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KIngston collision scene (picture courtesy Andrea Craig)Kingston driver 'aimed car at cyclist,' missed - and crashed into hair salon
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.
Aftermath of road rage in Kingston. Woman allegedly drove at rider, missed, ended up in house. @roadcc #cycling pic.twitter.com/vcsfQW5UM2
— Stuart Forrest (@MrStuartForrest) June 7, 2014
Another person who lives locally, Andrea Craig, also tweeted pictures of the aftermath, one of which show the cyclist’s mangled mountain bike.
Unbelievable and thankfully other than the building, the bike, a car and a van the people are ok. pic.twitter.com/KV8oSnWy51
— Andrea Craig (@MrsNoBags) June 7, 2014
The bike is totally mangled and cyclist ok but the car is a rightoff. My fav hairdressers Park Salon is not ok. 
pic.twitter.com/Vho2Y7Buum
— Andrea Craig (@MrsNoBags) June 7, 2014
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
I hope the guy on the bike makes a good recovery and will soon be over the trauma.
I cycle this road twice a day on my way to and from the station. The Evening Standard reports that the driver was arrested for attempted grievous bodily harm and that the person riding the bike is autistic and was wearing badge identifying himself as such.
http://tinyurl.com/AudiQ7versuspersononbike
In my experience the mini roundabout at the junction of Park Road and King's Road is a point of contention between people on bikes and drivers. In my experience drivers do not give way to cyclists coming from the right. The Kingston Cycling Campaign asked for segregated cycle lanes on Park Road during the recent #Space4Cycling campaign before the local elections and we have highlighted to the council the number of incidents at mini-roundabouts.
Wow - you mean that they sometimes do, in other places?
what goes around comes around, very quickly in this case, lol
The Porsche Cayenne is literally the stupidest car that has ever gone into mass production.
Though I have to agree with the general Audi sentiment. There is something about that brand that attracts aggressive, unpleasant people (never had a problem with a Merc or Alfa driver, to give examples in similar price-range).
The only thing worse than Audis are groups of young men in what used to be called 'hot hatches'.
If this is going to become the topic: in my experience some of the most aggressive drivers on the road are young women driving the BMW Mini.
That's only a stone's throw from where a Fiat 500 driver aimed his car at me in Richmond Park. Maybe they're a couple. He was only trying to scare me and, happily for him, there was no intervening hair salon.
Bit of a generalisation and borderline sexist but in my experience women driving Q7's are usually half witted, gormless bringers of death. Usually wearing big sunglasses, talking on a phone, stroking a stupid small dog or shouting at a small child they resent having for stealing their youth.
See also the Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5
Ah yes, whose adverts should all run with the strapline "The four by four for those that know four by fuck all about driving..."
I have no idea why the type of vehicle matters.
It matters because the vehicle in question is closer to a tank than a family hatchback. Being driven *at* by someone in one of those would be downright scary.
Granted, it wouldn't exactly be a tea party if it was a smaller lighter vehicle...
Because the Q7 is huge, I often feel intimidated by those in my car, let alone on a bike.
Re guns analogy. Would you kick someone with a gun?
That is terrifying, the thought of a Q7 bearing down on you. Not nice at all.
Rubbish, to get a driving licence you need to take theory and practical tests. To get a firearms licence you have to fill in some forms and pay some money, it's no more difficult than getting a TV licence, well maybe a little more difficult. I mean geez, I had one at the same time as having a criminal record.
TBH guns are more like bikes than cars though, especially with the n+1 thing. Sadly I don't get to shoot much these days as carrying guns on a bike doesn't go down well.
Depends which street, where I grew up you would be more likely to get a stern telling off from the local Ranger, and if you gave him lip probably a punch in the face as well. There's a lot of guns in the countyside, but not a lot of gun crime.
WTF! Certainly a close shave.
Of course it had to be ……. an Audi.
Girlfriend's dad drives a Q7.
Suffice to say our views on cycling differ somewhat. Definitely not a stereotype or anything in there...
Guns are illegal so a better analogy for cases like this would be a hammer or some other every day object that can kill if used as a weapon.
Guns are not illegal, I own several. You have to have a licence just like a car so the analogy is sound. However if you shoot at people your firearms licence will be permanently revoked, unlike a driving licence.
Not only that even if you or me were to "just" walk along the street with shotgun unloaded (with no cartridges on person) and in a case we would face imprisonment as well.
It's a bit easier to get a driving licence than a firearms licence, though?
And certainly in the UK, cars (well, drivers) are responsible for more deaths each year than guns are.
Audi Q7. Never before in the history of mankind has there been a vehicle more attractive to self-regarding, arrogant twats.
Fixed.
Seriously, it's science. Drop a grand piano out of a plane at 30,000 feet, it will hit an Audi Q7 no matter what, even it has to catch a thermal to the nearest motorway. Got source around somewhere...
Not true. There is a thing called the Porsche Cayenne. It's a huge big monster of a 4WD that is rubbish off-road. All it's really good at is burning fuel, which the petrol version does in vast quantities (the diesel slightly less so). It has been loaded up with a lot of sophisticated and expensive technology so that it nearly handles almost as well as a conventional car with a lower centre of gravity that costs about as third as much. There's also a thing called the Humvee, which is cruder and flashier but equally useless at anything other than using a lot of fuel.
You do have to question why anyone would want to buy one of these monstrosities.
There used to be a Porsche Cayenne that I saw regularly in Heaton Moor and Didsbury that had been lowered.
A big 4x4 with the suspension lowered.
The mind boggles.
Would the word "footballer" explain this abomination?
oops!
the cyclist must have been really scared. the q7 seven is really big. it is like a van but wider.
they are very imposing at speed.
Was the building wearing a helmet? did it have lights on or high viz? if not its the buildings fault not the drivers......
Looks like the bike got clipped. It certainly put a crimp in someone's day
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