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news
Priory Lane road rage driver Jason Wells delivers a threatening tiradeLocal paper identifies extreme road rage driver as SW London cafe chain owner
A local newspaper has identified a motorist who was filmed unleashing an expletive-laden rant against a cyclist near Richmond Park as a master butcher and south west London coffee shop owner – with his business now facing a backlash from cyclists on social media.
The Richmond & Twickenham Times says that the Land Rover driver featured in the YouTube video we reported on yesterday is Jason Wells, owner of the Brew café chain, with outlets in Clapham, Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. His representatives are making no comment at this time.
The business is due to open new branches in Chiswick and Kew according to the newspaper, which besides accompanying its article with a still from the video filmed in March this year, also has a picture taken from his Twitter profile of Mr Wells in a calmer moment … albeit posing with a meat cleaver.
The location of the chain’s outlets means it is popular with cyclists in the south west of the capital heading to or from Richmond Park or further afield – although some are reconsidering whether they should continue to give it their custom, according to these tweets.
@brew_cafe used to be my favourite too. @annasykes @mattb80 & I used to spend ££ there every Saturday brunch. Not any more. We're cyclists
— Pablo Burt (@Pablo_Burt) June 1, 2015
@simonbromley remarkable given Brew on LRR is FULL of cyclists paying £20 a pop for brunch every day. I'm one of them. If it's him, obvs...
— Pablo Burt (@Pablo_Burt) June 1, 2015
@Pablo_Burt @brew_cafe What a plonker. Not going into any of those cafes again!!
— rogerbarr (@rogerbarr) June 1, 2015
In case you missed our story yesterday, here’s the video again – we should warn you, it contains extreme language, so not one to watch at work with the sound turned up.
The Richmond & Twickenham Times says that a spokeswoman for Samphire Communications, speaking on behalf of Mr Wells, said she was “not confirming” whether or not it was him in the video, adding “ and “There will be no comment at this time.”
The cyclist who shot the footage said that the motorist involved has been fined for committing a public order offence.
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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136 comments
He also threatened to kill the cyclist in the video and eat him for breakfast, but I don't really think he meant that either.
Sorry that niggles, given that there is absolutely no indication in the footage released that the cyclist did anything at all that warranted having 2419Kg (I looked it up) of 4x4 offroad farm vehicle deliberately driven at him, neither did he force the driver to stop and become involved in a confrontation, the "situation" does appear to have been instigated entirely by Mr Wells.
Their are plenty of nice alternative cycle cafés in SW London including Giro (http://www.girocycles.com/), Cycle PS (http://www.cycle-ps.co.uk/) and, of course, Flag Bikes Battersea (http://www.flagbikes.com).
[Full disclosure - I'm a tiny bit biased towards that last one! :X]
If it was me - and I was genuinely contrite and a decent human being just having a shite day - I would have...
1) Apologised to the cyclist and to the wider public for my unacceptable behaviour. I would have done this days/weeks ago. When the story broke I would have re-iterated my apology to the daily mail, evening standard etc - to any media that asked for comment.
2) I would make a significant donation to a cycling safety charity
3) I would try and mend the appalling PR situation and show my staff, customers, and the public that I'm not really a c**t. I would do this by something like free coffees for anyone on a bike for a week, or free labour on bike servicing this weekend or something like that. I would make the coffees myself when possible and I would front up and speak to the cyclists that took me up on the offer.
In short, I would be a man about it and try and correct the situation with humility, good-will and humour (if possible). I find it difficult to express the contempt I hold for this sort of thug hiding out in his weasel hole.
I wonder what the Dragons of Dragons' Den would say?
"I'm out!"
or S'rAlan?
"Your fired!"
It's all been said already, but total, effing mentalist! His business deserves to suffer as a result of this.
It's amazing how many responses these stories get just by having a photo of an arse at the top.
He deserves the publicity and if it affects his business then he deserves that too.
What an utter bell end!
Shouldn't the Aussie drive a smaller car, or does he have 'Little man issues'?
The most embarrassing thing about this is the jacket he is wearing!
Hit him where it hurts, guys: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d1028089-Reviews-...
If cyclists paid road tax (VED) would that make drivers attitudes towards them better? Would drivers suddenly become more courteous to cyclists?
I drive a lorry for a living on London's congested roads and I'm always mindful of other road users especially cyclists & pedestrians as they are very vaulnerable.
I also drive a car which the DVLA take £130 annually off me not to mention the majority of cost of every litre of fuel I purchase is mainly tax which goes to the treasury.
I am also a cyclist so as mentioned above I do pay road tax (VED) as I heavily taxed motorist I sure as heck wouldn't support additional road tax to ride my bike.
As for Mr Abusive loud mouthed 4x4 driver (his ilk are all too common on the roads) he's only apologising because of the potential impact on his business & his family.
He runs his own business so he's not a stupid man, he should try reading the Highway Code
Is there any other area of criminality where people wonder if the offending rate would be reduced through the imposition of a tax?
I think you were asking rhetorically, but it is interesting that this does come up so often. The only parallel I can think of is minimum pricing on alcohol, as a way to reduce anti-social behaviour. But that's not based on people becoming more responsible from a feeling that they are contributing, it's simply to price them out of a drunken state.
And it would be easy to test the theory, is there any correlation between the zero rate VED band, and recorded offences? I think the evidence is actually the other way, big car owners are the least considerate.
I hate to point out the bleeding obvious, but VED doesn't have anything to do with the maintenance of the roads. Council tax pays for the upkeep of most roads. Only motorways and national trunk roads are maintained with "government" money from general taxation.
The idea that car drivers pay for the roads through their "road tax" or VED is a complete red herring that hasn't been true since the 1930s.
