Report a bad Driver

I work with our local Community Constable in producing joint articles for a local monthly paper. Recently we considered promoting the "Report a Bad Driver" form that is available on the Police Website. I have made several of these reports, mainly involving dangerous or blatantly illegal overtaking.

The idea is that motorists who observe bad driving can make a formal complaint with all the details. The procedure then requires Police to visit the alleged offender and discuss the incident with them. Of course, this involves quite a bit of work. And the discussion can soon become a kind of "He Said" but "I Say" thing. Apparently the results are not very often conclusive.

I can understand that it could easily consume Police time that will not have any significant outcome. In most cases it would only be an irritant for the offending driver. So we decided not to promote the form with a magazine article.

But encouraging drivers to be responsible for each other doesn't seem to be a bad thing. If the present system is not efficient why not adjust the procedure so that reports are simply noted in a file for the vehicle concerned. When a consistent series of, say, three significant reports accumulates on the file within a defined period, apparently involving the same driver, there could surely be some justification in the Police taking the matter up with the person concerned by letter or, in some cases, a personal visit.

Let's not throw out the baby with the dirty bathwater.