A cyclist says that video footage clearly shows he was deliberately knocked off his bike by a driver in Richmond Park earlier this week, leaving him with a broken collarbone.
David Williams, aged 53, is in no doubt that the driver hit him on purpose, and police are investigating the incident, which he captured on camera.
While David, who is a cycling instructor and bike mechanic, is unable to share the footage until any legal proceedings have run their course, he did share still photos online.
I don’t always wear a helmet but this one did its job. #richmondpark #hitandrun @lazerhelmet pic.twitter.com/Ag4ptC3UL2
— Bigdai??????????? (@Bigdai100) November 11, 2021
The incident, which happened on Tuesday lunchtime as he was returning home to Long Ditton after a cycle training session in Mortlake, took place the day after he filmed an incident in Kingston upon Thames that we featured in our Near Miss of the Day series last week.
> Near Miss of the Day 656: Driver cuts across rider at cyclist priority junction
“I have had some close scrapes in my time, but this is one where we came off second best,” he told Kingston Nub News..
“I was heading along Queens Road in the park towards Pembroke Lodge. Traffic levels were fairly normal and several cars went past me at a safe distance, although maybe faster than they should have been going.
“This one car, a blue BMW, went past me and was really close. I slapped the boot to let the driver know how close he had been.
“He immediately braked quite sharply. I wasn’t able to stop but filtered along the road between the car and grass and ended up in front of him.
“Immediately, he then accelerated and came alongside me – about a foot away. I rapped on his roof to make the point he was too close and get him away.
“He accelerated again and swerved in towards me, knocking me off balance and I fell right onto my shoulder into the road. He then sped off down the hill.
“I was lying on the ground in shock and pain. Several people, including the drivers behind, stopped and came to help me. Luckily an ambulance was coming up the hill towards me and they stopped.
“Within a couple of minutes the paramedics were helping me. I was lying on the floor for 20 minutes or so, they put a sling on my arm and I was taken to Kingston Hospital.
“The people in the other cars behind me were shocked. This was not an accident. They probably thought they wanted to scare me, but the consequences are very serious for me.
“My head hit the floor quite hard and my helmet is now finished as it has a big crack in it.”
Besides a broken right collarbone, he also sustained severe bruising when he crashed, and said: “My job involves being on a bike all day … It seems I won’t be able to get back on a bike for five or six weeks, at best, which means I won’t be able to work.”
We’ve covered extensively here on road.cc a number of incidents in Richmond Park where cyclists have been put in danger by motorists, many of whom use it as a short cut.
David said: “The reason that cyclists are so vocal is because the consequences of any sort of collision are very much more serious for cyclists. In this case, I have got very clear video of what happened.
“I have given the police the video and the car registration details. At this stage, they have asked me not to share it.”
He told road.cc that he has not yet heard back from the Metropolitan Police about how their investigation is progressing, but added that a new slow-motion edit of the footage “clearly shows the car diverting towards me.”
48 thoughts on “Driver deliberately knocks cyclist off bike in Richmond Park”
Nothing will happen because
Nothing will happen because touching a car is vastly worse a crime then attacking someone with said car, and the dangerous driving that led up to it.
Wishing you a swift and full
Wishing you a swift and full recovery David, fellow 53-year-old (1968 is unquestionably a grand cru year). I have been riding through Richmond Park regularly for nearly forty years and have experienced this sort of aggression many times, fortunately not been knocked off yet but only by good fortune, three times in the last year have had to bunny-hop onto the grass to avoid being hit. Hope the police will take appropriate action in this case.
Funny how people react when
Funny how people react when you knock on over a ton of metal. Do drivers honestly think that your bare hand is going to cause untold amounts of damage to their car?!
Had this conversation with some prick who drove at me when he could’ve just waited for 2 seconds until i had passed – ironically he wasted more time gettin gout his car for an arguement than he saved by not waiting. Failed to accept that he was in the wrong and was more concerned that I’d hit his car as he passed just centimetres from me. Bumped into him on the street the next day and reminded him what a prick he was!
You touched my car – die scum
You touched my car – die scum.
I feel saddened by this story
I feel saddened by this story, not least because I self-censored myself on the last incident in Kingston. I wanted to warn the cyclist that no good would come of putting on a performance for Twitter like the one in the linked video, shouting that motorists apologise, as it’s only a matter of time before you will run up against a psychopath.
Alas, it appears the cyclist graduated from shouting at people to banging on passing cars, and that “psychopath” time came sooner than I was expecting. Not everyone is as cool headed as the Hyundai driver Rendel linked to earlier.
Get well soon, Big Dai, hopefully a lesson learned, and I hope the driver gets a serious punishment.
