Car occupant grabs, threatens cyclist, caught on camera + Video

If he was going to hit you he would have done it straight away and not gone on about his dog! What a gobshite.

I think the "sorry" should have been followed by "you're breathing".

Is it just me or does he look a bit cross eyed?

Brilliant camera work and a most entertaining encounter.

Makes me want to get a camera.

This was on BBC London news a few minutes ago.

@stuartpeck1 - "What did we say abut cycling in Saarf Laandahn?"

We said after Farriergate that it was a roaming ground for nutters. So too, on the evidence of Geezahgate, is East Laandahn.

@dip - "As a cyclist you have to look out for yourself, preferably buy a helmet cam (I can't afford one personally) and/or learn how to defend yourself. In each case I've been too scared to take the assailant on, merely using my bike as a shield, but I agree it would be nice to remove a substantial frame pump and go on the offensive. However, this is simply not realistic if you are of a typical cyclists build..."

Seconded. Look after yourself in whatever way you see fit. The rozzers won't do a f@cking thing as others attest to above. I've often found that fronting up to these kind of numbnuts (when you're full of adrenaline, of course) can make them back down. If you're a cyclist build (I'm 5'9 and 140 pounds), I think they start to think that you're a real nutter if you're prepared to have a go. Depends on the situation.

@silkred

Yup, I think it boils down to something much more simple: toerags who were spoilt as kids by their mummies and, as you suggest, have grown up to be ignorant with an inflated sense of importance, entitlement and deserving. Think you might have meant 'legislate' instead of 'mitigate' though.

I see thsi story has made the Evening Standard as well as the Sun.
So hopefully the chances are higher this loon will be identified and dealt with by the Police/Courts.

well done to this cyclist for not retaliating or even swearing at this guy...

I tend to be very sweary when put under stress like this and its never helped defuse tension...

the cyclist was seen in the footage leading up to to the confrontation to have acted responsibly - looking signalling and adopting unambiguous road positioning - he could have done nothing more to ride safe among traffic

you cannot mitigate for ignorant self entitled machismo

I would suggest that if this were a nature program and this motorist was say a gibbon then the narrator would be discussing sexual display territorialism - those sorts of things... you can almost hear david Attenborough's voice cant you... and makes you wonder if his girlfriend - or say a rival male was in the car...

I have always struggled to understand the behaviour of some motorists towards cyclists - but it does begin to make some sense when you think about it as a territorial display - in our ancient past we would have behaved violently towards others approaching our territory - its my theory that a car and the road it travels on triggers this instinct in some people... they respond in a way that does not respect the social norms of a civilised society or the shared humanity of the cyclist... after all if you changed context and the cyclist was in front of the motorist in the queue for the bar then you cant imagine the same thing happening - in fact in almost any other context this behaviour is unthinkable...

so its my contention that this behaviour is perpetrated by weakly socialised people who are more in touch with their inner gibbon than the majority...

cyclist I think by definition are smarter than the average seen here in the calm and controlled way this cyclist parried any conflict with the motorist

nothing can be done to stop this... not really... the police wont help not without there being real harm done or via a public outcry re that other video - they should be cautious about such weak responses because they in a sense embody that ancient instinct for aggression - the police are there to exert our territorial rights leaving us without the need to aggressively defend ourselves - this is a mechanism of civilisation its how it all works and why we dont kill those who threaten us - if they only weakly or ineffectively protect cyclist in this case then we will have to project strength ourselves and ironically risk the injustice of becoming embroiled in legal retribution ourselves...

In my previous cycle commute (10 miles across Bristol) almost exactly this situation happened to me 3 or 4 times in the 14 months I was riding it.

The only offence I could possibly have committed was that of being a cyclist (I am particularly anal about obeying the rules of the road and behaving/being treated as a valid road user).

One memorable incident occurred on a busy junction in rush hour when the perp swerved his car to a halt diagonally across a busy crossroads (halting traffic) before coming at me on foot repeatedly asking if I 'wanted some', that I was a 'xucking little xrick' and that he intended to kick the preverbial out of me.

I gave the police a good description of him and his car as well as the index number - but they apparently couldn't track him down.

As others have said, this type of behaviour is a sad reflection on our society and the hierarchies within it.

As a cyclist you have to look out for yourself, preferably buy a helmet cam (I can't afford one personally) and/or learn how to defend yourself. In each case I've been too scared to take the assailant on, merely using my bike as a shield, but I agree it would be nice to remove a substantial frame pump and go on the offensive.

However, this is simply not realistic if you are of a typical cyclists build...

Just a thought but if the person who posted the clip was to post it on Youtube under the title cockney w*nker (the name of a Viz character) it'd prtobably attract a lot of hits before it was pulled. Reposting it under a similarly eye-catching title would then attract more hits. the more hits it gets, the more this toerag is likely to be pulled up for threatening behaviour.

Staying calm good advice, trying hard to follow it. @monty dog sorry to hear that. Reason to always carry U lock?

I was assaulted last year by a motorist - he'd already carved us up, there was an exchange of words, he forced us off the road confronted me on the pavement and I ended up with a serious gash above my eye, smashed Rudys plus a visit to A&E to have it seen too. Motorist's justification was 'self defence' - luckily a passing cyclist was an off-duty policeman who saw me pinned against the wall - perp received a £700 fine but I couldn't claim any damages as he only admitted guilt due to self-defence (I'm 5ft4 and 9.5 stone, he was a 'fat ba$tard' and a good-bit taller) BTW this was Midhurst, West Sussex on a Saturday morning! The worst thing was the clear incompetence of the CPS to make a more severe charge of physical assault stick but the police were pretty good.
All credit to the victim in this case for not retaliating - just hope that the Police do something about it.

