Driver charged for cyclist harassment after video of incident goes viral

Police respecting their duty of care to all road users and enforcing the law? If only the Met took a similar approach.

I think I agree with Bexleyhillbilly and stopped riding until the driver passed.

As far a tooting a cyclist goes it is a tricky one. Many cyclists would be startled if they were tooted from close behind them. Me included and because so many UK drivers (inappropriately) toot to show their displeasure with other road users I for one would wonder what I had done wrong. However, if a driver is to sound their horn it should be a short toot and a good 20-30+ metres behind the cyclist. If I was to toot a cyclist it would only be to make them aware of my presence and intention to overtake. If the cyclist was riding normally and not erratically on a wide ride I would not toot.

I always ring my bell when I am passing pedestrians on a cycle path or other cyclists, especially with children, and do so a good 30-50 metres before I get to them. I always slow down before passing if I haven't observed any response to my bell. On a few occasions ringing my bell (just once or twice, I might add) has resulted in an irate pedestrian complaining that my bell was very alarming and frightened her dog. At least she knew I was approaching which was the intention but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

We need to reinforce the message of courteous road use through a stronger emphasis of awareness of cyclists during driving tests and through schools insisting that all young cyclists undertake cycling proficiency courses before being allowed on public highways.

What a nutter - but I think having got video and a registration number I'd have stopped and let him pass, rather than having him tailgate me for miles in a couple of tons of potentially lethal steel.

I'm amazed how calm they stayed, but then i guess in the US you don't know if the nutjob in the car has also got a gun so its probably more sensible to remain calm than to provoke a response

The horn and the bell are audible warnings of approach, as is the voice. It is reasonable for a driver to use a short toot on the horn as they approach a cyclist or pedestrian, and expect an acknowledgement in response. In this way we can interact appropriately with other road users.

Its common in Italy. You can tell a friendly toot toot from an agressive toooooooot one easily enough and the friendly ones do it from a way behind NOT when they are 1 meter behind you!!!

I doubt I could have remained calm for that length of time, what a nutjob.

The driver has had run-ins with the driver?

I always give riders a friendly toot when out on the road. Maybe this guy was stoked after watching the ToB and was expressing his delight at seeing some cyclists on the road?

Obviously the Colorado State Police have a more enlightened attitude than Essex Police who after been shown these clips by the BBC didnt think any offences had been committed http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-19710937