A driver in Kingston-upon-Thames is said to have aimed their car at a cyclist in a road rage incident yesterday but missed the intended target and instead crashed into a hair salon, causing extensive damage to the front of the building.
The incident took place yesterday evening at around 6pm on Park Road, around 50 metres from the entrance to Richmond Park. Local resident and road.cc site user Stuart Forrest said that word soon spread around, and he went to look at the aftermath an hour or so after it happened.
He also spoke to an eyewitness, and said: “I'm told that the cyclist and the driver had had an altercation (over what I don't know) and that the cyclist had tried to kick the car.
“The woman's response was completely out of proportion though because she apparently tried to drive at the bike.
“The car went out of control and appears to have completely destroyed the front of a hair salon (not a house as I'd originally said) just after it closed, before bouncing off a van and another car. The car in question is a white Audi Q7, which is local – I've seen it around, it's quite a distinctive car.
He said that there was “no sign of the rider or driver, but plenty of police and two fire engines in attendance.”
He added: “If it's true, I hope they throw an attempted murder charge at the driver. Whatever provocation there was, this was an entirely out of proportion response and she was extremely lucky that nobody was killed.”
Stuart also tweeted pictures of the scene, which show the front of the salon propped up to prevent the building from collapsing.
Aftermath of road rage in Kingston. Woman allegedly drove at rider, missed, ended up in house. @roadcc #cycling pic.twitter.com/vcsfQW5UM2
— Stuart Forrest (@MrStuartForrest) June 7, 2014
Another person who lives locally, Andrea Craig, also tweeted pictures of the aftermath, one of which show the cyclist’s mangled mountain bike.
Unbelievable and thankfully other than the building, the bike, a car and a van the people are ok. pic.twitter.com/KV8oSnWy51
— Andrea Craig (@MrsNoBags) June 7, 2014
The bike is totally mangled and cyclist ok but the car is a rightoff. My fav hairdressers Park Salon is not ok. 🙁 pic.twitter.com/Vho2Y7Buum
— Andrea Craig (@MrsNoBags) June 7, 2014
In a statement emailed to road.cc, the Metropolitan Police said:
Police were called at around 18:00hrs on Saturday, 7 June, to a collision between a car and a cyclist in Park Road, Kingston-upon-Thames.
The car was subsequently in collision with a hairdresser's shop.
Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene. The male cyclist was taken to hospital with a small cut to his arm. He was discharged that evening.
The driver of the car, a 30-year-old woman, was arrested on suspicion of attempted GBH. She was taken to a south-west London police station and bailed to return on a date in September.
At this early stage, officers believe there had been a heated argument between the cyclist and the driver while both were stationary. During the course of the dispute, the cyclist kicked the car, an Audi Q7. The woman drove the car away and was in collision with the cyclist and then the shop.
Officers from Kingston CID are investigating. Enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances.
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call police on 020 8721 5880.
83 thoughts on “Kingston driver ‘aimed car at cyclist,’ missed – and crashed into hair salon”
oh can i start the bets!!
£30
oh can i start the bets!!
£30 fine
This will not turn out well.
This will not turn out well.
Attempted GBH? Reduced to
Attempted GBH? Reduced to wafting a tickle stick no doubt by the CPS 😉
Audi Q7. Should have no place
Audi Q7. Should have no place on British roads.
Those #bloodybuildings always
Those #bloodybuildings always appearing out of nowhere.
If she missed the cyclist how
If she missed the cyclist how come the bikes so mangled?
Was the salon wearing a
Was the salon wearing a helmet?
Sara_H wrote:Was the salon
Don’t you mean hi-viz?
Clear contributory negligence by the hair salon X(
But I think the motorist will get a very severe penalty (by UK justice standards)for trying to kill someone here…..
I recon they will have to agree to restorative justice; say sorry and pay for a new bike?
The cyclist will get ‘done’ for criminal damage and incitement to commit murder (of himself)…..
Driver should go down for
Driver should go down for attempted murder and nothing less.
If it happens though I will eat an inner tube.
Few points and a fine smaller than the cost of filling that monstrosity with fuel is what I reckon though.
Crush the fecking car as well
gazza_d wrote:D
If it happens
Latex or Butyl ?
