Single Pannier on the left or the right ?

[freiston]

I sometimes use a single pannier on the right. I did have a car rub it once when I pulled away from the ASL to go straight on from the front of the queue at a traffic light (changing from red). The road was narrow and the driver decided to pull out to get past me as the lights changed. I have to admit that I gave the side of his car a noisy slap as he passed but he didn't stop. He had already done a dangerous pass on me earlier before getting to the junction. I ought to have stayed behind him.

Google street view

[mjr]

I have to admit that I gave the side of his car a noisy slap as he passed but he didn't stop. He had already done a dangerous pass on me earlier before getting to the junction. I ought to have stayed behind him.

No you oughtn't! You ought not to have slapped him, but videoed and reported him. Even without a video, that sounds an awful lot like he failed to stop after a collision so the police may well have taken a report off only the number plate.

[The utility cyclist]

I have to admit that I gave the side of his car a noisy slap as he passed but he didn't stop. He had already done a dangerous pass on me earlier before getting to the junction. I ought to have stayed behind him.

No you oughtn't! You ought not to have slapped him, but videoed and reported him. Even without a video, that sounds an awful lot like he failed to stop after a collision so the police may well have taken a report off only the number plate.

No, they would have laughed in your face and told you to stop wasting their time, IME the police are useless, even after I was knocked to the ground and injured (albeit slightly) and the driver initially getting out then getting back in - when someone told me to stay still in case I'd hurt my back, and then booted it. Wasn't interested in getting witnesses who stopped to get statements, (apparently not one of the dozen people got any of the registration plate didn't bother to check local CCTV despite my suggestions based on which direction I saw them turn and checking the outward facing ones from various businesses. Oh and finally didn't actually bother to write back to me, only when I chased it up did they come up with some bull and clearly spent the total of naff all time investigating. So if you think plod are seriously going to do anything because a motorist scraped your pannier bag you're very much mistaken.

The way to go about it is to dial 999 say that a motorist drove into you and that it was the second time in a matter of moments they had lost control of their vehicle, that you suspect the driver was drink/drug driving due to the smell emanating from the vehicle as you were next to it, which is possibly hence the impaired driving ability, they were heading in x direction/this is their licence plate, given the standard of driving you might want to follow it up asap as they could kill someone in that state.
That will pique their attention more than a slight grazing of your bag.

[mjr]

IME the police are useless, even after I was knocked to the ground and injured (albeit slightly) [...]

Fortunately for me and it sounds like unfortunately for you, the police are not one single organisation and it's a postcode lottery. Norfolk Constabulary do take this sort of stuff seriously in my experience, even if sometimes they just file a note against the number plate for the next time it comes to their attention. But I've heard that Cambridgeshire were bizarrely rather anti-cycling until recently, although I've been told it's improved.

[brooksby]

I suspect it's just what you get used to. S single pannier always goes on the left, and if I try to ride with just a single on the right the bike feels 'off' somehow.