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news
Police tape (CC licensed by freefotouk on Flickr)Van passenger pushes Kent cyclist off bike
A van passenger pushed a cyclist from his bike in a village in Kent, leaving the victim with a cut chin.
The incident happened at around 2pm last Sunday afternoon in Water Lane, Frittenden, which lies midway between Tunbridge Wells and Ashford.
It was witnessed by a woman, whose partner Iain Morris recounted what she had seen to Kent Online.
"My other half was on her way to the stable yard to see her horse and go riding,” he said.
"As she was looking to turn left into the driveway she noticed a cyclist and behind him was a white van.
"She didn't think much of it but she looked in her rear view mirror and the guy was sticking out of the passenger side of the van.
"She realised they were going to push the cyclist and they shoved him into the ditch."
The victim was a man aged in his sixties, while the van was described as a Volkswagen Transporter with a roof rack.
"He was very shaken up and my other half helped him out of the ditch and he was bleeding from his chin,” Mr Morris continued.
"What those people in the van did was very reckless and it could have injured that gentleman.
"You see something like this and it is terribly funny for the occupants of the vehicle but it can have a long-term effect on someone.
"Fortunately this man picked himself up but who's to say the injury couldn't come out in the next 24 hours?"
It was not reported whether police had been notified of the incident.
According to Kent Online, similar incidents have been reported in nearby Marden.
Besides vehicle occupants pushing cyclists off their bikes, with footage sometimes posted to social media, there have been two instances in the same Surrey town in recent months of a driver deliberately knocking a cyclist over.
This week, Surrey Police issued an appeal for information in connection one such incident believed to have happened last year, with footage shot by a passenger subsequently uploaded to Instagram.
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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19 comments
I was nearly victim on road going I to Staplehurst in April last year. Didn't quite touch me as I pulled off main road onto side road and saw passenger mostly out of window as it passed. White Ford Transit. I wrote some notes on in incident as was pissed off. But not a lot of confidence in police who haven't even initiated a close pass campaign (to best of my knowledge). This is nr Marden and close enough to Frittenden
I've been driving the missus' Ka this week. Noticeable that people either see it less than my Passat or they just assume its being driven by a woman because I've had more near misses in it in a week than in two years of driving the Passat. Drivers pulling out from side roads, not noticing me overtaking on a dual carriageway, filtering in to me from slip lanes, the works. Oh and a huge amount of tailgating.
Cracking little car, just needs better brakes - I'd forgotten how much fun tinny little hatches used to be.
Just bought a T5 to get me and my bike to races and stay over if needed. Does that now make me a "dgaf about anyone else, much less those on two wheels type" person? Lots of generalisms bouncing around today. Let's just accept that the UK has a growing number of anti-social drivers who believe only they should be on "their" roads. Whether you drive a small car, motorbike, bicycle, or just are on their road when they want it, you will have issues with them.
We did the holidaying in Cornwall thing for a few years and the place is like VW world. Full on trustafarian playground.
Bugger. We have a black 2010 Golf estate because I didn't think it had any image at all and is often mistaken for a hearse when Mrs Srchar drives it, judging by the number of people we see crossing themselves as she hurtles by.
Yeah but aren't vw transporter types like totally cool, dude?
Mountainbikers' van of choice.
I used a T6 transporter in the alps in 2017 (transporting peeps/bikes and supporting a raid alpine), despite narrow roads and all the usual things you come across when driving as well as being on the opposite side, somehow managed not to hit anything or make people feel fear of harm.
Loved the van but majority of transporter vans (much like all other motors) are driven by your average I don't give a fuck about anyone else, much less those on two wheels type.
Pretty sure type of van has nothing to do with the behaviour of the occupants. Idiots are idiots, regardless of the vehicle.
Unfortunately not everyone thinks the same.
And I was followed around by one muppet on here who always mentioned Audis in a negative way when responding to me.
Even when I didn't have an Audi.
Go figure!
That's just the kind of thing I'd expect an Audi driver to say.
I'd forgotten that. Was that one of Those Who Have Been Banned?
(I *was* trying to be humorous, but no offence was intended to any actual Range Rover drivers on here
)
Are we talking about a 'modern' VW Transporter (VW Type 4, 5, or 6) or a 'classic' transporter (ie. VW Type 2 or Type 25)? Because Type 2 and Type 25 really *are* cool, dude...
The rest are just posh transit vans.
Twats!
I always wonder why this kind of neuronally-challenged, moronic criminality never ceases to cause me to shake my head in disbelief.
"What those people in the van did was very reckless and it could have injured that gentleman.
It did injure him, he was bleeding. It could have killed him.
If only the police took incidents like this as seriously as tweets inciting cyclists to wave locks.
If only the police took incidents like this as seriously as cyclists waving locks.