Your trolling is getting more
Your trolling is getting more and more desperate now, seriously, seek help.
Don’t respond to it
Don’t respond to it
Nigel really does hate
Nigel really does hate cyclists.
His lack of empathy for anyone is obvious, but particularly clear if they identify as a cyclist.
How do you work that out? I’m
How do you work that out? I’m fanatically pro cycling, I cycle pretty much every day either outside or on the turbo – I just finished a quick hour on Rouvy before dinner today.
If all cyclists went round filming themselves shouting at people and banging on cars, it would be a completely nightmare for every level-headed cyclist in the country – roads would become far more dangerous, cycling levels would decline dramatically, and people campaigning for cyclists requiring identification would have a field day.
(No subject)
Not sure what you’re lolling
Not sure what you’re lolling at, but here’s proof of my ride!
As if anyone cares.
As if anyone cares.
I know you struggle with logic, but I didn’t mention whether I thought you rode a bike or not. I don’t care whether you do or don’t.
Your lack of empathy for others that do is transparent. It may, however, be a symptom of a wider problem
Simply posting laughing
Simply posting laughing emojis doesn’t really mean much to me – I’m a smart guy but I don’t have power of telepathy.
Garage at Large wrote:
Self praise is no praise at all.
Best to let others be the judge of that. Don’t be too confident of the outcome.
Or empathy by most of the
Or empathy by most of the accounts I’ve read.
Self pronounced smartness is rarely true
Garage at Large wrote:
I’ll tell you what I’m “lolling” at and that is the absolute BS of that alleged ride: 38km/h for one hour on the flat, let alone with 439m climb, would need 315 watts average power – 4.9 w/kg – from a 65kg rider (i.e. Chris Froome weight). To achieve 38 kms in an hour over that gradient at 224 watts rider weight would have to be entered at close to zero. Seems you don’t just lie on here, you lie to yourself as well!
Here’s a wattage calculator for a 65kg rider doing 37kmh with zero climbing:
Rendel Harris wrote:
I have a zwift ride at 37.7kph with power of 227watts average (10m per km climb), it’s not as long as an hour, but average power is average anyway. So there may be some difference between what your wattage calculator estimates and what Nigel’s training software calculates.
This was not a group ride, although depending on course some drafting was likely to have happened somewhere.
Lol I just ride on Rouvy, I
Lol I just ride on Rouvy, I don’t set the rules of the simulator, my weight is set at 66kg there.
I think the game assumes you’re using a dangerous TT bike – if I was going out by myself on my road bike I generally do 20-21mph so yes it’s overestimating.
Garage at Large wrote:
No – it defaults to the road bike – you have to intentionally switch it to the TT bike.
In order to complete the
In order to complete the Royvy challenges you need to ride in “Time Trial” mode
Garage at Large wrote:
That has nothing to do with which bike you’re riding. It just means you have to ride the course as a time trial, with no drafting, pausing, etc.
Which challenge were you doing anyway? Your ride doesn’t appear to match any of the current ones.
So why don’t driving levels
So why don’t driving levels “decline dramatically” whenever an irate car driver sounds their horn at another driver?
If car drivers went around
If car drivers went around angrily confronting each other and other road users, sparking confrontation and violence, driving levels would decline. For example, drivers are angriest and most confrontational in London, and it’s no coincidence that’s also where levels of alternative travel are highest as people substitute the stress of driving for other modes of transport.
For example, I might say to my wife “would you like to go to Royal China Canary Wharf for some dim sum?”, and she might respond “not a chance, the roads are full of lunatics and the trains are full of vagrants, let’s stay in leafy Hertfordshire!”
so the most densely populated
so the most densely populated city in the country has the best public transport because… wait for it… angry drivers ??? (sorry if you’re “smartness” doesn’t get the emojis) ?
Garage at Large wrote:
If you genuinely believed that to be the case (and I don’t think you do for a second) … maybe do a quick search online for road rage incidents between car drivers and other car drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.
The evidence is most squarely against you.
Sorry. Unless it’s a very
Sorry. Unless it’s a very extreme case of road rage or aggression very few folk will give up motoring. I’ve many friends who will on occasions after their commute be totally frazzled by the behaviour of other motorists. They will however climb back behind the wheel of their vehicle for their next journey wherever that will be. Sales of cars continue to rise year on year and journeys by motor vehicle continue to rise especially with peoples reticence to use public transport due to the current pandemic and their unease of using bikes due to the growing aggression of motorists out there.
If the car is close enough to
If the car is close enough to slap then it needs a reminder it is too close… would you prefer we all carried hammers and wore studded gloves to let them know more clearly?
