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road.cc newsPolice caution one cyclist and seek two others in connection with violent road rage attacks on drivers
Police have cautioned one cyclist and are seeking two others in connection with two road rage incidents in recent days.
On one occasion, a 51-year cyclist followed a driver home and punched him in the face for hooting at his group ride when he wanted to pass.
On another, a driver was hauled from his seat and threatened with his house being burned down after he narrowly avoided hitting a pair of cyclists in a layby.
On April 20, Kim Chapman was punched outside his home in Goose Green, Surrey.
He told the Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser that he had passed a group of six cyclists earlier on his way home.
He said: "I was quite happy following them because they were doing about 25mph, but when they indicated to turn left I thought that I could overtake them on the right without affecting them."
He said he hooted his horn to let the riders know that he was about to pass.
But on arrival at his home he heard a knock on his car window.
"I opened the door and, in hindsight, that was a mistake, but I did not think that I had done anything wrong," he said.
"There were quite a few cross words shouted, and then he punched me in the left eye.
"It wouldn't have been such a problem if I hadn't previously had surgery on the very same eye in December 2012.
"I was so shaken up. I really did not know what to do with myself. My mother heard the commotion outside our house and she was shaking a lot too. I don't think she stopped shaking for the entire day.
"It was horrible. Nothing like this has happened to me before and I hope nothing like this will ever happen again."
Local police confirmed that a 51-year-old man from Dorking had been cautioned following the incident.
She said: "Officers arrested the offender on Sunday, April 20, after an altercation between the two men."
Just ten days later, two cyclists in Thurnham, Lancaster, who had pulled into a layby, were nearly hit by the car following them when it swerved to avoid another car coming the other way.
The cyclists then verbally abused the driver of the car, allegedly grabbing his arm and attempting to pull him out of the vehicle.
The cyclist allegedly threatened to kick the driver’s head in, find out where he lives and burn his house down.
The driver managed to take a picture of one of the riders, which can be seen here.
PC Faye Tinker and PC John Bradshaw, from Lancaster & Morecambe Police told The Visitor: “We would appeal to the public in order to provide any information in regards to the identification of the cyclist.
“The car driver and passenger were on holiday in the area and were shocked and traumatised by the incident.
“This is not the image we wish to leave with people visiting the area and we would like to speak to the cyclists to obtain their version of events.”
Anybody with any information can call police on 101 quoting Crime Number BA1405431.
A few weeks ago we reported that two cyclists had appeared in court in South Africa in connection with a road rage incident in Cape Town in which a van driver was punched and assaulted with pepper spray.
The incident was filmed by the occupant of a nearby car and can be seen below:
The cameraman Symon Scott said: “There was a lot more going down than what you can see in the video."
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66 comments
It's schadenfreude. We're like the kid at school who gets bullied constantly but every now and then manages to get his own back. When the law doesn't protect us natural law sometimes rears its ugly, satisfying head.
Now that really is BS!!
You can't have cycled many miles as this shit happens to most of us everyday. Where do you ride, the Shetland Isles on a sunday? Why should we be scared shitless by malicious and dangerous drivers who are simply impatient ignorant morons? I am all for affirmative action, take back the roads, but I'd draw the line at pursuing some one to their house then punching them in the gob when they answered the door although we only have a moton's account of what happened and of course they NEVER lie …….. The moton probably continued to make threats and abuse against the cyclist(s) so he was hit, deservedly so.
How many times have moton's lied through their teeth in statements and in court to try to get off or tweeted about killing cyclists? It's about time cyclists fought back against these dangerous menaces that unfortunately do kill and maim us all too frequently. The police invariably do fuck all and the courts let these dangerous drivers off or give them a slap on the wrist or a medal. When I was knocked down in a hit and run the police did fuck all. The letter I got confirming they were doing sweet FA assumed I was a car driver. This shows you how stupid and incompetent and CBA they are.
So many cyclists have died mown down by fuckwit morons and nothing or very little has been done or the criminal justice system has made a mockery of what happened. RIP to all those cyclists killed on UK roads. I am sure there will be more as the car is king so the status quo will no doubt continue.
None of what you have written justifies following someone home and then punching them in the face.
People lie all the time. They open doors into your car whilst you are sitting in the car and lie that they didn't cause the damage to your car door. Builders do a shabby job and lie about the materials or weather causing the poor outcome.
People tell lies for the littlest things, but that doesn't mean you assault them. And if you think it is ok to punch people in the face, then there is something very wrong with you, WHETHER YOU ARE A CYCLIST OR NOT!
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Comprehension fail on your part. Read my post again numbnutz and you will see I don't write that it is justified following some one home then lumping them one. Although for a cyclist to have done this the moton must have done something very very bad and continued to do so.
Well, not necessarily. Given we know nothing of the temperament and character of the thumper. They might just have a very short fuse.
This sort of reaction always happens though. Look at the reaction from (too many - indeed, unnervingly many!) women when Lorena Bobbit carried out her personal act of vengeance. If a group feels put-upon by another group, they are likely to react with entirely inappropriate cheering when someone "strikes back", even if there's no reason to believe the particular case in question is actually justified. Its a kind of scape-goating, really, and not, in reality, fair.
So now you choose to call me names. Well done! You must be a very special person! No wonder people dont like cyclists, especially if they have an attitude like yours! Name calling, what next? Insult my family perhaps, that might make you feel big and special.
