A video of a road rage incident involving a Kingston cyclist and a motorist who pulled out in front of him has today been made public after the matter was closed with police. The uploader says the driver was charged with dangerous driving and threatening behaviour and received a formal police caution.
Early in the video, we see the driver pull out in front of the cyclist from the right. The cyclist finds himself alongside the car but the driver can’t pass.
In the video description, Surrey Suburban Cyclist writes: “He gets very upset because I tap his side to tell him to get away. He then proceeds to drive dangerously at me three times and then gets out and moves threateningly towards me. First time I’m frightened enough to defend myself with the D-lock.”
44 thoughts on “Video: Close-passing driver becomes enraged by cyclist who taps his car”
Dangerous driving? So he gets
Dangerous driving? So he gets points of his licence then?
unconstituted wrote:
Add to that no seatbelt when he drove off, that’s an offence right there.
Easily avoidable.
Well that was easily avoidable.
Gozzy wrote:
Yep, Hazard Perception I think they call it.
I’ve seen much worse
I’ve seen much worse dangerous driving. He just seems a bit careless and overly aggressive. I’ve taken to being sarcastic recently. “Oh, nice manouvre, and such a lovely car, but I think your indicators are broken”. All this fuck-offity you are on YouTube stuff.. I dunno.
just another vigilante camera
just another vigilante camera cyclist looking for 5 mins of YouTube fame! 0.08 you can see the silver car start to pull out – yes the guy doesn’t look but at that point he’s a good few car lengths ahead – personally if it was me on the bike I’d have just hung back and let him speed off… why engage in these situations if you don’t need to? I don’t get it?
allgearnoidea wrote:
Adrenaline, making a point. I know I’m the same and I hate myself for it, it’s usually pointless and dangerous. Definitely need to practice being more zen on the roads.
From reading the YouTube description though this driver was charged with dangerous driving, threatening behaviour and given a caution, so not all in vain.
BetterNever wrote:
I can’t be bothered with making points – knowing me i’d get the nutter with a knife and end up another statistic! I let a lot of things slide cos lifes too short.
allgearnoidea wrote:
Just another typical status quo commentator. The chap may not have your super human ability to let shit slide all the time or rather be a punching bag on the road. The rider is hardly a vigilante for using equipment to keep himself on the side of the law, as is clearly the case here. He is plainly not looking for trouble or fame as you suggest.
Evo Lucas wrote:
maybe not – but he does clearly state its going on YouTube… totally avoidable, as is most of the situtations in these type of videos on YouTube. I guess we’re of divided oppinion – I’ll use my super human ability to let shit slide on this one 😉
Evo Lucas wrote:
this
allgearnoidea wrote:
Agree on the above; but not really the ‘vigilante’ label.
allgearnoidea wrote:
The moron in the car could easily have run the cyclist (who was going at a fair speed) off the road. Instead of apologising he forces the cyclist to stop then threatens him. The road was narrow, their were speed bumps, there was no reason to pull out in front of the cyclist.
Either you are being a troll by writing such a dim witted comment or you have never experienced the kind if driving wittnessed in this video. I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself in future unless they are worth publishing……doubtful.
Staying to the right hand
Staying to the right hand side still doesn’t mean there’s enough space, though – twat.
Not sure because of the sunlight, but looks like he doesn’t indicate either. And no seatbelt.
Does crack me up when drivers look at their car as if you’ve used a hammer instead of your hand…
Why is it that these people
Why is it that these people are in such a damned hurry that they will risk running into others, and “must get in front” (TM) , and yet somehow they always have the time to stop and lecture people on what *they* did wrong?
(Agree with velodinho above: if I get the opportunity then I’ll mention (with a friendly smile) that their indicator/brake-light/whatever seems to be broken, did they know? Still generally doesn’t get any response other than f- off, mind…).
This happens a lot. Driver
This happens a lot. Driver sees you, so they calculate that it’s safe to pull out as long as they stay on the wrong side of the road for a while.
Mostly they get away with it and I’m not bothered either way.
Does happen, if you are
Does happen, if you are paying attention it shouldn’t catch you out and frighten you. Open top car, what would be wrong with a cheerful “good morning” to warn the driver of his near miss and lack of observation. Much more likely to get an apology rather aggression.
Having said that, I reckon the MTB bar ends would make a splendid dent in paintwork that got too close.
It’s all a conspiracy theory
It’s all a conspiracy theory maaaan, seek the truth! (Check out his T Shirt).
By the way, that’s a girls car.
Jimbomitch wrote:
Tell you what – if the weather is being engineered, I hope someone kept the receipt.
Jimbomitch wrote:
You need a vagina to drive it?
helenclondon wrote:
It’s not a strict policy, I hear they’re also available to hairdressers.
Jimbomitch wrote:
Please, no girl would drive that piece of sh!t 😉
Why is there never a
Why is there never a convenient dog poo-bag hanging from a nearby branch when you really need one?
At least the driver was
At least the driver was listening to Opera.
