Notice of intended prosecution

[drw8]

Got a letter through on Friday about an incident that happened on the 22nd of Jan at the airport roundabout on the A96.

 

The letter says I drove either 1) dangerously or 2) without due care and attention.

 

What happened is on approaching the roundabout heading towards Inverurie I caught up with a BMW M5, we were both in the right lane turning right towards the airport. He was driving like he was lost or looking for something (slowly, not paying attention to the road ahead) and after completing the turn around the roundabout he moved to the left (assuming he was letting me pass) and I stayed to the right making use of the merging lane.

 

As I almost got past him, he sped up to stop me completing the merge and forced me into on coming traffic. He eventually braked and let me in, then started to follow me closely and starting shouting and pointing to his car cam. Next set of traffic lights he pulled up along side me and said he caught it on camera and his wife was calling the police.

 

I never managed to get his registration plate, otherwise I would have reported him immediately.

 

Now I'm worried and surprised that I've been accused of dangerous driving, when he was the one driving dangerously.

[philbes]

Did you have a passenger (witness) in your car? No actual collision and it is often difficult to judge actual/relative speeds from a dash cam. Have you received a Notice of Intention to Prosecution (NIP) or just a letter giving you the opportunity to present your version of events?

I recently took a video of a 40 minute journey on an A-road and then asked friends to judge the speed at various points on the journey. Without exception all estimates of my speeds were too high.

[drw8]

No passenger in my car and no collision. Just an nip. Called 101 to find out more and they said it's just a waiting game and the officer dealing with it will make contact today when she's back in work.

Is it worthwhile seeking legal advice before speaking to police? Gf has shown me a few websites dedicated to motoring offenses like motorlawyer.co.uk or motoroffence.co.uk

[MickA]

Just say it wasn't you driving the car at the time, end of!

 

 

Doing the social media rounds (and local TV) down here at the moment is a guy who provided cam footage of him being knocked off his cycle, car reg was there too. The police say they cannot prosecute the driver as they have no proof who was driving the car at the time. Apparently it was a hire car, still don't see how they can get away with it though.

 

 

Does sound like the driver of the cam fitted car (BMW) had a rush of excitement, another for his vid collection maybe......Entrapment???

Edited 8 February, 2016 by MickA

[sharkrider]

doubt there is enough evidence in the video to be worthy of a prosecution, by your description it was his fault, without knowing anything as an impartial, at best it would be 50/50....

 

call it out, it would undoubtedly be dropped, reply to the NIP with the information you have given here and dispute it.

Edited 8 February, 2016 by sharkrider

[drw8]

I did suspect badge snobbery being the reason he sped up.

I don't know if he has made mention of the video or shown it to the police, if he hasn't then it's 2 statements versus my own and that's what I'm scared of.

It does have a note at the bottom of the letter saying it might not go any further, but I thought the police would speak to me first before getting sent an nip?

[Brimma]

Just say it wasn't you driving the car at the time, end of!

Seriously? :(

[Redboy]

Sounds like the M5 driver was taking up the correct position in good time and mistook your positive attitude pulling past him using the merge lane as yet another M5 ' challenger' . If he took the time to report it then in his eyes you were driving inconsiderately. It will probably come to nothing.

[Chunk11]

Just say it wasn't you driving the car at the time, end of!

 

 

Doing the social media rounds (and local TV) down here at the moment is a guy who provided cam footage of him being knocked off his cycle, car reg was there too. The police say they cannot prosecute the driver as they have no proof who was driving the car at the time. Apparently it was a hire car, still don't see how they can get away with it though.

 

 

Does sound like the driver of the cam fitted car (BMW) had a rush of excitement, another for his vid collection maybe......Entrapment???

I've got an idea...

Wait for the officer to contact you, tell them the truth in the same way you have posted on here. If they do have the footage then they will obviously compare your version of events to the footage. More than likely it will get dropped although worst case scenario would be a summons for driving without due care rather than dangerous driving.

You could seek legal advice but in my eyes telling the truth, when you feel you have done nothing wrong, is the best course of action.