Oooh. I dunno. I thought the
Oooh. I dunno. I thought the going rate for deliberately driving over a cyclist was £625?
jmaccelari wrote:Oooh. I
Nope, she qualifies for the “not deliberately driving off” discount, so it’s a bargain £125 (and three stamps on your motoring loyalty card (collect 12 for a free trip to meet a magistrate for a mild telling off but no further penalty)) for this level of offence.
Are you sure she just wasn’t
Are you sure she just wasn’t trying to park?
stinga wrote:Are you sure she
Maybe he/she thought it was a ‘drive through’ hair salon?
If I attack some one with a
If I attack some one with a gun I would be in deep shit, but using a car in UK seems OK. What a F****** up country. ~X(
So, 1st offence, no sentence
So, 1st offence, no sentence or suspended sentence. A fine set at < 2% of what her car cost. 2 year driving ban. Insurance pays for damage(?). Review of sentencing guidelines for serious driving offences happening.
So, was it a man or a woman driving, trying to pervert the course of justice? courts take THAT seriously.
Shame she didn’t die
Shame she didn’t die
4×4 drivers are often
4×4 drivers are often terribly mocked for never going off road in their ‘off road’ vehicles so maybe this audi driver went off the road to prove a point to all those cruel folks who say you don’t need an offroader if you’re not involved in farming or invading third world countries with less developed highway infrastructure than Kingston upon Thames
Driver deserves a perm. ban
Driver deserves a perm. ban and some time in jail to mullet over.
chokofingrz wrote:Driver
That is fringe ing on the ridiculous; they may get a light trim of their sentence for good behaviour.
A close shave for the cyclist here…. definitely a bit hairy
Aah! The warm glow of instant
Aah! The warm glow of instant karma. B-)
However, like Sara H I am wondering about the cycle that can be seen in shot. Any chance of a bit of clarification?
Someone could have dyed.
Someone could have dyed.
pakennedy wrote:Someone could
Could’ve been a permanent
Looks like the bike got
Looks like the bike got clipped. It certainly put a crimp in someone’s day
Was the building wearing a
Was the building wearing a helmet? did it have lights on or high viz? if not its the buildings fault not the drivers……
the cyclist must have been
the cyclist must have been really scared. the q7 seven is really big. it is like a van but wider.
they are very imposing at speed.
Audi Q7. Never before in the
Audi Q7. Never before in the history of mankind has there been a vehicle more attractive to self-regarding, arrogant twats.
seven wrote:Audi Q7. Never
Fixed.
Seriously, it’s science. Drop a grand piano out of a plane at 30,000 feet, it will hit an Audi Q7 no matter what, even it has to catch a thermal to the nearest motorway. Got source around somewhere…
seven wrote:Audi Q7. Never
Not true. There is a thing called the Porsche Cayenne. It’s a huge big monster of a 4WD that is rubbish off-road. All it’s really good at is burning fuel, which the petrol version does in vast quantities (the diesel slightly less so). It has been loaded up with a lot of sophisticated and expensive technology so that it nearly handles almost as well as a conventional car with a lower centre of gravity that costs about as third as much. There’s also a thing called the Humvee, which is cruder and flashier but equally useless at anything other than using a lot of fuel.
You do have to question why anyone would want to buy one of these monstrosities.
OldRidgeback wrote:Not true.
There used to be a Porsche Cayenne that I saw regularly in Heaton Moor and Didsbury that had been lowered.
A big 4×4 with the suspension lowered.
The mind boggles.
farrell wrote:There used to
Would the word “footballer” explain this abomination?
oops!
oops!
Guns are illegal so a better
Guns are illegal so a better analogy for cases like this would be a hammer or some other every day object that can kill if used as a weapon.
cheers_drive wrote:Guns are
Guns are not illegal, I own several. You have to have a licence just like a car so the analogy is sound. However if you shoot at people your firearms licence will be permanently revoked, unlike a driving licence.
drfabulous0
Not only that even if you or me were to “just” walk along the street with shotgun unloaded (with no cartridges on person) and in a case we would face imprisonment as well.
drfabulous0 wrote:[Guns are
It’s a bit easier to get a driving licence than a firearms licence, though?
And certainly in the UK, cars (well, drivers) are responsible for more deaths each year than guns are.
Girlfriend’s dad drives a
Girlfriend’s dad drives a Q7.
Suffice to say our views on cycling differ somewhat. Definitely not a stereotype or anything in there… =))
WTF! Certainly a close
WTF! Certainly a close shave.
