Video: Close-passing, ultra-sweary driver takes a tumble after chasing and kicking out at cyclist

vonhelmet wrote:

Has anyone ever corrected a driver and had them acknowledge the mistake with good grace? Anyone? Ever? With that in mind, what are people hoping will happen when they get into altercations like this? At best, you don't get thumped. That's about as much as you can hope for.

Surely the best outcome you could ever hope for would be for the driver to come running out of his car,swing a kick, miss and fall on his head and you catch the whole thing on camera?

Bikebikebike wrote:

Before the confrontation there was evidence that the driver was a standard-issue rubbish driver. Roughly 5% of them out there, using a statistic I've plucked out of the air.

After the confrontation there is evidence that the driver is violent, and if this is taken further hopefully some action can be taken to get him off the road / have something on his record, so that if he does it again then he'll get a bigger (some?) punishment.

So I'd say well done to the cyclist, really.

The guy is already driving dangerously: can't see how confronting him is going to make him drive any worse.

Sadly, I agree.

Assaulting someone with a car generally doesn't qualify as assault at all. Thus, the only way to charge someone with assault seems to be to piss them off until they get out of the car and actually assault you in the flesh.

If the rider HADN'T escalated things, he'd probably have no evidence of anything the police would likely be interested in.

Which is... stupid.

will.penn wrote:

The rider has let down all cyclist with his behaviour.

What, becoming angry because he was subjected to near-death/serious injury by someone who obviously doesn't care whether other road users live or die?

That would make anyone angry. This isn't a "letting down other cyclists" thing. There is no "universal cyclist behaviour code". It is just a human reaction - being subjected to unnecessary, potentially lethal danger makes a person angry, so he chases after the perpetrator and shouts at them.

That's all this video would have been; there are dozens like it on the net. The only difference here is that the driver got out to attempt to physically attack the bike rider. And in doing so, fell over.

If anyone has let anyone down, it is the driver in allowing anger to become an attempt at a physical assault. If it had carried on being "angry person 1" and "angry person 2" shouting at one another, this would simply have been a study in boiling emotions, and would not have made the news.

brooksby wrote:

I'm sorry, but I'm clearly completed jaded, but I really don't see the problem with the pass in the first place. As other people on here have already said, that is a typical pass when within the city boundaries (Bristol, in my case), and I get even closer ones from time to time. Never felt the need to chase the driver down and remonstrate with them, as I cannot imagine a situation where anyone ever takes advice or criticism from a complete stranger with good grace...

I guess the wide camera lenses doesn't do the closeness of the pass justice

Deleted.

Is this what happens when Halfords build your VooDoo up for you ?

evil_breakfast wrote:

YT have now posted a comment that they've received a privacy violation request (or however it's worded) So i'm assuming the driver is trying to nip this in the bud. Might be too late though....

Not sure the driver can get the video pulled.

1) Filmed in a public area.
2) All participants are in a public area.
3) Camera is clearly visible. Filming is not covert.
4) He is the architect of his own downfall.

He also doesn't want to get the video pulled. If it goes to court for the close pass, death threats or the attempted assault then he can point to the video and claim that he can't receive a fair trial.

All goes to show how stupid the driver is.

pamplemoose wrote:

Driver got exactly what he deserved. Yes, the cyclist goaded him a bit, but the driver was incredibly quick to fly off the handle.

Everyone on here saying "it was only a close pass, so what" should be ashamed of themselves. It's passes like you see in this video that make a lot of people who would otherwise cycle decide that it's too dangerous. Hopefully at least this moron will have some action taken against him, if not for the close pass then at least for assault. If the cyclist had just "let it go" and reported the pass to the police what do you think the outcome would be?

+1! There are thousands of drivers like that, who think it is "just a little bike" so it is ok to squeeze by. It is bad driving, driving without due care and attention, etxc etc. It is not acceptable and we as cyclists should be screaming our heads off about it!

Housecathst wrote:

The only way that could have been funnier is if fatty had had a cream cake in his hand as he fell over.

