Motorist is angry with 2 cyclists, gets thumped

TheMadCylist

That's the TL;DR version.

Looks like he got angry because they were riding 2 abreast on a A road, overtook then stopped to have a 'word'. He comes away getting punched at the end of it.

news link : http://velostage.com/cyclists-sought-af ... d-assault/

lostboysaint

Good. Wanker.

Initialised

Chapeau!

Better take another bike and some different clothes for a while or get you frame painted just in case.

Also how about a few anonymous calls to 0800 555 111 describing the aggressive behaviours we see in hundreds of threads on here regarding the beemer in question?

vitesse169

I like the comment that goes with the piece - 'driver stops to give advice to cyclists riding perfectly legally...'
Driver being ecconomical with the truth there.....!

bails87

if only the driver had a camera.....

jejv

The Police tend to take the side of whoever complains first.

See: http://nightjack2.wordpress.com/2008/07 ... cent-folk/

A plausible scenario is driver stops car, decides cyclists are a bit lippy & need a battering, but it doesn't work out quite as he planned.

vitesse169

jejv wrote:

The Police tend to take the side of whoever complains first.

See: http://nightjack2.wordpress.com/2008/07 ... cent-folk/

A plausible scenario is driver stops car, decides cyclists are a bit lippy & need a battering, but it doesn't work out quite as he planned.

The Police take the side of the EVIDENCE, I NEVER took sides - not that I didn't want to sometimes - if the compainant made an allegation and it turned out that he/she was the offender, he/she would be charged with the offence.

jejv

vitesse169 wrote:

The Police take the side of the EVIDENCE, I NEVER took sides - not that I didn't want to sometimes - if the compainant made an allegation and it turned out that he/she was the offender, he/she would be charged with the offence.

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I'm not saying you took sides. I'm just talking about convergent thinking really. Having set off down one way of thinking about a problem, it can become harder to consider (evidence for) alternative solutions. That can be a fault of many individuals and organisations, including sometimes the Police.

In this case, unless someone has camera footage, or someone 'fesses up, there seems - on the face of it - little evidence to decide what really happened.

redderekthelampshade

next time he'll think about giving 'advice' out..

Teddy Westside

Just as bad cyclists give us all a bad name, BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers. So whilst I can't condone violence, it's hard to feel sympathetic towards someone who (from the scant info in the article) would appear to have complained about something legal. I can't imagine he was put in danger, unlike a cyclist who complains about a dangerous overtake, so to get out an remonstrate makes me think he may have been his own worst enemy. And having suffered physical violence from motorists myself, maybe this is karma.

Having said all that, morally I don't think a cyclist should be the one to throw the first punch if violence does ensue unless it is genuine self defence.

passout

To throw the first punch is almost always wrong & obviously illegal but, let's face it, he had it coming....

StorckSpeed

If someone just stopped their car in front of me, and got out of their car, I'm not sure I would just stop. Probably would just cycle past them.
If someone nearly killed me, then stopped in front of me and got out of the car then I would stop.
If someone passed me, stopped their car and tried to stop me or started shouting at me then I'm sorry there's going to be a ruckus.

I'm polite, courteous and never look for any trouble, but I put up with a lot of shit on the roads and I don't need someone in my face and thinking they can push me around cause they drive a BMW.
p.s.
Always best to throw the first punch, cause if it's landed right there won't be a second.....

peat

Teddy Westside wrote:

BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers.

I drive a BMW, you should see the look of bewilderment on driver's faces when i give way to them or let them out of junctions. Simple pleasures.

bails87

Peat wrote:

Teddy Westside wrote:

BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers.

I drive a BMW, you should see the look of bewilderment on driver's faces when i give way to them or let them out of junctions. Simple pleasures.

It's the 99% of BMW drivers who give the rest a bad name

vitesse169

bails87 wrote:

Peat wrote:

Teddy Westside wrote:

BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers.

I drive a BMW, you should see the look of bewilderment on driver's faces when i give way to them or let them out of junctions. Simple pleasures.

It's the 99% of BMW drivers who give the rest a bad name

Make that 98% - I drive a BMW and also drive considerately, giving way etc etc.

bails87

vitesse169 wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Peat wrote:

Teddy Westside wrote:

BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers.