Of course it had to be ……. an Audi.
Depends which street, where I
Depends which street, where I grew up you would be more likely to get a stern telling off from the local Ranger, and if you gave him lip probably a punch in the face as well. There’s a lot of guns in the countyside, but not a lot of gun crime.
Rubbish, to get a driving
Rubbish, to get a driving licence you need to take theory and practical tests. To get a firearms licence you have to fill in some forms and pay some money, it’s no more difficult than getting a TV licence, well maybe a little more difficult. I mean geez, I had one at the same time as having a criminal record.
TBH guns are more like bikes than cars though, especially with the n+1 thing. Sadly I don’t get to shoot much these days as carrying guns on a bike doesn’t go down well.
That is terrifying, the
That is terrifying, the thought of a Q7 bearing down on you. Not nice at all.
Re guns analogy. Would you
Re guns analogy. Would you kick someone with a gun?
I have no idea why the type
I have no idea why the type of vehicle matters.
KiwiMike wrote:I have no idea
It matters because the vehicle in question is closer to a tank than a family hatchback. Being driven *at* by someone in one of those would be downright scary.
Granted, it wouldn’t exactly be a tea party if it was a smaller lighter vehicle…
KiwiMike wrote:I have no idea
Because the Q7 is huge, I often feel intimidated by those in my car, let alone on a bike.
Bit of a generalisation and
Bit of a generalisation and borderline sexist but in my experience women driving Q7’s are usually half witted, gormless bringers of death. Usually wearing big sunglasses, talking on a phone, stroking a stupid small dog or shouting at a small child they resent having for stealing their youth.
See also the Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5
Some Fella wrote:See also the
Ah yes, whose adverts should all run with the strapline “The four by four for those that know four by fuck all about driving…”
That’s only a stone’s throw
That’s only a stone’s throw from where a Fiat 500 driver aimed his car at me in Richmond Park. Maybe they’re a couple. He was only trying to scare me and, happily for him, there was no intervening hair salon.
The Porsche Cayenne is
The Porsche Cayenne is literally the stupidest car that has ever gone into mass production.
Though I have to agree with the general Audi sentiment. There is something about that brand that attracts aggressive, unpleasant people (never had a problem with a Merc or Alfa driver, to give examples in similar price-range).
The only thing worse than Audis are groups of young men in what used to be called ‘hot hatches’.
Ghedebrav wrote:The only
If this is going to become the topic: in my experience some of the most aggressive drivers on the road are young women driving the BMW Mini.
what goes around comes
what goes around comes around, very quickly in this case, lol
I hope the guy on the bike
I hope the guy on the bike makes a good recovery and will soon be over the trauma.
I cycle this road twice a day on my way to and from the station. The Evening Standard reports that the driver was arrested for attempted grievous bodily harm and that the person riding the bike is autistic and was wearing badge identifying himself as such.
http://tinyurl.com/AudiQ7versuspersononbike
In my experience the mini roundabout at the junction of Park Road and King’s Road is a point of contention between people on bikes and drivers. In my experience drivers do not give way to cyclists coming from the right. The Kingston Cycling Campaign asked for segregated cycle lanes on Park Road during the recent #Space4Cycling campaign before the local elections and we have highlighted to the council the number of incidents at mini-roundabouts.
Jon Fray wrote:In my
Wow – you mean that they sometimes do, in other places? 😕
I feel most sympathy for the
I feel most sympathy for the owner of the hair dressers. Hope he/she has business interruption risk that pays out for idiocy like this.
Is the woman’s insurance
Is the woman’s insurance valid, since it was not technically an accident? Surely they wouldn’t pay out if they knew she deliberately drove at someone, anyone know?
If so, probably more of a punishment than the justice system will hand out.
dodgy wrote:Is the woman’s
Must be so, surely? Considering some of the ways insurance companies will try to get out of paying for legitimate accident damages, I would have thought that “Yes, I did hit that wall but I wasn’t meaning to, I was aiming for the person in front of it” gives any insurance company a pretty good get-out…
dodgy wrote:Is the woman’s
If I remember the basics of motor insurance correctly, the third party claims (the shop and the cyclist) will always be covered by the insurance company thanks to our laws. The policy holder may however be excluded for their own first party costs, depending on their actions and the small print.