No, you simply avoid trouble.
No, you simply avoid trouble. Then if you’re running a camera, as was the case in this instance, you submit the footage to the police.
In a fight between fists, hammers, knuckledusters, etc vs an agile 2 ton metal shell, the 2 ton metal shell will always win.
Garage at Large wrote:
Not when you stop behind them and they then have to stop and get out of the car to confront you. The dynamic changes somewhat. The last chap who tried that changed his mind and walked away when he realised that he was actually walking towards my chain ring.
if the car is close enough for me to strike they are the one looking for trouble not me. A bit like you on this feed I suppose.
Haitchaitch wrote:
No; guns.
Er…, if the car is close
Er…, if the car is close enough to bang on it, then the car is clearly too close. Also, cyclists are not able to sound a horn as a warning, therefore a slap on the car and/or a shout would seem to be a reasonable alternative.
Christopher TR1 wrote:
Er…, yes. And if you’re banging on the side windows to get more room, that makes sense (although don’t expect sympathy from those who think their car is their own private space on the road). But if you’re banging on the boot, then it is more likely that moment of danger has passed – and if not, there isn’t much the driver could do to correct the situation before he has fully passed.
This is not about whether the car is too close. Clearly you’re right – if you can bang on the car, it’s too close. It’s about whether it is sensible to do so? Does it help you survive to bang on the boot? Does it help your case if you report it to the police? Or, in honesty, is it more of a rebuke than an alarm – just like car horns are used all too often?
GMBasix wrote:
I’ll hold up my hands here to
I’ll hold up my hands here to filming my commute. I do this so that if something were to happen to me there will be evidence there. I don’t want to. But I do. I have on occasion submitted to NMOTD to highlight the lack of change in motorists attitudes to those more vulnerable than themselves and the uselessness of the posturing from my own particular devolved government regarding active travel. I don’t slap bonnets, roofs or boots to highlight their proximity and rarely launch an Oi or WATCH! I cycle respectively of other road users and observe the HC as this was how was taught YET I daily see the highly trained and licensed motorists disregarding many areas of said HC and experience these same ones treat my life with contempt and continue to retain their licence. People are discouraged from utility cycling by aggressive motorists. It is the top rating of any survey conducted on active travel usually scoring 70% and above. Lack of infra is the next one to discourage utility cycling. While leisure cycling is experiencing a boom and cycle tracks are now busy as are parks. Utility cycling continues to be the poor relation and the reasons are blatantly obvious.
Nigel, why do you keep trying
Nigel, why do you keep trying to dress up anti-cycle rhetoric as good advice.
Your basic advice is that as cyclists we should simply accept that a minority of car drivers will regularly put our lives in danger for no reason other than our presence on a road. That cyclists should not react in any way, and say that you don’t react to anything on your bike because you have trained out reflex reactions (which you then contradicted later on in your comments when questioned directly about reacting to fright).
You obviously have never dropped into Youtube and peered at UK Dash Cams, Dash Camera Network etc etc where there are thousands of videos of angry drivers and road rage incidents appearing every week and that does not drastically reduce the number of people driving.
And leaving video evidence in the hands of the police, as is routinely demonstrated results in the sum total of Zip, Zilch, Nada, Nothing in a staggering amount of cases. It wouldn’t surprise me at all that IF, and it is a very big IF, this case ever makes it to court the primary focus will be on the actions of the cyclist striking the car, not on the repeated actions of the motorist in endangering the cyclists life and putting him in hospital.
Your arguments in cases like this always follow the same principle in that the consequence is down to the reaction of the innocent party as opposed to the initial action of the offending party.
Imagine an incident involving Car A driving along minding their own business, when Car B pulls off a stupid maneuver (action), and forces Car A to take evasive action (reaction). However, as a result of the evasive action Car A loses control and collides with Car C (consequence). In your mind Car A is at fault because they reacted to the action of Car B, therefore Car A is to blame for the crash with Car C, as opposed to Car B being at fault for everything.
I’ve told you before. From
I’ve told you before. From his own words, his dad bought him a bike without any safety equipment at 5 and just told him to ride it, so lovely caring dad. His mum, who knows he is an avid cyclist regularly sends him anti-cycling propoganda. So it seems to be a classic case of self loathing which he then projects onto other cyclists. look mum, I’m being nasty to cyclists again, please love me.
The only time he “shows caring” is when he can use the victim in an attack on someone else. So the lady in the other story was only “cared about” so he could attack Surrey Police because one of them tweets postively about cycling.
