Where to Report Dangerous Drivers?
A BikeSD reader from Solana Beach wrote in asking for help. He was intimidated and harassed by a driver and his passengers and wanted to know how he could go about reporting such drivers.
In San Diego, I typically call San Diego’s non-emergency number at 619-531-2000 with a license plate number, description of driver and vehicle and other details I can recall. There are many police officers who ride and race and are thus able to address cyclists’ concerns. One is lucky to explain the situation to sympathetic ears. If you are in immediate danger, obviously call 911. But from hearsay, I’ve been informed that 911 calls are typically bogged down by rubber-neckers calling in to report freeway collisions and instead of getting put on hold, one is better off calling the non-emergency numbers.
However, our reader and rider, Tim, who wrote in lives in Solana Beach with the following dilemma:
Today I was riding my bicycle in Solona Beach N on the 101 well within the bike lane. An adult male driver in a white super duty truck moved into the bike lane so that his young son could startle me by screaming at me as he passed. The traffic light turned red and the driver was forced to stop. He changed lanes (away from the bike lane) and rolled up his windows. I approached him at the light and knocked on the window. His female passenger rolled down the window and before I could even say anything he says “just f#@$ng walk away before I get out and stomp your a$$”. Is there a venue to report this kind of thing? If I would have taken a picture of his license plate could I have submitted it somewhere? It was a gorgeous day, I was having a great ride, and this just ruined my day. It doesn’t seem right. Thanks for your help!
So BikeSD readers in Solana Beach and beyond, any advice? How do we address intimidating tactics effectively? There has been far too many negative interactions on the roads lately between automotive drivers and cyclists, sometimes leading to fatal ends. What can one do?