I drive a BMW, you should see the look of bewilderment on driver's faces when i give way to them or let them out of junctions. Simple pleasures.

It's the 99% of BMW drivers who give the rest a bad name

Make that 98% - I drive a BMW and also drive considerately, giving way etc etc.

There are more than 100 of you.....

vitesse169

bails87 wrote:

vitesse169 wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Peat wrote:

Teddy Westside wrote:

BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers.

I drive a BMW, you should see the look of bewilderment on driver's faces when i give way to them or let them out of junctions. Simple pleasures.

It's the 99% of BMW drivers who give the rest a bad name

Make that 98% - I drive a BMW and also drive considerately, giving way etc etc.

There are more than 100 of you.....

....there are ?! And I thought I was buying into exclusivity......

bails87

Less exclusive than a Mondeo....


I'm obviously joking btw I don't really categorise drivers by their car.




It's far safer to assume they're all blind, incompetent, drunken maniacs.

vitesse169

bails87 wrote:

Less exclusive than a Mondeo....


I'm obviously joking btw I don't really categorise drivers by their car.




It's far safer to assume they're all blind, incompetent, drunken maniacs.

.....except me.....

magibob

Worth remembering:- 2 minutes after you've thumped him, you're going to be pedalling along the road, when he comes up behind you in a ton of metal capable of flattening you in an instant.

The illusion of invincibility that car drivers feel in their cars, and that causes so much road rage, isn't an illusion when compared to cyclists.

The guy here still sounds like a pratt though.

Andy

godders1

Beyond self defence, physically laying into people is rarely justified.

Not something to be applauded imo (even if the motorist was being a prat).

schlepcycling

Godders1 wrote:

Beyond self defence, physically laying into people is rarely justified.

Not something to be applauded imo (even if the motorist was being a prat).

You could use the Steven Gerrard defence 'I hit him first because I thought he was going to hit me', preventative self defence.

rolf_f

vitesse169 wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Peat wrote:

Teddy Westside wrote:

BMW drivers tend to give all drivers a bad name, certainly all those in Beemers.

I drive a BMW, you should see the look of bewilderment on driver's faces when i give way to them or let them out of junctions. Simple pleasures.

It's the 99% of BMW drivers who give the rest a bad name

Make that 98% - I drive a BMW and also drive considerately, giving way etc etc.

And in defence of BMW drivers, I'd say that if anything BMW saloon drivers are more considerate than the average (just a perception I had last year when I was thinking about prejudices about how certain cars are driven) - at the same time I noticed that, generally speaking, BMW Softroaders were particularly badly driven.

steve6690

It's irrelevant what the car driver said or didn't say. Ok, he stopped to have a rant - probably because he believes that cyclists don't need to ride two abreast when he wants to overtake them and they might have shown him a bit of courtesy. A bit of education was all that was needed here. Beating him up and damaging his car is disgraceful.

Curious Yellow

Is riding 2 abreast illegal?

godders1

Curious Yellow wrote:

Is riding 2 abreast illegal?

No.

HC says: "never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends"

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTr ... /DG_069837

Curious Yellow

But how do they define a busy road?

Wish they'd make it clear cut. Like no riding 2 abreast on A roads and so on, or just say if cyclists are riding two abreast then motorists need to realise it's no different to being stuck behind a slow car and overtake when safe. It's a speed limit, not a speed target and so on.

godders1

The HC is notoriously vague but in it's defence it must be incredibly difficult to write a comprehensive and descriptive set of "rules for the road".

There are so many different variables in any given situation.

baronsouthside

We dont have the cyclist account. All we have is the account of a confrontational driver who doesnt like cyclists. For all we know it was the driver who threw the first punch, retreated to his car when things didnt go as planned. It seems very unlikely that two cyclists enjoying a cycle would go looking for a fight in lycra and cleats. Living in Glasgow means you dont go looking for fights but somtimes they find you. The driver got some street justice and went limping to the cops with his tail between his legs. He is a loser and a grass. I wonder if it was like Ice hockey fights were the players take their helmets off to fight. Never really understood that. I may receive some blows to the head so i'll take my protective helmet off! Surprised no ones mentioned the D lock yet.