The incident is a good reminder why car insurance is mandatory for motorists, it’s incredibly easy to do an awful lot of very expensive damage with a car.
Just going to throw this out
Just going to throw this out there, but i guarantee the whole “aimed at cyclist” part of this will be swept under carpet and will focus entirely on hitting the hair salon.
Thus, you fined x amount for causing damage and stupid driving, rather than
Go to jail for x amount for trying to kill someone..
It gets worse… it was an
It gets worse… it was an autistic cyclist, and the driver had 5 kids in the car!
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/motorist-arrested-on-suspicion-of-attempted-grievous-bodily-harm-after-autistic-cyclist-is-knocked-off-bike-in-road-rage-crash-9511055.html
drmatthewhardy wrote:It gets
For some reason I find this comment quite depressing:
“She drives a very fancy car. I think that is what saved her children’s’ lives.”
Shouldn’t it be “Hair salon
Shouldn’t it be “Hair salon involved in collision with car”?
phy2sll wrote:Shouldn’t it be
Are we sure the salon wasn’t attempting to pass the car on the left?
phy2sll wrote:Shouldn’t it be
[[[[[ Exactly right! But I see the woman driver was bailed…I’d rather see people like this boiled, preferably alive (assuming she’s mentally competent to stand trial, ‘natch).
P.R.
Police have been combing the
Police have been combing the scene for evidence =)) .
Hell’s Bell’s, what is the
Hell’s Bell’s, what is the world coming too? Stupid young lady to attempt motorized MURDER. BUT, what the hell was the mountain biker doing kicking the car and provoking a retaliation?? He’s lost is bike; spent time in Hospital .. ( I’m pleased he’s OK; and not badly injured BTW) but lets face it; he was partly to blame for this senseless incident. Although I do agree with many of the comments posted about the punishment of the driver; lets hope the LAW seeks justice in this case?
My daughter and her partner cycle in Richmond Park regularly; and I use the park for cycling when I visit them ..
When will people realise that Human Life is Precious?
Mostyn wrote:When will people
All together now: ‘Every Sperm is Sacred, every sperm is great…’
Am I the only one here
Am I the only one here wondering how fast was the Q7 going?
She’s bounced off a parked transit, looks to have plough through a garden wall and demolished the front of the salon. Yet still managed to get the Q7 back onto the road.
Maybe she’ll blame it on a
Maybe she’ll blame it on a wasp inside the car…and she has a propensity for anaphylaxis. …I’m ‘sure’ she wouldn’t have blatantly tried to run over an autistic cyclist that allegedly kicked her tank…I mean vehicle…endangering her brood into the bargain….
Id just like to point out to
Id just like to point out to the person that said
that the article later says “tried” to kick, and even if he made contact – attempting to run him down with a car is not a valid response… EVER
the fact that she had children on board tells me that’s one incredibly irresponsible and stupid driver that deserves a lifetime ban for risking the lives of her passengers for no reason other than vengeance, although I’m sceptical she’ll ever be charged, good ol CPS.
I love the road laws of our country, In the US such an incident would be “assault with a deadly weapon” or “attempted murder” whereas our great nation coins it “attempted GBH”
We are famous for understating things in this country but the trend to lessen the severity of a crime by using a naming system that simply does not reflect the magnitude of the offence,
A car is a deadly weapon if used as one, so in America if someone tries to intentionally run you down they are attempting to murder you, its a very simple conclusion to reach and makes perfect sense,
attempted GBH just makes me laugh but then its an improvement to what we had, in the past if you killed someone with your car it was called ‘death by dangerous driving’ with its seven year maximum sentence that many thought far too short, GBH is fifteen years but in my opinion still does not do enough to deter people from using their cars a weapons- a disturbing trend that seems to be on the rise.
Id also just like to point out that when a driver says they did not see a cyclist that’s an admission of negligence and an offence in itself, not a plausible excuse! try telling the police that you cant see pedestrians and they’ll ban you from driving, tell them you cant see cyclists and you get ” yeah we can’t see em either” its the mindset in this country that’s the biggest problem, people have the idea that cyclists are invisible and rather than demanding people pay due attention the government takes a softly softly approach and releases adds that actually condone the opinion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJs4AYa8sU
note when the driver looks right there is no bike- because its invisible!
downhilldirtjumper wrote:Id
Not quite sure what article your reading but looking at the article above the police are quoted as saying “During the course of the dispute, THE CYCLIST KICKED THE CAR, an Audi Q7” Then again in the original version of the article now “updated” the Police are quoted as saying it was a male driver….. so go figure.
