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Kingston driver 'aimed car at cyclist,' missed - and crashed into hair salon

Incident took place yesterday evening close to entrance to Richmond Park

A driver in Kingston-upon-Thames is said to have aimed their car at a cyclist in a road rage incident yesterday but missed the intended target and instead crashed into a hair salon, causing extensive damage to the front of the building.

The incident took place yesterday evening at around 6pm on Park Road, around 50 metres from the entrance to Richmond Park. Local resident and road.cc site user Stuart Forrest said that word soon spread around, and he went to look at the aftermath an hour or so after it happened.

He also spoke to an eyewitness, and said: “I'm told that the cyclist and the driver had had an altercation (over what I don't know) and that the cyclist had tried to kick the car.

“The woman's response was completely out of proportion though because she apparently tried to drive at the bike.

“The car went out of control and appears to have completely destroyed the front of a hair salon (not a house as I'd originally said) just after it closed, before bouncing off a van and another car. The car in question is a white Audi Q7, which is local – I've seen it around, it's quite a distinctive car.

He said that there was “no sign of the rider or driver, but plenty of police and two fire engines in attendance.”

He added: “If it's true, I hope they throw an attempted murder charge at the driver. Whatever provocation there was, this was an entirely out of proportion response and she was extremely lucky that nobody was killed.”

Stuart also tweeted pictures of the scene, which show the front of the salon propped up to prevent the building from collapsing.

Another person who lives locally, Andrea Craig, also tweeted pictures of the aftermath, one of which show the cyclist’s mangled mountain bike.

In a statement emailed to road.cc, the Metropolitan Police said:

Police were called at around 18:00hrs on Saturday, 7 June, to a collision between a car and a cyclist in Park Road, Kingston-upon-Thames.

The car was subsequently in collision with a hairdresser's shop.

Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene. The male cyclist was taken to hospital with a small cut to his arm. He was discharged that evening.

The driver of the car, a 30-year-old woman, was arrested on suspicion of attempted GBH. She was taken to a south-west London police station and bailed to return on a date in September.

At this early stage, officers believe there had been a heated argument between the cyclist and the driver while both were stationary. During the course of the dispute, the cyclist kicked the car, an Audi Q7. The woman drove the car away and was in collision with the cyclist and then the shop.

Officers from Kingston CID are investigating. Enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call police on 020 8721 5880.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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83 comments

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dodgy | 10 years ago
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Is the woman's insurance valid, since it was not technically an accident? Surely they wouldn't pay out if they knew she deliberately drove at someone, anyone know?

If so, probably more of a punishment than the justice system will hand out.

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blablablacksheep20 | 10 years ago
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Just going to throw this out there, but i guarantee the whole "aimed at cyclist" part of this will be swept under carpet and will focus entirely on hitting the hair salon.

Thus, you fined x amount for causing damage and stupid driving, rather than

Go to jail for x amount for trying to kill someone..

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matthewn5 | 10 years ago
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It gets worse... it was an autistic cyclist, and the driver had 5 kids in the car!

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/motorist-arrested-on-suspicion-of-a...

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phy2sll | 10 years ago
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Shouldn't it be "Hair salon involved in collision with car"?

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Airzound | 10 years ago
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Police have been combing the scene for evidence  24 .

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Mostyn | 10 years ago
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Hell's Bell's, what is the world coming too? Stupid young lady to attempt motorized MURDER. BUT, what the hell was the mountain biker doing kicking the car and provoking a retaliation?? He's lost is bike; spent time in Hospital .. ( I'm pleased he's OK; and not badly injured BTW) but lets face it; he was partly to blame for this senseless incident. Although I do agree with many of the comments posted about the punishment of the driver; lets hope the LAW seeks justice in this case?

My daughter and her partner cycle in Richmond Park regularly; and I use the park for cycling when I visit them ..

When will people realise that Human Life is Precious?

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Yorkshie Whippet | 10 years ago
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Am I the only one here wondering how fast was the Q7 going?

She's bounced off a parked transit, looks to have plough through a garden wall and demolished the front of the salon. Yet still managed to get the Q7 back onto the road.

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The _Kaner | 10 years ago
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Maybe she'll blame it on a wasp inside the car...and she has a propensity for anaphylaxis. ...I'm 'sure' she wouldn't have blatantly tried to run over an autistic cyclist that allegedly kicked her tank...I mean vehicle...endangering her brood into the bargain....

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downhilldirtjumper | 10 years ago
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Id just like to point out to the person that said

Quote:

what the hell was the mountain biker doing kicking the car and provoking a retaliation

that the article later says "tried" to kick, and even if he made contact - attempting to run him down with a car is not a valid response... EVER
the fact that she had children on board tells me that's one incredibly irresponsible and stupid driver that deserves a lifetime ban for risking the lives of her passengers for no reason other than vengeance, although I'm sceptical she'll ever be charged, good ol CPS.