The cyclist was polite at all times during the video despite an assault and a threat to kill. You should be able to have an interaction with another human being without the driver reacting this way, just because "all motorists" react badly to being called out on their bad drive doesn't mean we should stop doing it.

+1

Duncann wrote:

Cycling on the pavement??? Straight to jail, c**t!

The alternatives being:
A) To move the bike to the road before setting off, by which time fatty has assaulted you or smashed your camera.
B) Assuming A is possible without getting assaulted, to ride away on the road and get run over by fatty, who has already threatened to do so.

Cyclist was using the road to start with.

Quote:

Quote:

They leaned out of the window and shouted "Why didn't you fucking move".

You heard all that at 22mph, impressive.

I find my hearing, like most folk's stills works at various speeds, including 22mph.

"Sadly, I agree.

Assaulting someone with a car generally doesn't qualify as assault at all. Thus, the only way to charge someone with assault seems to be to piss them off until they get out of the car and actually assault you in the flesh.

If the rider HADN'T escalated things, he'd probably have no evidence of anything the police would likely be interested in.

Which is... stupid."

Actually this comment is so wrong, assaulting someone with a car is taken extremely seriously and anyone doing it would be dealt with in a court of law. There is a difference with driving too close, which could be called Driving Without Due Care (S3 Road Traffic Act 1988) and actually using a car as a weapon which would almost certainly result in the driver being dealt with for assault or worse.

The former is harder to prove and the police will normally ask for some other form of evidence such as, in this case, video or and independent witness. Then they will prosecute for the driving if that evidence is strong enough.

In this case the bike rider chasing the car doesn't help his cause, that said, he calmly spoke to the driver and was greeted with a tirade of abuse. I would hand this to the police if I was the rider and make sure that it is dealt with. But, this video would need to be taken down or it might prejudice any case in a court of law.

I got threatened in very similar circumstances the other day, but I didn't chase the driver down, or even say anything. He just overtook on the final approach to a T Juntion, so close that I had to snatch my arm back in or he'd have hit it. He slammed on his breaks and started. When I asked him to stop swearing, nice and calmly, he screamed, "What are you going to f****** going to do about it." He got out of his car can got into my personal space, all he could say was, "F*** off" at the top of his lungs, he kept saying I shouldn't have signaled to turn - I hadn't moved from the edge of the road, just put my arm out. He backed down in the end and drove off screaming, nearly causing an RTC as he drove at speed out of the junction.

It did make me giggle to see how frustrated he'd got, the more he swore the more I told him to calm down and drive off, the more he swore.....I thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Oddly enough yes. The driver said, "sorry my mistake". Unfortunately this example may be a rarity.

Strangely enough, I have had a driver acknowledge his mistake and apologise when challenged about a close pass. He then proceeded to ask me for directions!

will.penn wrote:

The rider has let down all cyclist with his behaviour.

He hasn't. And the car driver hasn't let down car drivers, Peugeot drivers, bald drivers or Reading drivers with his.

Leodis wrote:

Funny as hell ending to the video.

I'm not sure why some people try and string us up as a collective, 9 times of out 10 other cyclists ignore each other on the roads, most will cycle past a cyclist having a mech issue without even a word said.

Which part of the country do you live? I think that it's noteworthy here in Lancashire as it's uncommon to be ignored.

brooksby wrote:

I'm sorry, but I'm clearly completed jaded, but I really don't see the problem with the pass in the first place. As other people on here have already said, that is a typical pass when within the city boundaries (Bristol, in my case), and I get even closer ones from time to time. Never felt the need to chase the driver down and remonstrate with them, as I cannot imagine a situation where anyone ever takes advice or criticism from a complete stranger with good grace...

Brooksby I'm a mild mannered cyclist in Bristol too but a pass that dangerously close would have raised an "Oi!" from me too. Not so sure I'd have chased him down and pointed out the error of his ways but kudos to this guy for doing it, remaining calm throughout and filming the result for everyone to enjoy.

pamplemoose wrote:

Driver got exactly what he deserved. Yes, the cyclist goaded him a bit, but the driver was incredibly quick to fly off the handle.

