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Toronto cyclist hit by motorist throws car keys down drain

Rider charged with mischief after incident last week

A cyclist who was hit by a motorist in Toronto reportedly got his own back by grabbing the keys from the car’s ignition and throwing them down a nearby drain, rendering the vehicle immobile.

The incident happened in the Canadian city last Thursday, with one witness posting an account on Reddit of what had happened, reports Treehugger.com.

“The cyclist was going eastbound on Queen and the driver was going westbound, the driver made a quick left, t-boned the cyclist and stopped in the intersection,” said the witness.

“At this point, the driver was getting out to see what happened. The cyclist took the keys from the car, walked to the nearest storm drain and tossed them.

“Shortly after, the cyclist bailed and the cops showed up.”

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Police managed to follow and stop the cyclist, who has been charged with mischief, but according to police constable Clint Stibbe, while the motorist was being investigated, he had not yet been charged with any offence.

"Reaching into a vehicle is risky at best," said Constable Stibbe. "And you never know what the person inside that car is going to do to you when you do that."

He added: "In the end what we're looking at is a very adversarial relationship between cyclists and drivers. It is something that is occurring on a daily basis."

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One person commenting on Reddit said that they’d been tempted to do the same as the cyclist in this incident.

"I've always thought of doing this when people have almost run me down while crossing the street," one person said on Reddit.

"I can't believe someone actually did it,” the commenter added.

Contsable Stibb added: "Some people may think it's funny and maybe [it is] to that individual who dropped the keys.

"But in the end you don't know what that person is going home to."

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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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