Do you think he’s related to
Do you think he’s related to Jason Wells? He reminds me of him!
http://road.cc/content/blog/153639-angry-cafe-owner-jason-wells-jon-ronson-and-internet-shaming
All it takes is for a few
All it takes is for a few vids of these twats being laid out unconscious and that’ll put an end to this kind of moron using their cars like that.
Barraob1 wrote:
Or using their cars to run us over. Anyway, I wouldn’t put much money on your average skinny cyclist in cleats in a fight with the average aggressive driver.
Yeah driver was a muppet but
Yeah driver was a muppet but I’d rather have backed off a bit than risk something more serious.
Bike v car there’s only going to be one winner and I like my legs intact.
fenix wrote:
well it’s a good job there’s brave people like this out there willing to take aggressive ad dangerous drivers like this to the police. Maybe he will be less dangerous next time thanks to this. You just wave these guys off into the distance next time, and don’t worry about the rest of us.
Trivially avoidable…
Trivially avoidable…
So what now? Are we supposed to put ourselves in harm’s way and let drivers do stupid things then report them and hope for the best? Or do we defer to them and let them get on with it such that it continues? Either option sucks.
Cyclist is an idiot for
Cyclist is an idiot for escalating the situation… Driver is stupid for pulling out… Newsflash, people are stupid and do not always behave appropriately, hopefully they both learn for next time.
50kcommute wrote:
I think the take-away here is that the cyclist did right to escalate the situation, thus leading to actual penalties to the motorist.
What is this world coming to.
What is this world coming to. I must have thumbs downed his whack job, chem trail, flat earth video; and it has pushed him over the edge.
I keep asking, but not one of them can tell me what is on the other side?
Impressed with road.cc
Impressed with road.cc commenters resisting the urge to “joke” about this drivers gender or race due thier behaviour. Well done. Keep it up. .. please ?
ydrol wrote:
They did comment on the car though. Saying it’s a girly car (as if being a girl is an insult) or a hairdressers car (which I guess means it is for gay men? not sure…)
Initially the cyclist was
Initially the cyclist was being a bit of self righteous tw@. He didn’t need to pull up to the side of the car, and he chose not to use the ‘cycle escape’ bit on the left of the traffic calmer, when he could have just backed off a bit, and the car would have been long gone. The driver did then start driving like a bloody idiot, so didn’t help himself. My verdict, pair of tw@s.
In my opinion both reactions
In my opinion both reactions are over the top. The motorist’s outburst was waay too aggressive, but if I was the cyclist I would have held back, and let the guy go, rather than potentially get into the argument in the first. I certainly wouldn’t have tapped his car for that manoveur, but the motorist shouldn’t have reacted like that.
I cycle in West London, and
I cycle in West London, and experience this sort of driving on an almost daily basis.
By challenging the driver the cyclist escalated the motorist’s aggression, putting himself at greater risk of harm. Which is what happened to me a few years back and I ended forced into the curb and onto the pavement. Being right isn’t enough, as cyclists we are very vulnerable, and can look to zilch support from the police and the courts.
My strategy is to be helpful: “Sorry, I think there’s a problem with your indicator.” “Don’t want to worry you but there’s a £60 fine and three points if the police take a dislike to you on an ASL.” (I wish!)
I can’t actually work out the
I can’t actually work out the need for the cyclist to have done what he did.
It seems – from the video – that the driver didn’t really look when pulling out. However, when he pulls out there actually is plenty of room, and more to the point plenty of time to slow down.
Yes the driver should have looked, yes he should have left a cars width, but the whole thing could have been so easily avoided by the cyclist just tapping his brakes.
And really, there’s no excuse for f’ing and blinding like that.
kitsunegari wrote:
Fixed that for you 🙂
The biggest offence there was
The biggest offence there was the car and the fact he cleary thinks he’s cool in it. I’d have excused him a Mk1 Golf cabrio but that’s about it as cabrio hatchbacks go.
Another dickhead driver who
Another dickhead driver who values a lump of metal more than a human life.
Two men with a hypertrophied
Two men with a hypertrophied sense of entitlement. Whether on a high powered motorbike or a bicycle it’s important to me to ride defensively. Only the paranoid survive so whilst competing with, rather than giving ground to a bloke in a car, using foul language and having to defend yourself with a D-lock is lovely macho handbags, it’s nothing I would want for myself.
Do you want to be right and maybe dead, or do you want to get along (and stop feeding the cycle of mutual loathing)?
The cyclist behaved exactly
The cyclist behaved exactly as I would have in that situation. Unfortunately I’m a bit of a twat sometimes on the bike who has been warned more than once by wife and cycling mates not to seek confrontation unecessarily. The rider could have slowed slightly and gone through the cycle chute to the left of the traffic furniture and there would have been no need for the confrontation. The fact that the driver is an unpleasant aggressive twat (who should have got way more than a caution for the outrageous behaviour following the initial confrontation) doesn’t alter the fact that the cyclist deliberately went looking for a confrontation when there was no need. That driver looks just the kind of little prick who’d carry a Stanley knife or a sharpened screwdriver and be itching to use it to prove what a man he is – just let him go and pat yourself on the back for having a lot more brains and sense than him.