I love the road laws of our country, In the US such an incident would be "assault with a deadly weapon" or "attempted murder" whereas our great nation coins it "attempted GBH"
We are famous for understating things in this country but the trend to lessen the severity of a crime by using a naming system that simply does not reflect the magnitude of the offence,
A car is a deadly weapon if used as one, so in America if someone tries to intentionally run you down they are attempting to murder you, its a very simple conclusion to reach and makes perfect sense,
attempted GBH just makes me laugh but then its an improvement to what we had, in the past if you killed someone with your car it was called 'death by dangerous driving' with its seven year maximum sentence that many thought far too short, GBH is fifteen years but in my opinion still does not do enough to deter people from using their cars a weapons- a disturbing trend that seems to be on the rise.

Id also just like to point out that when a driver says they did not see a cyclist that's an admission of negligence and an offence in itself, not a plausible excuse! try telling the police that you cant see pedestrians and they'll ban you from driving, tell them you cant see cyclists and you get " yeah we can't see em either" its the mindset in this country that's the biggest problem, people have the idea that cyclists are invisible and rather than demanding people pay due attention the government takes a softly softly approach and releases adds that actually condone the opinion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJs4AYa8sU
note when the driver looks right there is no bike- because its invisible!

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FluffyKittenofT... | 10 years ago
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Mostyn wrote:

but lets face it; he was partly to blame for this senseless incident. Although I do agree with many of the comments posted about the punishment of the driver; lets hope the LAW seeks justice in this case?
?

"Partly to blame"? Nah. There's no logical connection between kicking a car door and a motorist using a car as a weapon and trying to kill you and destroying a building.

Had she kicked his bike in retaliation (while stationary, which is apparently when the original argument occurred), then yeah, 'partly to blame', but not in the case of what actually happened.

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Bob's Bikes | 10 years ago
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If she is found guilty of attempted GBH will the sentence that she is given be automatically multiplyed by six, to take into account of the one cyclist and the five children in the car?

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busted boy | 10 years ago
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Bang her up..........shes an idiot and there is enough of them on the road. She obviously not of sound mind or fit for driving. No insurance for the rest of her life either that should work.

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BigBear63 | 10 years ago
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Well given the last incident I read about in Richmond Park was a driver actually deliberately knocking a cyclist of his bike, then leaving the scene of the accident and pleading not guilty  44 , for which he received a fine and 6 points for careless driving,  13 I doubt the CPS will prosecute the woman for attempted GBH. More likely careless driving and she'll get a small fine and 3 points if that. Of course if she pleads guilty she may just get off with a warning.  102

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Das | 10 years ago
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Attempted GBH? WTF? You start at the Highest point and work back. She uses a 2500kg weapon in a manor likely to cause life changing injuries and its only attempted GBH? Jesus....... Most likely end up getting away with pleading guilty to Affray.

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bendertherobot | 10 years ago
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When I was run off the road deliberately the other day the police officer (on the phone of course, this sort of thing doesn't warrant a home visit) was quite categorical that there was no such thing as assault (etc) using a car, quite categorical.

So it's good to see some forces (one in Manchester as well I believe) coming round to the idea that using a car is aggravating rather than a defence in law and reverting to the much less pointless driving offences.

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cisgil23 | 10 years ago
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 31 Have the local Social Services been informed of the driver's inability to safely look after children ?
After all, she deliberately put them at risk from injury for her own selfish aims.
If they are her kids, they should be put into care. If they 'belong' to others, I hope those parents alienate the driver.
Just another way to punish her if our so-called justice system does it's normal 'sweeping under the carpet' thing.

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Ciaran Patrick | 10 years ago
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I don't know if its me but this type of monster white car whether an audi, bmw or the like they always seem to want to be very aggressive. One of the white monstrosities once decided to squash me and another lady, who walked with a stick right into a bank with her car on a country road, screaming abuse. There was plenty of room but obvious she had a bad morning.

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Bishop | 10 years ago
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Any more information on this incident? i.e police report into the actual facts? seems to be lots of speculation and assumptions floating around at the moment.
Cheers

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kie7077 | 10 years ago
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And what FACTS regarding the actual event are you using to claim that this woman tried to kill anyone?

How about the ones in the article!

Article:

He also spoke to an eyewitness, and said: “I'm told that the cyclist and the driver had had an altercation (over what I don't know) and that the cyclist had tried to kick the car.

“The woman's response was completely out of proportion though because she apparently tried to drive at the bike.

And

..the Metropolitan Police said:

The driver of the car, a 30-year-old woman, was arrested on suspicion of attempted GBH. She was taken to a south-west London police station and bailed to return on a date in September.

And

Crash Scene

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brooksby replied to dodgy | 10 years ago
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dodgy wrote:

Is the woman's insurance valid, since it was not technically an accident? Surely they wouldn't pay out if they knew she deliberately drove at someone, anyone know?

