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Police tape (CC licensed by freefotouk on Flickr)London cyclist sought after baby showered with glass in road rage attack on learner driver’s car
Police are investigating an alleged road rage attack in which a Croydon cyclist smashed a car window, showering a three-month old boy in glass. Remarkably, the boy is said to have slept through the attack.
Rhiannon Gautama was supervising her partner, a learner driver, during Monday morning rush-hour when a cyclist hit the passenger side of the car with his hand.
Writing on Facebook, Gautama said: “The only reason I could think he did this is he possibly felt he didn’t have enough room to get through.”
When they passed the cyclist a little further on, Gautama pointed out the car’s L-plates and asked him to show more consideration. “He caught up again as we hit traffic, he switched to the other side and smashed our car window with his bike lock.”
The couple’s son, Jasper, was said to have been showered in glass as a result of the attack. Gautama told the BBC that after first checking he was okay, she called the police.
"Jasper was asleep the whole time but when I took him out of his car seat there was all this glass falling out of the seat everywhere, but he was just smiling. I guess, in hindsight the cyclist may have thought we were too far on his side of the road and there wasn't enough room to get past us, but he still managed to cycle past us.”
The incident is said to have happened at about 8.40am in Croydon Road, Beddington, near the junction with Beddington Lane. Gautama described the cyclist as a white man, with long blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a yellow jacket and clear cycle glasses, possibly in his thirties.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers were investigating a report of criminal damage but no arrests had yet been made.
"I think I will never say anything again,” added Gautama. “You just don't know who you are speaking to."
Earlier this year, a cyclist caught on film attacking a car with a bike lock in San Francisco was charged with a series of felonies. The incident, which took place during the monthly Critical Mass protest ride, began as a stand-off between protestors and a driver with the cyclists surrounding the car. When the driver tried to manoeuvre around them, one hit the car with his bike, while another repeatedly swung at it with a D-lock.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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It's Haigh in the long coat.
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40 comments
I did! A bit oblique, I grant you.
Its a one sided uncorroborated witness account that doesnt quite add up (and the BBC love an anti cycling story). Shes obviously underplaying her (and her partners) complicity in the event, while overplaying the 'baby showered in glass' angle, despite having enough time to photograph the baby while it was in its 'glass showered' seat before panicking like crazy to rescue it.
This quote is a giveaway....
I have had vehicles pass me, or pull out of junctions with millimeters to spare, and when I've remonstrated with the driver, I have been met with "Well, you're still upright so its all ok".
I question her competance as a driver and whether she should really be supervising a learner.
The consequence of the incident is that the cyclists actions are defined as criminal but unless you have all the facts, there is still the potential that it was a provoked response.
I've always had a *soft spot* for the smashing of car windows with D-locks ever since reading Hugh Culley's, the immortal class.
In the grand scheme of motor related carnage this shouldn't even register, but as ever, because it's a cyclist there will now massive man hunt to bring this guy to justice follow by a far harsher sentence than that bitch in the Q7 will get.
I'll be massively surprised if this when down as described by the motorist.
Plus - The story I read on the Beeb yesterday pm had the fuller line - 'Gautama pointed out the car’s L-plates and that they had a baby in the car, and asked him to show more consideration.'
On the one hand, what the cyclist apparently did is shameful, disgusting and I genuinely hope they catch him and throw the book at him.
On the other hand, "We've got L plates, show some consideration" suggests that the inexperienced driver may have done something dangerous a minute or two earlier, in which case the cyclist's anger may be understandable if not forgivable.
...anyone else thinking there's a lot more to this story than simply not allowing enough 'room to get through', then asking nicely for consideration?
you would hope, but my experience of London....
Yeah, probably - like, a minute earlier, being completely oblivious to their overtaking the cyclist with less than a foot to spare and giving him the scare of his life.
In the vast majority of cases this doesn't even register on a driver's radar. Let alone a learner.
The statement says that this occured in rush hour, and she thought he felt he didn't have enough room to get through which a reasonable person could conclude means traffic was stationery. It could be that he used his hand to steady himself as he passed due to a wobbly moment, for example?
Even so, I'm struggling to imagine a world where it's fine to smash a car window just because you think you're in the right.
Wasn't saying it's fine. Simply not buying the one-sided account of that woman, I'm suspecting they almost killed him a minute earlier and didn't even notice - simply because that is precisely what my experience with bad drivers usually is: they don't have a clue what they're doing wrong.
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