It's sad that people just can't go about their own business without feeling the need to get into stupid sh*t like this. Apart from the cyclist didn't do anything, and judging by the cam moving from left to right, he was always looking where he was going. You expect abuse from some drivers, it's what they do, but can you imagine the conversation in the car prior to him getting out.

"I shuda keeled 'im"
"yeah, go, on then, y dontcha, 'uckin 'ave 'im"
Right i 'uckin wheel"

So with a cockney skip.. any ol' iron etc.. He gets out and proves to his mate he's not gay or something equally retarded, by confronting the cyclists.

If the cyclist had jumped off and kicked the crap out of this idiot then he'd be up in court or something equally ridiculous. So although punching his crooked 'Hampstead heef' down his throat would have been the most satisfying turn of events, it's just not worth it.

The cyclist got away with his teeth and his bike intact. He was obviously shaken, but he'll wake up tomorrow and things will be fine. Whereas the cockney monkey anti-matter will wake up tomorrow and he'll still be an idiot.

Perhaps we should have a Road.CC wall of shame where every week the faces get emailed to the Police.

But it might be an idea to send this to the Sun, Daily Mail and all the other rags in an attempt to duplicate the 'Bexley Basher' incident. Sit back and see when the 'Romford Remedial' gets his just deserts.

Using Google Images, I've found a match...

If you aren't convinced by the likeness, then this footage of him in action should remove any doubt that it is the same man.

Seriously though, it always amazes me that, in cases like this, people forget that their bicycle is a very good defensive weapon. It is all very well saying a meek response is best, and maybe it was in this case, but how are you supposed to know when a guy like that charges at you he is going to stop at just threatening behaviour? Get off, pick up your bike by the head and seat tubes and use it to keep the assailant beyond the range of his fists (it helps if, like me, you ride a 60cm frame.) Still, I can't say I'd be any braver if a set of teeth as hideous as those came rushing towards me.

Not sure I wouldn't have retaliated. My sixteen stone would have dropped the ten stone little mockney like a bad habit, then his stupid hat would have been stuffed where the sun doesn't shine. Phew, got that off my chest...

I orginally posted this on the forum before I'd had chance to watch the footage, but after watching it last night my piss was boiling, the cyclist in the video showed serious restraint, I'd have been inclined to have cycled straight at him when he came bowling down the street towards me and taken him out.

That said, the video is a sad reflection of the times we live in, I remember in years gone by when the assailant would have been a happy passenger in this more splendid looking vehicle:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/mean_machine.jpg

"What did i do?"

I was struggling to work that out to. I'm assuming he was either behind him or to his left as he went round the roundabout. Handled well and although he didn't do anything wrong, 'sorry' seemed to sort it out, but for what, i have no idea.

Was he late for casting as an extra in a Guy Richie movie?
'nees up mova braahn, 'nees up mova braahn...

He'll do that to someone one day and get a right good kick in. What did we say abut cycling in Saarf Laandahn?

If this had been me, the video would have had to have been titled "Cyclist and cockney wide-boy in street side dust up" There's no way I would have been so calm about a guy laying his hands on me.

That's not to say he wouldn't have kicked the s**t outta me tho.

Jesus only a face a mother could love.

Little "Mouth like a bag of chips" prick. I think rider did the right thing in not punching him, it would have improved his looks.

Incidents like these also remind me why I bought a helmet camera. At least you have the evidence afterwards.

I think kmcyc (the cyclist) dealt with this nasty situation well.
When someone reacts in this way with no provocation, they must be a danger to the public.
I hope the Police do a better initial job with this guy than the recent Bexley incident.

The assailant looks like an ugly extra from a British gangster movie.

I think I know him....

It's the ghost of Norman Wisdom, surely ....

MR GRIMSDALE!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, if you aint too outta breath, dismount and front him out, more often than not these "little men" can do little more than shout loudly ... W***ers, the lot of em...

Cyclist did the right thing unless you absolutely have to defend yourself stay calm. Remember there's people out there with nothing to lose unlike hopefully most of the people reading this article.

What exactly does...drop you like a 'f'ing bitch mean....is his lady friend too heavy to carry and thus must be laid down gently to the ground??
Of more concern would be the proximity of some of the cars that pass the cyclist after he has stopped at the roadside...
In my experience the 'hard men' that mouth off like that are the ones least likely to actually hit you....I'm pretty sure that had that happened to me, the would be assailant would now be wearing an XS Ribble Sportive Racing around his neck and various multi tool parts would need extricated from his person...and I don't 'do violence'
Tick...tick..tick...the world is turning into a mad old place...

Easier to aplogise than get hit by the guy in need of orthodontic care, whether or not he'll break his knuckles punching someone.

What is he apologising for? I wouldn't have. He did nothing wrong, no need to apologise for anything.

He made the right decision not to punch him in the face. Let the irritating little oik live the rest of his life with that beautiful set of teeth on his lower jaw.

Apart from not affording a helmet cam, this is one of the reason's i wouldn't wear one, if that had been me, i would have just lost it and gone for him. But again it just shows the level's of abuse we as cyclists get day in and day out, rarely do they turn so violent, but it seems as if its an increasing trend that needs stamped upon by a law or some tougher sentencing

What's the usual sentence for threatening behaviour? I wonder if he punches like a girl like the erstwhile farrier? Going by the angle of his wrist and knuckle angle he's likely to break his knuckles if he tries to punch anyone really hard like that. The angle of his arm doesn't make for the most efficient punch either.

I like his shirt though the cap's not my style.

Wonder if this guy's an Essex boy like the farrier? He was in a Dagenham dustbin (ok, so the Fiesta's made in Cologne or somewhere else now) after all.