I mean look at his “hero” cool headed driver. Someone shouting directly in cyclists faces and screaming. Supposedly he hates certain swearing yet his hero does that multiple times but that is now fine. TBH, that is the person Boo wants to be. I mean stopped to rant aimlessly, then kept on “leaving” before coming back. And just when the cyclists thought they had seen the back of him, he re-appears again.
Rendel Harris wrote:
This clown is a racist and misogynistic psycho. Really not worth wasting keystrokes on Rendel
Captain Badger wrote:
Truest thing you’ve ever written
Not wanting to troll but I
Not wanting to troll but I kind of agree with Nige. When I’m cut off/close passed etc I wait till the next lights and although the urge is to damage the vehicle, instead these days I try to explain to drivers why their antics are so poor and the danger to the cyclist. I feel that it is a better long term outcome and hopefully next time that driver makes better choices. Well kicking a car is immeadiate gratification I think it increases hostility in an already bad driver to other cyclists. In this latest incident I hope the driver cops some serious jail time and a speedy recovery to David
Rua_taniwha wrote:
If a person is hostile to people on bikes I don’t think my actions or lack of them will make any difference to them. If that person is driving a vehicle, they need removing from it and then, like someone who shouts at animals or is aggressive towards random strangers in the street, an enlightened but firm course of treatment.
Being neither hard nor equipped with cameras I tend to go with the Bikesnob NYC philosophy on this one:
However, last Tuesday evening on two occasions people drove past beeping and shouting – in once case waiting behind me and then accellerating past (empty road…). I was moved to comment upon what I perceived to be their sexual inadequacies and their compensating mechanism. I’m not proud of myself though.
IME the one thing guaranteed
IME the one thing guaranteed to escalate a drivers hostile behaviour towards a cyclist, often completely out of proportion to the initial encounter, is if you touch their vehicle, and thats just touch not thump,hit,kick or attempt to damage it in anyway, just touch, so I would always advocate to any cyclist Bikesnob NYCs philosophy of dont engage.
But I hope this driver is properly dealt with to the full extent of the law and that David properly recovers from his injuries.
Rode in Richmond park for the
Rode in Richmond park for the second time in my life last weekend . I’ve got to do the video and put it on line youtube soon.
Hope the driver gets a proper punishment and David gets a quick and full recovery.
I hope the police have all
I hope the police have all the information they need to really nail the driver. absolute scumbag
This one car, a blue BMW,
This one car, a blue BMW, went past me and was really close
No surprise there then. I hope the OP tells us what’s going on, especially those of us also suffering from standard BMW driver close-passing and crazed aggression (although mine was only threatened, not actually carried out). Let’s see how the Met does!
I see the other incident involving the OP the previous week was also the fault of a BMW driver
No doubt this is one of the w
No doubt this is one of the w@nkers who screech on about insurance for riders in case their precious facking cars get scratched.
Hope David makes a swift recovery, and the rozzers do their facking jobs for once
I’m sure the powers that be
I’m sure the powers that be will take this on board and immediately ban cars from the park.
Also, Brexit is great, Boris is honest and the BBC hasn’t cancelled cycling.
In the infinite monkey cage
In the infinite monkey cage of the Nigelbot, occasionally recognisable phrases come out. “I’m a cyclist too” for example.
In this instance, there is greater wisdom that has landed on the fly paper of its output. As frustrating, dangerous and frightening as the encounter might have been, if someone is slapping on the boot, they aren’t acting in self-defence in the same way as if the car is still alongside. I don’t believe that’s wrong – I think it is still ‘in the moment’, but it’s a reaction that is worth training out of one’s mindset. The car has essentially passed at that point; let it go and report it.
That means you’re putting all your hope of feedback into the reporting and prosecution processes of the local feds, but it avoids the risk of counter-accusations or undermining your own prosecution (it’s not actually yours, but for shorthand…)
In fairness, we should be able to hold that up as self-defence, but since you are a witness, not a defendent, if the case ever comes to court, you are dependent on the prosecution brief making that case (rather than having your own counsel representing your argument in legally compelling terms). Meanwhile, all the defence has to do is put that slap on the boot into the minds of the judge/jury as an aggressive act that caused the driver to act…”in self defence”. And then the rules are that the driver’s self defence claim have to be disproved.
Amongst all the flannel and noise, the Nigelbot raises a valid point. To be or not to be, that is the Garage.
BMW drivers do seem to be
BMW drivers do seem to be involved in a disproportionately higher number of driving incidents than drivers of most other makes of car.
In years past I’ve slapped vehicles that have passed too close when I’ve been cycling. I was younger then. I’m not sure I’d do it now, and especially not when I’ve got helmet footage to send to the cops instead.
I hope this guy recovers ok and that the driver gets a suitable punishment.