By the way, you dont justify it, yet you attempt to justify it by presuming the motorist "must have done something very bad and continued to do so"! Or perhaps the cyclist was just a bully and an idiot?
Without condoning any violent action, the biggest problem now and for the foreseeable future in this country is the 'us v them' attitude that pervades. It's deeply culturally ingrained and above all else, it's this that makes our roads dangerous. Yes, we lack the infrastructure for safe cycling, but does this mean people need to treat each other with so little respect?
I was cycling in Andalucia recently, and was amazed and heartened by the fact that motorists were just so calm and patient, only overtaking when they could see the road ahead and able to pass with a car width between you and them. It made me less hostile towards and wary of drivers, and it meant the drivers weren't racing along with steam coming out their ears.
i was knocked off by a hit and run broken leg sustained. took the police 4 weeks to start investigating ,after numerous phone calls filling in paperwork(to save them coming out, as stated on paperwork), and they want us to help them !!!!
Punching someone in the grid = unacceptable. People need to grow up.
Perhaps if they thought that if they followed the correct procedure and reported the incident to the police then nothing would happen, I can't imagine why.
Why is there a video from South Africa attached? What is the relevance?
I can't believe some people are defending these cyclists and their reported behaviour.
For those of you who don't know that the horn is a warning device that should be used to alert other road users of your presence; you shouldn't be on the road in a car or on a bike.
The reality is that as cycling has become more popular the small % of cyclists who are idiots will become more visible to other road users; just as the small % of motorists who are idiots have been highly visible to me for the last 35 years!
But why did he feel the need to sound his horn at a group of cyclists that were turning left, presumably off the main carriageway, and out of his way?
If it was to warn them of his presence, why? He was behind them, it was his responsibility to not endanger their lives by poor driving. Sounding your horn in those circumstances is poor driving. He probably didn't deserve to get smacked but you only know his side of the story.
It doesn't say how far from his home the incident occured but if a group member followed him home surely he must have seen them in his rear view mirror. I don't know of many 51 year olds who could keep up with a car travelling at the general speed limit of 30mph, maybe he needs signing up by a pro-team.
Funnily enough there was a programme on telly npt more than a few weeks ago where a motorist used his horn at an unmarked police car.
He was stopped and then stuck on for 3 points. Given a solid dressing down for being aggressive.
And a horn soinds a lot less aggressive inside a carv!
10 metres away than it does 4 ft behind your right ear.
Reading between the lines, there's a reason why the first case went no further than a caution. The Police were also picking up on the overwhelming smell of BS.
Spot on, I think. That he punched the driver in the face isn't at question and you would think that that was common assault at least, unless the Police firmly believed that if they went further it would just get complicated along with a lot of paperwork.
Since when does sounding a horn mean "I am about to pass" ?
I have never heard of this before, and I am confident that it is not in any road legislation or driving guides.
Hearing stories of cyclists standing up for themselves gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnkPU2wcdz8
TBH, I'm surprised there hasn't been more stories like this reported. Most cyclists I know are at their wits end with the impunity drivers receive after they collide with and injure, or kill cyclists.
I received a letter from the met yesterday about a case where a driver hit a friend then tried to drive over her, continuing to drive through our group.
He got a £120 fine & 3 points for driving without due care.
Are we meant to be placated with that, that justice has been served?
If anything, until there is a paradigm shift in the attitudes of politicians, urban planners and at least drivers, then expect more of this kind of news.
Just last weekend I witnessed a car driver blasting his horn at any cyclists he encountered in Surrey and passing in a very aggressive and dangerous manner. This guy was a danger to everyone and with his manner of driving, should not be on the road. There were some pretty robust responses from some of the cyclists and if he had had to stop at a junction, it would not have ended well.
If you report it, you'd probably get more response if you shouted into the desert and therein lies the problem - rank indifference from law & order.
I've said it before but we really need a "fit and proper" test for a driving licence and if you have anger issues, it goes.
Unacceptable behaviour from scumbag lycra louts. These guys need to be prosecuted just as harshly as any motorist behaving in this manner should be.
"These guys need to be prosecuted just as harshly as any motorist behaving in this manner should be."
Let off, you mean?
Great reply, totally agree.
So, a £30 fine then.
Edit: my bad, you said should, not would.
Hmmm, the whiff of BS, very one-sided accounts of "well-behaved", "well-intentioned" car drivers. Naturally all cyclists get angry at such well behaved drivers....
Given this guy's account it's difficult to know the exact circumstances but what I can say is that there are very few instances when it's ok to overtake at a junction. In fact I can think of only one, and I'd put money on this one not falling into that category.
Still, it doesn't excuse premeditated violence. I could understand something happening in the heat of the moment, had the driver stopped and tried to have it out with them, but to follow the guy home and smack him? That's not right. Any club worth its constitution should be at the least suspending the guy's membership.
The question that has to be asked by the police is " do you think what he did justified your actions in law? ". The answer is inevitably no. If the driver had done something wrong the proper reaction is not to threaten or assault them, but to inform them and I necessary the police. Local vigilantism is not the right way. Imagine the uproar when it is the other way round. Cyclist makes silly manoeuvre ( it does happen ) so driver follows them home and assaults them. Yes I know it has happened but the reactions on here when they get caught is " good ". The local cops are a bit powerless to help when you take justice into your own hands. It undermines your complaint and highlights what you did instead.
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