Cambridgeshire police appeal for witnesses after beeping motorist says his car was damaged by cyclist

Waleskun wrote:

A car can't pass you closely if it is parked up.

That's kind of my point. I can easily dent a parked car. A parked car can't close pass me. So the statement that you can't dent a car unless it close passes you is clearly nonsense.

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I actually think it would be pretty hard for a rider to stop a driver that didn't want to stop.

If they didn't want to stop no matter what, no. But it's fairly easy to stop someone who isn't prepared to just run you down, especially on a narrow road, by just moving to a position where they can't safely pass and slowing to a stop.

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Normally they pull up in front of you to ask what you remonstrating about which if a car beeped me for no apparent reason from behind I would probably do in some form.

Cars can be replaced/repaired. People not so much. 

Not sure what any of that has to do with anything - it's not relevant to what's reported to have happened in this case.

Well it's safe to say I'm not sure what is reported here quite adds up. I mean yes, I'm sure you can dent a car if you want to. Well done. But if the car is being driven and you are on the road, you're not making contact with it unless they pass closely. Maybe they had a chat when they stopped and tempers flared. You would think a conversation would be reported though. If the 'Victim' just drove past the cyclist as they stopped he has close passed if his car was damaged as reported. Maybe the Police investigation will take this into account. I doubt it.

But according to the report, the car was not being driven - it had been stopped due to the cyclist blocking its path, and the cyclist, who was supposedly irate, then attacked and dented the car. There may well have been more to the story (like an exchange of words that wound up the cyclist to the point of physical violence), but the account as it stands is not impossible. And even if there was more to it, it doesn't excuse deliberately damaging the car.

i also suspect that "i have driven for 3 months" statement means that a 70 year old was probably driving at worse standards than usual, having forgotten the width of the their vehicle. 

I also have to query "one cyclist pulled out into the road and stopped, bringing the driver to a halt.".

1. they were clearly already "in the road" given his statement about letting them know he was about to overtake.

2. if the cyclist halting was enough to stop the car in a two lane road -that implies that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't actually changing lanes to get past. instead just sounding his horn and trying to squeeze past in a vehicle whose width he'd forgotten 

would love to see any video of the incident 

Dao wrote:

I will withhold comment on who is at fault in this case. I know people like this exist, but I highly doubt this is the full story.

You don't honk to tell people you will overtake; you find an opportunity to do so safely, even if it means waiting for a clear stretch of road. honking startles cyclists and can cause accidents.

It is only one side of the story, and it's quite possible that the car owner was not blameless. It's hard to see what would justify deliberately physically damaging the car though, so unless it turns out that the dent was actually due to them driving in to the cyclist, it seems fairly clear that the cyclist was at fault.

I dont know, Ive often thought when people try to drive their car into me,and more so the deliberate ones than the plain not paying attention ones, Id happily lash out a foot to protect myself if I felt threatened of being imminently squished,an spd would make a nice mess of the paintwork. ymmv

I can't say I wouldn't do the same myself. That doesn't mean I wouldn't be at fault if I did though.

another question is if the cyclist had any role in the dent to begin with. there are many ways to dent your car and most of them due to the drivers own carelessness. if its just a dent and no paint transfer from the bike it's going to be a stretch to say either way.

a dent is just a bit of cosmetic damage and the issue the "anonymous" driver is pushing is the trauma of a cyclist getting angry at him.

as we won't get the full story it is hard to say who over-reacted. for some, even just a little aggressiveness can seem like a really big problem, or conversely others are very aggressive themselves and like to inflate the issue beyond what it was and pass the blame while it is convenient to do so.

I want to see the story after the police have finished investigating and a verdict reached.

I have been having counselling recently. One of the recurring themes that just popped up out of the blue is how, over the past 40 years, I have had to stifle feelings of rage, vulnerability, tearfulness, victimisation and horror, and tried to forget painful physical injury (several times). I have experienced total lack of interest or even hostility from the police when reporting, and sheer hopelessness that anything will ever change. I have had to endure this so that I can continue to do something I love, which is cycle.

This is not from being physically attacked, punched and knifed on the streets, (though I could tell you stories!). It's from the 40 years of daily attacks from drivers, including close passes, indifference, darts out from side turnings, shouts, physical injury, bikes wrecked and hospitalisation etc. Those attacks from complete stranger drivers are so normalised that it took my discussions with the counsellor to realise that my daily cycling journeys have had traumatic effects on my mental health. Just because we don't know if the driver sees us, means to maim us, means well... doesn't mean their actions don't have a huge effect on our mental health. And we are the ones who are trying to make this world a better, healthier place! Bah!

When I read of a cyclist lashing out, I feel instant sympathy with them. I am a pacifist and against aggression, and know I won't carry through my wicked thoughts, when some f*&%^r driver cuts me up or knocks me off my bike yet again. 

Anyway the counselling has been going great. I can't believe I have held in 40 years of anger about the way I have been treated as a cyclist on our roads. It is very cathartic and I highly recommend it. Not sure my counsellor is going to get on a bike any time soon, though soz ....xxx 

Dao wrote:

I will withhold comment on who is at fault in this case. I know people like this exist, but I highly doubt this is the full story.

A fine example of a split infinitive there!

Spangly Shiny wrote:

Dao wrote:

I will withhold comment on who is at fault in this case. I know people like this exist, but I highly doubt this is the full story.

A fine example of a split infinitive there!

err...  no it's not. 
It's not an infinitive, so it can't be a split infinitive. 
Just politely sayin'