by about a millimetre.

[Zimba]

Yes, it's quite a sizable roundabout just coming into Ayr town. What we refer to as the 'big city'! Apparently the cyclist had complete right of way and before he gets to the last junction the truck driver was already over the white line and pulling forward. I've had a Stop Line Bandit nearly every day now since I restarted commuting in February. It's extremely frustrating and one day I'm pretty sure their highway code dandiness is going to do me in.

Perhaps we should have advanced stop lines on EVERY single junction in the UK. I'm sick to death of the unnecessary nervousness I feel, and for what, so a driver can be on their way 0.5s quicker than if they'd obeyed the law?

I spoke to the young lad after the incident and the police were away and he was still pretty shaken up. It goes to Court in January and I await the outcome with not much hope of punishment for the driver. I don't know why professional drivers even attempt these kind of behaviours. Maybe something in their tea! !?

[Tangled Metal]

................. well, you did ask!

I did, I did!

I think I probably travelled some of the same roads past Gloucester on our trips to my grandparents at Southampton from west lancs. Birdlip and a few nice little pubs serving proper bass bitter. The highwayman's was one pub but we occasionally stopped at another a bit up the hill. Past thatched cottages and even getting a little pheasant road kill on the way down. Twice a year or perhaps more if we detour on way to summer holidays near Sidmouth.

Spent many a long journey stuck on those small roads round there.

PS could be wrong as I I was a kid at the time.

[Ljaydee]

I get this situation on pretty much every ride now, doesn't seem to matter whether you are wearing hi vis on not, lights or not, they just don't see you because they are are not looking for you.

To be fair though, in most cases I get an apologetic acknowledgement, except the Ocado driver in Windsor yesterday who looked at me as though I had now right to be there.

[Zimba]

I get it nearly every day now, though they DO see me, there is eyeball contact yet they blithely inch out past the stop lines right at me! I can understand why a cyclist incensed by this blatant disregard for road safety and the highway (man) code would throw their bike down in front of a car in disgust!