[JoeTown244GL]

Joe & Friends
What about a forum where you could report Aggressive Drivers for the record? That way when one of us gets wacked as one of us will eventually there may be a record of other cyclist's dealings with that driver.

If I report a bad driver and the surrounding details and later on he goes on to kill another cyclist, with a written record of his previous actions here, maybe the prosecution will be easier and maybe the family will have an easier time collecting some damages. And maybe word gets out not to screw with cyclists.

I know my local PD could give a good Gosh Darn about my safety. Maybe if a town got a reputation as being hostile on the internet cyclists could avoid it, thus taking our dollars away from them. Chambers of commerce might, just might, notice our efforts and put presure on the the "powers that be" to changer thier ways towards cyclist?

What do you think of the idea?

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[Joe Gardner]

I dont think the forums have the size needed to make this effective. There are what, 150,000,000 cars in the states, and under 8000 members on the forums? :)

You may want to check out http://roadragers.com/addentry.htm , its not targeted to cyclists, but it may be worth your time if you run into a really bad driver.

[Chris L]

The state cycle unit here in Queensland recently set up a Police Complaints Database. Basically, riders (or drivers) who encounter aggressive, dangerous, threatening or unlawful road behaviour can call (07) 3364 6464, or alternatively can visit their local police station and report the incident of they don't feel like calling a Brisbane number. Depending on the severity of the complain, the police may decide to contact and speak to the driver, but more importantly their details are recorded so that repeat offenders can be dealt with more harshly (one hopes).

Perhaps this is something you can suggest to your local police authorities, possibly through your local advocacy group.

[Jupe]

For those in the Twin Cities, the Minneapolis Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance (http://www.bikeped.org/) recently set up an incident report form/ database (http://www.bikeped.org/DriverIncident.html).

Submitted Information is automatically forwarded to the Department of Public Safety and is logged in the BPA Incident Database. If you choose to have your report posted online as a warning to other bikers and walkers it will appear (without your personal details) on: www.bikeped.org/IncidentReports.html

You may also submit this information directly to the Department of Public Safety at:
https://www.dps.state.mn.us/patrol/unsafe/report.htm. Please note however the the DPS does not retain old reports, thus precluding pattern isolation.



So it looks like they are trying to identify repeat offenders.

I think this kind of thing could be effective at the local level if it is widely known and used in the cycling community. That actually just gave me an idea: I'm going to print this info up on business cards and pass them out to cyclists I meet. I just had another idea: for this to be effective, motorists need to know about it too - they need to know that there may be consequences for their actions. I may suggest that BPA send a press release to local papers about this. What do you guys think?

I'm really tired of aggressive and abusive drivers who simply refuse to share the road. I'm quite certain that many of them are unaware that I have a right to the road but that is absolutely no excuse for their aggressive behavior. Maybe if there is a greater chance that they will be held accountable for their actions they will think twice before endangering cyclists.

[Chris L]

I think this kind of thing could be effective at the local level if it is widely known and used in the cycling community. That actually just gave me an idea: I'm going to print this info up on business cards and pass them out to cyclists I meet. I just had another idea: for this to be effective, motorists need to know about it too - they need to know that there may be consequences for their actions. I may suggest that BPA send a press release to local papers about this. What do you guys think?

While sending a local press-release to the papers is a good idea, I wouldn't be holding my breath for staggering results just yet. A couple of years ago they ran a TV ad campaign along the lines of "share the road" here, and to be honest it made not a whit of difference. I think the most important thing to do is make sure that the drivers who need to be reported are being reported. Having said that I probably should learn to practice what I preach. I counted at least six in Surfers Paradise today and didn't report any of them.