Cyclist suffers broken arm after car passenger shoved him off bike in latest shocking unprovoked attack from moving vehicle

Police in North Yorkshire have appealed for witnesses after a cyclist suffered a broken arm when he was pushed off his bike by the passenger of a moving car, in what is fast becoming a worryingly habitual occurrence on the UK’s roads.

The shocking incident took place at around 8.40pm on Wednesday 2 October on Common Lane, in the Burn area of Selby, North Yorkshire.

According to North Yorkshire Police, one of the occupants of a passing car leaned out of their window to push a cyclist, a man in his 50s, off his bike. The victim required hospital treatment after suffering fractures to his arm.

Th police said they are particularly appealing for information about the vehicle involved in the seemingly unprovoked attack, which is described as a medium-sized hatchback car.

> “This is why we run cameras”: Cyclists share horrifying stories of assault after rider pushed off bike by man in passing van, as police label act as “despicable random attack”

“We urge the driver of this vehicle to come forward to the police and provide any information which may assist our investigation,” North Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

“Please email freya.smith [at] northyorkshire.police.uk if you have any information that could help our investigation.

“Alternatively, you can call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC1637 Smith, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website. Please quote reference 12240181526 when passing on information.”

> Police appeal over "serious assault" that saw cyclist pushed from bike by car passenger

As noted above, incidents involving the passengers of vehicles shoving cyclists off their bikes, causing potentially serious injuries, and in completely unprovoked attacks, are becoming an increasingly common trend on Britain’s roads.

In April, Kent Police launched an appeal and released a photo of a man (above) they wished to track down in relation to a “serious assault on a cyclist” the previous summer, which saw a woman pushed from her bike by a laughing car passenger.

Katie Good, a female Ironman athlete and immigration lawyer, had been out training with her boyfriend and fellow triathlete Olivier van den Bent-Kelly at the time of the incident, which saw her suffer a broken collarbone.

He later took to social media, stating that one of the people in the vehicle “leant out the window, and pushed her off her bike, before laughing and jeering at her as they drove away”, the incident coming after a motorist had “deliberately drove behind her”.

"To be involved in what is effectively a hit-and-run incident or assault, and for the culprits to act in such a premeditated, malicious manner is abhorrent," Van den Bent-Kelly said in a post at the time.

“I’m furious, upset, and appalled at what happened to her. Cyclists are already vulnerable road users who are frequently unfairly treated by vehicles. To be deliberately targeted in such a way really makes me ask the question: how could aiming for a young, female cyclist in this manner ever be acceptable to anyone?

“The lack of empathy, thought or awareness shown towards Katie and her life really highlights that more drivers need educating on how dangerous their vehicles are.”

Then, in July this year, a cyclist suffered serious facial injuries and a concussion after they were pushed from their bike by yet another car passenger near Reading.

A bike shop owner who was the first person to help the stricken cyclist described the scene as “horrendous”, after the 29-year-old victim was discharged from hospital, having received treatment for serious facial injuries including a fractured jaw, broken teeth, lacerations, and a concussion.

> Cyclist shoved into ditch by hooded BMW passenger – spotted trying to “spook” other riders and locals – slams “complete lack of effort” by police to trace attacker

In June, Surrey Police arrested a 15-year-old after a violent attack on a cyclist near Box Hill left the victim seriously injured with a punctured lung, when masked thugs on a motorbike kicked him off on a popular cycle path.

The rider suffered broken bones and a punctured lung in the attack and told road.cc he had little memory of it except being "suddenly and violently pushed down onto the ground".

A month earlier, in May, a similarly concerning incident was reported at the other end of the country, when a Northumberland-based cyclist riding a time trial bike on the A1068 was shoved from his bike by the passenger of a BMW. 

Carl Donaldson was training for the 47-mile Tyneside Vagabonds CC Mountain Time Trial, but suffered a broken shoulder blade and was critical of Northumbria Police's response, accusing the force of a "distinct lack of effort".

And last month, Nottinghamshire Police released footage captured by a cyclist’s rear bike camera earlier in the year, which showed a man hanging out of the passenger window of a silver van with his arms outstretched, before pushing the cyclist off the road.

The cyclist suffered facial injuries, bruising to his arms and legs, and a swollen knee in the incident, which was described by police as a “despicable random attack”.

In January 2023, a man was also fined £200 by Kilmarnock Sheriff Court for leaning out of an overtaking vehicle and hitting a cyclist with a tub of hair gel, after becoming frustrated that the cyclists were not "moving fast enough".

That September, a cyclist in Yorkshire feared that he could have been killed when a passenger in an overtaking car opened one of the vehicle's rear doors, hitting him on the hand.

Fortunately, Trev Walker escaped relatively physically unscathed, suffering swelling and bruising to his right hand, but said it "could easily have ended with serious injury or fatality", after a passenger sat in the rear of a passing car opened the door into him as the vehicle's driver passed on the B6248 near Wakefield.

And in April 2021, another cyclist, this time from Ireland, said that the occupants of a vehicle "could have killed me" after he was pushed off his bike by one of its passengers – who later posted footage of the shocking incident, which happened on a mountain road near Dublin, afterwards to social media.