[999pooch]

If it's as you've described here, it will be dropped.

Unless you were reckless, excessively speeding or aggressive I can't see them pursuing it.

No doubt they just want to give you a scare.

[Aurial]

Just say it wasn't you driving the car at the time, end of

Whatever advice you decide to take, please don't let it be this. It's 6 points for not supplying the details of the driver when you receive a NIP.

[james0james]

Not knowing how good the cam footage is,just relax don't do anything stupid and wait for the next step.

 

You will be able to explain facts so just wait for that.

 

Maybe write down what happened just so you can go through it (maybe fine tune it,what you have already said is very positive) read it and if any other info comes to mind add it,when you have to explain your facts just read off what you have written down..

 

Is there cctv in the area ?  may help or hinder you.

Edited 8 February, 2016 by james0james

[drw8]

Just spoken to the officer dealing with this and she said she saw the footage and it doesn't show the M5 speeding up, it shows me overtaking into oncoming traffic.

 

Having seen dashcam footage on youtube, it only shows the bonnet. So it wouldn't show me merging/passing/side by side with him both in the same lane (me not in the on coming lane) and me appearing last minute, when he decides to brake.

[999pooch]

Just spoken to the officer dealing with this and she said she saw the footage and it doesn't show the M5 speeding up, it shows me overtaking into oncoming traffic.

Having seen dashcam footage on youtube, it only shows the bonnet. So it wouldn't show me merging/passing/side by side with him both in the same lane (me not in the on coming lane) and me appearing last minute, when he decides to brake.

Perspective is a wonderful thing, things can look totally different when looking at it from a different view.

With regard to overtaking into oncoming traffic, this again is difficult to ascertain without seeing the footage. Most overtaking manoeuvres are taken into oncoming traffic (unless it's an empty road). How close is the oncoming traffic? Does it pose a risk?

[drw8]

I/we pass a few on coming cars, but only because he sped up.

[Brimma]

Have you got a link to the Youtube footage?

[drw8]

Sorry, I was speaking about youtube dashcam videos in general. Have tried looking to see if he has put it up, but no joy.

[BJM]

So, when you found the road was narrowing and there was traffic coming towards you, why didn't you simply lift off, brake and drop back in behind him?

[drw8]

As I was almost past him and was surprised to see him speeding up.

[RainbowFire]

Time to invest in a dashcam of your own maybe?

[drw8]

Time to invest in a dashcam of your own maybe?

 

Oh yes.

[MickA]

So are they prosecuting you, or just a word has sufficed?

[RainbowFire]

Oh yes.

 

I've got these in the cars...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281903204584

 

...not as spectacular as a Blackvue, but it has front and back cameras and takes decent enough pictures.....just add a memory card.

[Auric Goldfinger]

I've got these in the cars...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281903204584

 

...not as spectacular as a Blackvue, but it has front and back cameras and takes decent enough pictures.....just add a memory card.

 

Does it record the rear view from the front Camara/housing , obviously pointing rearwards ?

 

Looks a nice piece of kit.

[RainbowFire]

Does it record the rear view from the front Camara/housing , obviously pointing rearwards ?

 

Looks a nice piece of kit.

 

 

All the recording and power stuff is in the front (you can buy just the front on it's own). The rear is just a camera on one long cable

It does have a shock sensor, although it seems to dump files in the "locked" folder a little randomly. You get two mounts, the usual sucker-mount, and a slightly more discreet flat mount, which means you can get it tucked right up behind the interior mirror.

 

Front footage:

Day

Night

 

Rear footage:

Day:

Night:

 

Whilst not to the quality of some more expensive units.......it's only £40 for front and rear, the footage is easily usable (you can read the Astra's number-plate on the rear/night @0:47) and I think this would be very usable in the event of an "incident". In the case of OP I think the advantage of the rear would to have shown the BMW falling back before charging up the inside.

 

There is audio, but it's pretty appalling, and seemed to be full of swearing for some reason ;)

 

 

 

 

Footnote: the red Audi towards the end of the day footage (front and rear) is our very own MDK1 (Mike).