Was speaking to the wife about this incident it was interesting to hear a woman’s perspective.
Mostyn wrote: but lets face
“Partly to blame”? Nah. There’s no logical connection between kicking a car door and a motorist using a car as a weapon and trying to kill you and destroying a building.
Had she kicked his bike in retaliation (while stationary, which is apparently when the original argument occurred), then yeah, ‘partly to blame’, but not in the case of what actually happened.
If she is found guilty of
If she is found guilty of attempted GBH will the sentence that she is given be automatically multiplyed by six, to take into account of the one cyclist and the five children in the car?
Bang her up……….shes an
Bang her up……….shes an idiot and there is enough of them on the road. She obviously not of sound mind or fit for driving. No insurance for the rest of her life either that should work.
Well given the last incident
Well given the last incident I read about in Richmond Park was a driver actually deliberately knocking a cyclist of his bike, then leaving the scene of the accident and pleading not guilty :^o , for which he received a fine and 6 points for careless driving, :O I doubt the CPS will prosecute the woman for attempted GBH. More likely careless driving and she’ll get a small fine and 3 points if that. Of course if she pleads guilty she may just get off with a warning. ~X(
Attempted GBH? WTF? You start
Attempted GBH? WTF? You start at the Highest point and work back. She uses a 2500kg weapon in a manor likely to cause life changing injuries and its only attempted GBH? Jesus……. Most likely end up getting away with pleading guilty to Affray.
When I was run off the road
When I was run off the road deliberately the other day the police officer (on the phone of course, this sort of thing doesn’t warrant a home visit) was quite categorical that there was no such thing as assault (etc) using a car, quite categorical.
So it’s good to see some forces (one in Manchester as well I believe) coming round to the idea that using a car is aggravating rather than a defence in law and reverting to the much less pointless driving offences.
Have the local Social
:& Have the local Social Services been informed of the driver’s inability to safely look after children ?
After all, she deliberately put them at risk from injury for her own selfish aims.
If they are her kids, they should be put into care. If they ‘belong’ to others, I hope those parents alienate the driver.
Just another way to punish her if our so-called justice system does it’s normal ‘sweeping under the carpet’ thing.
cisgil23 wrote: Have the
In the same way that Care in the Community should be alerted to the fact that an autistic man (that had a sign to alert people that he had autism and possibly odd behaviour) resorted to violence against a lone woman in a car full of young children?
Bishop wrote:cisgil23 wrote:
What exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to equate kicking a car (a thing) to trying to kill someone?
Most people with autism have learning and/or social skills and the anger they show is often born out of their frustration at being unable to express themselves or get their feelings across.
levermonkey wrote:
What
And what FACTS regarding the actual event are you using to claim that this woman tried to kill anyone? Your making assumptions based on your prejudices. Seeing a buckled back wheel and a car your again assuming that the driver is wrong.
Spoke to the wife early this afternoon and her take on what possibly happened was that an argument took place. The man attacked her car by kicking it then made his way around to the front to get at the driver. The woman on her own felt that she and the young children in the car were under immanent threat from a man that had already been violent instinctively stamped on the accelerator in an attempt to get away. She clipped the rear wheel of the bike buckling it lost control and hit the car and into the hairdressers with her foot still on the accelerator of a big powerful car.
Is that what happened? No idea but its a plausible explanation. I think that until all the facts are known the horrendous demonisation of this woman is quite appalling.
Your quite possibly right regards autism and violence BUT that doesn’t make it acceptable towards a woman and children or come to think of it anyone. If this individual has to resort to violence then maybe he should only have supervised outings. Would you feel differently if the violence had been directed towards your wife or daughter?
I don’t know if its me but
I don’t know if its me but this type of monster white car whether an audi, bmw or the like they always seem to want to be very aggressive. One of the white monstrosities once decided to squash me and another lady, who walked with a stick right into a bank with her car on a country road, screaming abuse. There was plenty of room but obvious she had a bad morning.
Any more information on this
Any more information on this incident? i.e police report into the actual facts? seems to be lots of speculation and assumptions floating around at the moment.
Cheers
And what FACTS regarding the
How about the ones in the article!
Article:
And
And