We pay VED because when we registered our cars with the DVLA we transferred legal title of our cars to that corporation and now we pay an annual fee to use the DVLA's legal property. That's why the V5 for each car refers to us as the "registered keeper" - not the owner. The DVLA owns all registered cars. That's why it's legal for the DVLA to have your car towed away and destroyed by its appointed agents if you don't pay their fee. It's not your private property, otherwise it would be unlawful for them to do it - as opposed to being illegal.
But I digress. No one pays a tax to travel on the roads.
As numerous others have pointed out, that cycle lane/shared path is terrible, I can't recall ever seeing anyone using it in all the years I've been going to Richmond Park. Mind you, the road surface isn't all that great either. No excuses for poor driving though, or for the tirade that followed. The cyclist's reaction was pretty strong, but I know that I would have struggled to keep my temper in his shoes... Last year I was hit by a Chelsea tractor on my way home, and it took a lot of effort to stay calm (that and the fact that the police turned up straight away).
I am taxed heavily the same as most people who work, have a family, mortgage, bills & own a car.
As for the damage I do until they introduce hybrid trucks for my work & an electric family car I can actually afford (have you seen the price of them) the only way you can lessen my impact is by riding my bike.
I cycle about 120 miles a week and often have drivers turn across me or drive too close for comfort even though I'm dressed more brightly than a Xmas tree
Funnily enough, there's a place on Priory Lane that can help with that...
Good spot, I'm not London based so I've just ordered some coffee beans from him a nice little hat tip for his take down.
Oh dear, oh dear.
'I'm not going to condone what the driver did, but is the cyclist ANY better?'
Yes. He didn't try to kill anyone.
' You cannot complain about not having enough cycle lanes then not use them simply because it is inconvenient!'
Yes, yes you can.
The cycle lanes are there FOR A REASON! If you don't want to use them fine - but then you CANNOT complain about the lack of them!'
Did this cyclist in question complain about the lack of them?
'Maybe if cyclists paid a tax as other road users have to, then more cycle lanes would be made available!'
What is this tax of which you speak?
'If you look at the video the CYCLIST started the verbal abuse!'
...after the driver had nearly killed him. Which is worse in your eyes? A few naughty words?
Aaaaaaaaah Hahahahaha!
Well spotted.
Better to throw them the other way over the wall. To get his keys back, he'd find himself in The Priory (yes, that one) and with any luck they'd keep him!
I think he has already - reported elsewhere on this site.
You think?
For me the "regardless of the situation" bit sounds he still thinks that he was put in a difficult situation rather than creating it.
There's a picture of a cock halfway down the comments as well.
No, it would make no difference at all.
Drivers are not bullying, injuring and killing people on bikes as some kind of political protest against "unfair" VED charges. You don't see drivers of zero-VED-rated cars being crashed into, threatened and killed and then being screamed at that they "should pay road tax"...
It's just a bullsh1t excuse that drivers use in angry, bullying tirades because they think, according to the cult of the car that this country's government, police and courts subscribe to, that they should be given more rights than anyone who isn't in a car.
You state that you pay VED and ride a bike as well. You will probably find that lots of people on bikes own a car and pay VED. I personally have to cough up for VED on 4 vehicles. Do I think that I have 4 times as much right to the road? No, because that is preposterous, whether I am in a car, on a motorcycle on on my bicycle.
Do drivers give a single second's thought to who is paying VED before deciding to pass with insufficient room, or T-bone them at a junction, or hook them during an overtake? No. They do it out of aggression, selfishness and lack of driving ability.
A tax disc is not a right to kill.
I'm pretty sure that's not true, and I'm not the only one. The V5 refers to a "registered keeper" because that person is not always the same as the owner of the car, for potentially many reasons. You can't infer from this that the DVLA is the owner, and that would be crazy - think what it would do to the public sector balance sheet (and if it were true, the Tories would have found a way to flog all the cars off by now).
I would actually be happy enough to see VED replaced by a "Road Tax" that was proportional to the damage done by the vehicle (damage to roads, so bigger cars and lorries pay more; damage to environment, so polluting cars pay more; congestion, so two wheeled vehicles pay less; etc.). This should apply to any user of the road, but of course there should be a minimum level at which it is not really economical to collect it and the vehicle would be exempt. Bikes for instance.
The problem with VED is that it is not really clear to the general population what it is for, people still think of it as a road tax that confers some sort of benefits on those paying it, and as a result it puts everyone's backs up.
DON'T FEED THE TROLL
Err …… he created the situation by driving in an aggressive and dangerous manner forcing the cyclist into the kerb.
I think you need to read beyond the first line of Davy1566's post.
You have to be sensible. Narrow shared-use paths don't work. It's a fob-off.
Please, tell me more about this tax that other road users pay that only cyclists don't pay? The only tax I'm aware of is vehicle tax - which is linked to emissions. Many new cars aren't subject to this. Besides, the money isn't ring-fenced for roads, and much of the costs come from central government (i.e. all tax payers). So your point is pointless.
Ahhh the old "but he started it"
Hey, look, I'm just a normal red-blooded male, and I think a total arse is a fine thing to behold. I've I'm out and about and I see a good example of a total arse, then hell yes I'll take a good look, and possibly even a sneaky photo if I think I can get away with it. I might even think "I'd like to hit that". You know what I mean. I'm fed up of the sanctimonious PC-brigade coming along and telling me that I can't appreciate a nice example of a total arse as if it wasn't a perfectly normal thing to do and that I am somehow "objectifying" the total arse just by saying what everyone is thinking anyway.
And good on road.cc for publishing these articles with impressive pictures of total arses at the top and I for one will go on clicking on them because I really appreciate a good arse story.
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