Everyone on here saying "it was only a close pass, so what" should be ashamed of themselves. It's passes like you see in this video that make a lot of people who would otherwise cycle decide that it's too dangerous. Hopefully at least this moron will have some action taken against him, if not for the close pass then at least for assault. If the cyclist had just "let it go" and reported the pass to the police what do you think the outcome would be?

Spot on Pamplemoose! Have a star from me!

I wonder how many thousand copies there are by now.

vonhelmet wrote:

Has anyone ever corrected a driver and had them acknowledge the mistake with good grace? Anyone? Ever? With that in mind, what are people hoping will happen when they get into altercations like this? At best, you don't get thumped. That's about as much as you can hope for.

Strangely enough, I have had a driver acknowledge his mistake and apologise when challenged about a close pass. He then proceeded to ask me for directions!

will.penn wrote:

This sort of thing really annoys me. Yes the car got a bit close, but not so that someone with an ounce of bike handling skills could deal with.

The way the cyclist has chosen to react is completely out of order. I can see the value in riding with a camera but it should not become about try to record drivers getting angry and abusive.

This sort of think is getting more common. Cyclist constantly complain about drivers but things like this does nothing to help anyone or anything.

This is not how the cycling community should react to this type of situation. A little word to the driver at the next set of lights would have been enough but not chasing down the car and yelling at him.

The rider has let down all cyclist with his behaviour.

Fuck off troll

Plasterer's Radio wrote:

will.penn wrote:

This sort of thing really annoys me. Yes the car got a bit close, but not so that someone with an ounce of bike handling skills could deal with.

The way the cyclist has chosen to react is completely out of order. I can see the value in riding with a camera but it should not become about try to record drivers getting angry and abusive.

This sort of think is getting more common. Cyclist constantly complain about drivers but things like this does nothing to help anyone or anything.

This is not how the cycling community should react to this type of situation. A little word to the driver at the next set of lights would have been enough but not chasing down the car and yelling at him.

The rider has let down all cyclist with his behaviour.

Fuck off troll

I don't think that Mr Penn is even a real cyclist. He has let down all drivers with his comments.

vonhelmet wrote:

Has anyone ever corrected a driver and had them acknowledge the mistake with good grace? Anyone? Ever? With that in mind, what are people hoping will happen when they get into altercations like this? At best, you don't get thumped. That's about as much as you can hope for.

Yes I have - driving at night with lights I confronted driver - I was angry and rather aggressive, which I regret. Driver was polite and apologetic, and explained how they had made mistake, which has led me to stop using a helmet mounted light.

I have maybe a couple of times had people express contrition or apologise - albeit probably just to end the conversation. I've had more threats of violence or actual attempts to drive at me or confront me in other ways than polite responses, however.

vonhelmet wrote:

Has anyone ever corrected a driver and had them acknowledge the mistake with good grace? Anyone? Ever? With that in mind, what are people hoping will happen when they get into altercations like this? At best, you don't get thumped. That's about as much as you can hope for.

I haven't reprimanded many people about passing too close, cutting me up or otherwise trying to kill me (probably because I don't live in a city), but whenever I have done it's been met with a fairly sheepish 'sorry'.

geargrinderbeard wrote:

With you psling. These things happen, not really sure exactly what people are expecting the police to do if he took the initial close pass video to them - imagine if every minor traffic infringement got recorded and sent to them every day...

PS - what a tumble!

Looking again at the rear facing camera I am certain that the pass was too close and too fast. Look at about 11 seconds, and assuming the camera is pointing straight backwards (it seems to be) I think that the car is within 6" of the centre line of the cyclist when he is perhaps 1m behind. Admittedly by the time he's on the front camera he's further away, but I think that if the cyclist hadn't wobbled left he would have been hit. The end of the video shows that this chap is happy knocking people off bikes after all.

From my experience of what scary close passes look like on camera afterwards, the wide angle view does make it look further away.

Agreed about the tumble though! =D