Almost got scraped by a reckless BMW driver

RogueTr00per

RogueTr00per

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So this evening after work my cousin and I were coming from Century City on the N1 making our way over to the M5 (southbound towards Muizenberg) driving along the offramp that connects the N1 to the M5 (I think the speed limit here is 60km/h). We were doing about 70km/h in the left lane when this idiot BMW 3 series driver in the right lane doing about 80km/h (wanting to cut in front of me) comes to within 30cm of front right side of my car, driving that close to me for a second or two until he was able to have his way.

So I hooted him and flashed him, followed him for a while as he weaved between cars (not indicating) and what not. When we overtook him as he took the N2 offramp towards the airport he seemed totally not fazed smoking his tobacco pipe. I'd say he was in his fifties.

If I was so inclined what sort of action (legal or otherwise) could I take against this moron to discourage him from driving like this in future? The photo we took of him has his licence plate number.

IMG-20131010-WA0000.jpg
 
What you could have done, at the time, was to call the cops and tell them there's a reckless driver on the road. I had a case a few years ago where a guy almost drove me off the road, overtook a truck on the left hand side using one of those merging lanes, and almost caused a few accidents... called the cops, (well the passenger did), and 5 minutes later, 4 cop cars were tearing up the tar behind me.

All you can do now is.... nothing.
 
You have no proof of what happened, hence you cannot do anything. Would have been a different story if you had recorded the incident with a video camera.
 
You can make a case for wreckless driving and wreckless endangerment which without evidence won't go anywhere but a knock on the door by the cop shop might be enough to get the message across.

*****

Actually come to think of it there should be evidence, there are a million cameras on those roads. If you date and time is accurate enough they could investigate that surveillance and have a very real case against the guy.

The "otherwise" option involves getting his address from friends in the right places and going to have a world with him.
 
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SauRoNZA said:
You can make a case for wreckless driving and wreckless endangerment which without evidence won't go anywhere but a knock on the door by the cop shop might be enough to get the message across.

*****

Actually come to think of it there should be evidence, there are a million cameras on those roads. If you date and time is accurate enough they could investigate that surveillance and have a very real case against the guy.

The "otherwise" option involves getting his address from friends in the right places and going to have a world with him.
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I like :) That is what I was thinking of, to give him a scare if nothing else. After all, he almost caused an accident if had freaked out or swerved to avoid him.

Would I have to make the case against him within a certain period of time, say within 24 hours?
 
StrontiumDog said:
I like :) That is what I was thinking of, to give him a scare if nothing else. After all, he almost caused an accident if had freaked out or swerved to avoid him.

Would I have to make the case against him within a certain period of time, say within 24 hours?
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It's not an accident so I don't think 24 hours is required, but I would leave it longer than a week.

Mostly because I don't know how long they hold onto surveillance footage.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Dashcam...
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Dachshund
220px-Short-haired-Dachshund.jpg
 
SauRoNZA said:
You can make a case for wreckless driving and wreckless endangerment which without evidence won't go anywhere but a knock on the door by the cop shop might be enough to get the message across.
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In my opinion wreckless driving is a good thing.
 
Rouxenator said:
At times yes, but why do you day its good in this case?
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I believe, and this is only my opinion, that StrontiumDog and also the BMW driver would prefer not to have been in a wreck. Though I fully admit this is simply conjecture from my part.
 
So...you drove like him to keep up with him...then want to make a case against him? :confused:
 
Flame suit on.....

If you were driving defensively, as you should be on our roads, you should have seen him move over to your side i.e. spotted his intention, before he was that close. A slight touch of the brake would have opened a couple of meters between you, giving him enough room to move over.

No accident, no stress, get on with your life.

What if he was a real dick, under the influence and armed and your flashing and what not resulted in a road rage incident? Would it be worth it....

IMO to many people want to enforce the law on our roads and that is where most problems start. Let him be, he is bound to put his BMW on a kerb in the near future....

With that said, I know how you feel. I feel like ripping somebody's face of at least 10 times a day when in traffic but it is just not worth it.
 
Thats why I love my trusty Hilux - I just keep on driving like I don't see you... don't mind a scratch here and there.
 
xrapidx said:
So...you drove like him to keep up with him...then want to make a case against him? :confused:
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Not exactly like him, at least I indicated and checked blind spots when I changed lanes :p

Yah, so I was kinda angry :o and wanted to see where the ********* went and get a photo of his licence plate... The place where he overtook me was so senseless as within 200 metres we were pretty much bumper to bumper as the lanes merge and there is always a slowdown there due to congestion.
 
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