Video: [Updated] Police appeal for attacked rider to come forward after London confrontation turns violent

Is there any right or wrong here, the Audi driver shouldn't have done what he did, but the way the cyclist acted was disgraceful also, the aggressive way he rode to the next set of lights with the full intention of a confrontation with the Audi driver, and that's exactly what he got, clearly he got more of a confrontation than he bargained for, but he was looking for a reaction wasn't he, however the physical violence form the rear passenger really took it a step too far again, so this just escalated to were it sadly ended up.

The driver, passenger and rider should all be reprimanded because non of them came out of this looking good.

Sometimes when you look for confrontation, you'll get it in spades. Can't condone the cyclists nor the passengers reaction here.

Not the way to deal with the situation on either part. Pair of angry fools.

The cyclist has issues. The car was posing no danger to him at the second stop. The cyclist clearly rode as fast as he could after it after the first stop where he escalated the altercation. If you aggressively shout "F****g prick!" at some one what do you expect? He may have committed public order offences (s.5). Whether the chap getting out the car and hitting him and pushing him off his bike is assault or could possibly be viewed as self defence to the cyclist's aggressive behaviour would really need the opinion of a criminal law barrister. Brawling in the street is so vulgar.

I think that chasing a car and screaming abuse at the driver is never a good idea, a driver that is so clearly aggressive and as much of a knob as that one, is even less good an idea. That said, if (and it is a big if) the car did run over his foot, i can see why he would be rather unhappy. I also couldn't guarantee that i wouldn't do the same/similar, if, i was hit/run over/had my foot driven on...although it would probably break my cleats and i can't single leg that fast to catch up!

It would have been nice if everybody had boxed the Audi in after the punch was thrown and called the Police...

I'm no diplomat, but even I can see that verbally abusing another road user in that way is never going to end well.

Wake up & smell the coffee, just lay of the caffeine...

Wake up & smell the coffee, just lay of the caffeine...

My opinion! from the footage shown.....I think the cyclist should have left the matter. That 'tool' in the Audi, will come unstuck one day! he looked like a real moron. I was also worried as the driver looks to go in pursuit of the cyclist at the end of the video crossing the box junction/crossroads....there is little to gain by going up alongside a moron and saying 'you fucking little prick', perhaps he could have repeated that he was wrong to enter the advance cycle stop, as he had done initially, it would have certainly shocked the moron Audi man that a cyclist can keep up with a sports car...although, I think that was the problem....his pride was well and truly hurt! 2 wrongs don't make a right and wrongly the cyclist thought he had a right to call him a fucking little prick? Not good. I live in a rural area and we never get this level of aggression/confrontation.....

The driver of the Audi is a knob who deserves a brick through the windscreen. But, as frustrating it is to have the only space available to you unneccesarily occupied like in this case, insulting, as cathartic as it can be sometimes, is no the way forward.

Having said that,, we all know that the powers that be do fuck all when drivers like this endanger other road users. And I think that has a lot to do with the cyclist's reaction. I have no doubt that the scumbag behind the wheel of the car did this absolutely on purpose. He probably has a tiny pennis and a sad life.

It's not worth confronting an aggressive driver, whether you're the rider or a bystander. It's also not worth having a go at a driver whose clearly a knob in the first place...

We shouldn't react like that when cycling, but sometimes you get carried away. It's not easy to stay calm if it's the ninth piece of inconsiderate driving you've experienced that day, not the first. In any case, it doesn't excuse the assault.

There is some academic research showing that drivers of expensive cars are more likely to infringe traffic rules http://hedgehogcycling.co.uk/blog.html#psychology

Hmm to be fair all round the cyclist was pretty damn aggressive to start with - you go in that hard then you've got to expect tempers to snap. How about a gentle tap on the window of the car and try to explain it rationally first.

We all know what will happen...the passenger will be given a medal for services to "motoring" / "motorists" everywhere and the rider who was clearly to blame for being in the way of the "fist" will be sent to a penal colony / prison in Siberia for the rest of his life.

Actually the police CPS can prosecute. It used to be that they needed a complaint from the person assaulted but they changed the law in order to deal with domestic violence where the person assaulted either didn't want to or was afraid to complain or later withdrew the complaint. Basically if the police have evidence of assault they can prosecute.

They probably won't though.

Was it really necessary to remonstrate with the driver in that way ?

Just like car drivers w@nkers cycle bikes.....

http://platewave.com/KW13CWA

I'm curious as to what exactly the cyclist was trying to achieve here. Obviously he shouldn't have been assaulted but then he also shouldn't have shouted abuse at the driver.

As for this article and lots other like it on road.cc, this whole them vs us thing really needs to stop, IT DOESN'T MAKE CYCLIST SAFER!!!

I'll play devil's advocate: the motorist was an @rse, but was it really necessary to start hitting his car and swearing at him?

You can't stop an involuntary "WHOAH!" sometimes. Once, a black cab driver even heard me do that, stopped and apologised, which I accepted as nicely as I could. Really, though, it's not worth it. You're up high on a saddle, maybe clipped in, you're on the ground and hurt before you even know it. Just take a breath - please people.

BTW I used to have an Audi and didn't drive like a what-not (I hope). Less of the silliness about vehicle brands / classes please. Well, except BMWs, "new minis", black cabs, white vans, black VW Sharans / Ford Galaxies with white lettering on the back...

There is something about Audi drivers. Tend to find they normally want to driver so close behind that if they were any closer you'd be in their passenger seat, and the worst are normally in A5's or the upper spec A3's.

Conversation from colleagues at work recently went along the lines of "I like the Audi look because it's aggressive " !!!

It just ain't worth it. Film it, report it but don't get personal because it will always be a race to the bottom. Next time White Audi Man's friend in KW13 CWA may have a knife and he obviously has anger management issues.

Just a couple of things I noticed here,

at 1:13 the guy from the car punches and shoves the cyclist, then if you go to 1:20 and look at the stance of the guy it is clearly offensive (ready to go again)

Also at first it looks like the guy is the driver of the car, but he gets into the back, so a fair assumption is that there was at least 3 people in the car.

What actually pissed me of was the amount of people that just walked past and didn't do anything to either help the cyclist, take rego numbers or calm the situation.

We have turned into a country of cowards who wont help out a fellow human in trouble