Must be so, surely? Considering some of the ways insurance companies will try to get out of paying for legitimate accident damages, I would have thought that "Yes, I did hit that wall but I wasn't meaning to, I was aiming for the person in front of it" gives any insurance company a pretty good get-out...

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to phy2sll | 10 years ago
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phy2sll wrote:

Shouldn't it be "Hair salon involved in collision with car"?

Are we sure the salon wasn't attempting to pass the car on the left?

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to matthewn5 | 10 years ago
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drmatthewhardy wrote:

It gets worse... it was an autistic cyclist, and the driver had 5 kids in the car!

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/motorist-arrested-on-suspicion-of-a...

For some reason I find this comment quite depressing:

"She drives a very fancy car. I think that is what saved her children's' lives."

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Bishop replied to downhilldirtjumper | 10 years ago
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downhilldirtjumper wrote:

Id just like to point out to the person that said

Quote:

what the hell was the mountain biker doing kicking the car and provoking a retaliation

that the article later says "tried" to kick, and even if he made contact - attempting to run him down with a car is not a valid response... EVER

Not quite sure what article your reading but looking at the article above the police are quoted as saying "During the course of the dispute, THE CYCLIST KICKED THE CAR, an Audi Q7" Then again in the original version of the article now "updated" the Police are quoted as saying it was a male driver..... so go figure.

Was speaking to the wife about this incident it was interesting to hear a woman's perspective.

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Bishop replied to cisgil23 | 10 years ago
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cisgil23 wrote:

 31 Have the local Social Services been informed of the driver's inability to safely look after children ?

In the same way that Care in the Community should be alerted to the fact that an autistic man (that had a sign to alert people that he had autism and possibly odd behaviour) resorted to violence against a lone woman in a car full of young children?

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levermonkey replied to Bishop | 10 years ago
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Bishop wrote:
cisgil23 wrote:

 31 Have the local Social Services been informed of the driver's inability to safely look after children ?

In the same way that Care in the Community should be alerted to the fact that an autistic man (that had a sign to alert people that he had autism and possibly odd behaviour) resorted to violence against a lone woman in a car full of young children?

What exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to equate kicking a car (a thing) to trying to kill someone?

Most people with autism have learning and/or social skills and the anger they show is often born out of their frustration at being unable to express themselves or get their feelings across.

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Bishop replied to levermonkey | 10 years ago
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levermonkey wrote:

What exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to equate kicking a car (a thing) to trying to kill someone?

Most people with autism have learning and/or social skills and the anger they show is often born out of their frustration at being unable to express themselves or get their feelings across.

And what FACTS regarding the actual event are you using to claim that this woman tried to kill anyone? Your making assumptions based on your prejudices. Seeing a buckled back wheel and a car your again assuming that the driver is wrong.

Spoke to the wife early this afternoon and her take on what possibly happened was that an argument took place. The man attacked her car by kicking it then made his way around to the front to get at the driver. The woman on her own felt that she and the young children in the car were under immanent threat from a man that had already been violent instinctively stamped on the accelerator in an attempt to get away. She clipped the rear wheel of the bike buckling it lost control and hit the car and into the hairdressers with her foot still on the accelerator of a big powerful car.

Is that what happened? No idea but its a plausible explanation. I think that until all the facts are known the horrendous demonisation of this woman is quite appalling.

Your quite possibly right regards autism and violence BUT that doesn't make it acceptable towards a woman and children or come to think of it anyone. If this individual has to resort to violence then maybe he should only have supervised outings. Would you feel differently if the violence had been directed towards your wife or daughter?

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bikebot replied to dodgy | 10 years ago
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dodgy wrote:

Is the woman's insurance valid, since it was not technically an accident? Surely they wouldn't pay out if they knew she deliberately drove at someone, anyone know?

If so, probably more of a punishment than the justice system will hand out.

If I remember the basics of motor insurance correctly, the third party claims (the shop and the cyclist) will always be covered by the insurance company thanks to our laws. The policy holder may however be excluded for their own first party costs, depending on their actions and the small print.

The incident is a good reminder why car insurance is mandatory for motorists, it's incredibly easy to do an awful lot of very expensive damage with a car.

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PhilRuss replied to phy2sll | 10 years ago
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phy2sll wrote:

Shouldn't it be "Hair salon involved in collision with car"?

[[[[[ Exactly right! But I see the woman driver was bailed...I'd rather see people like this boiled, preferably alive (assuming she's mentally competent to stand trial, 'natch).
P.R.

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congokid replied to Mostyn | 10 years ago
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Mostyn wrote:

When will people realise that Human Life is Precious?

All together now: 'Every Sperm is Sacred, every sperm is great...'

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surly_by_name | 10 years ago
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I feel most sympathy for the owner of the hair dressers. Hope he/she has business interruption risk that pays out for idiocy like this.

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