Whilst I was walking home along the pavement in Rayleigh Road, Thundersley, SS7 3TB, shortly before noon (11:49 hrs) on 19 March 2014, walking in a southerly direction down from the brow of the hill and approaching the Woodmans Arms Pub, the vehicle pictured below, drove up behind me, and drove aggressively up and deeply onto the pavement at about 28 mph, as the road gently curves to the left, before swerving back off the pavement just before the Bus Stop outside the Woodmans' Arms, where a Family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children) were waiting for the bus, immediately after passing the very prominent road sign which shows a 'pedestrians crossing' triangle, a 'roundabout ahead' warning triangle and a rectangular 'Reduce Speed Now' sign, at a point where the kerb is lowered for a distance of about 8 to 10 metres to give vehicular access to the front hard standing/parking area outside number 387 Rayleigh Road. The rogue driver, a young, dark haired male, narrowly missed hitting me with his nearside wing mirror as the car swept past. The driver had apparently mounted the pavement because vehicles travelling up the hill in the opposite direction, were having to pull out and drive slightly over into his side of the road in order to pass a stationary trade vehicle parked half on the pavement on the opposite side of the road. As the rogue driver swept past me I reacted instantly by shouting loudly "Oi - watch where you are going matey" and as I did so I broke into a run and pursued the car down the hill past the Family of four at the bus stop and managed to take four photos. The driver left the pavement and returned to the road once he had negotiated the temporary 'hold up' and narrowly avoiding a collision with the Family of four waiting on the pavement, at the bus stop, outside the Woodmans Arms. The Family all smiled at me as I ran past and said “well done – go get him” and I was able to get four photos of the traffic stream he was in as he impatiently negotiated the traffic momentarily delaying his progress at the junction of Rayleigh Road and Daws Heath Road. I have submitted the only 'photo that clearly shows his number plate. I observed that the car was a light metallic green Peugeot Hatchback and afterwards, according to the Euro Car Parts 'Oil finder' application on their web site the vehicle with this reg number: BL51 HSD was first registered in 2001 and is a Peugeot 307 hatchback with a 1.6 litre petrol engine. From the way the driver mounted the pavement so fluently and 'at such speed' and at a point where the kerb is lowered, I would say that he has made a habit of 'cutting the corner' here whenever he fancies or whenever the traffic is heavy, on a regular basis. I would also guess that he lives locally. After crossing the junction, he sped off very briskly along the Rayleigh Road towards Hadleigh. His windows were wound right down as he drove past me and he undoubtedly heard me shouting at him. Having then almost immediately been living away from home for over 4 weeks caring for my Mother-in-Law in North Essex, I eventually reported the incident to the Police at Rayleigh Police Station on Tuesday 22 April 2014.

To my great dismay the Police Officer said that they can do nothing to prevent this driver actually hitting someone in the near future nor give him any kind of warning or caution, because 'I was not actually physically injured' and because they have no ability to 'cross compare or correlate' such reports entered onto their computer system, nor to gather matching data recorded elsewhere on the Police National Computer Network. Apparently if I witness or experience anything like this again, I need to get witness statements from members of the public who can corroborate my story and back up my photographic evidence etc. The female desk officer at Rayleigh Police Station was very pleasant and understanding about my concern and added that she sees similar examples of careless, dangerous and illegal driving every week but invariably there is nothing that the Police can do unless the action is witnessed by a police patrol car and they can pursue the bad driver, and/or take down the number and thus ultimately pay a visit to the address of the 'registered keeper' to make further enquiries etc.

Does any one on this Forum know any way of bringing such bad driving behaviour to book ?