Assaulted on Finchley Rd...

[eml1909]

The FB announcement is rather opaque. My guess is that he will receive an "oral warning" for misconduct and that will be the end of it.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

You should have ignored him then moved aside at the first opportunity. Instead you stopped and actually sought a confrontation. You were as aggressive as he was - next time you might not be as lucky; you need to recognise that city driving is as stressful for car drivers as it is for cyclists (probably more in a high-pressure job like his) and cut them some slack.

Estate agent a "High Pressure Job" - that's nearly as funny as suggesting the op was as aggressive as the driver

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

On a serious note Globalti, can you point out the bit where the op is aggressive?

 

[Globalti]

Yes, stopping in the middle of the road, blocking his progress and yelling at him looked pretty aggressive to me! You commuter guys are so stressed with all the competition for road space and so obsessed with your own rights that you have a warped idea of what's acceptable. You ought to go for a nice quiet ride in the country from time to time to get things back in perspective. Chill, hang over the fence and banter with neighbours, get drunk more often, enjoy a long relaxing lunch with friends.... sheesh!

And estate agents, don't you know, have what I'd call a high pressure job. They are inveterate liars and cheats and that can't make life very relaxing at all. I bet the bloke in the video had been awake all night worrying about his latest deal falling through.

 

[eml1909]

It's true that I became angry, but it was controlled anger. Roads are supposed to be safe for all road users. Tailgating cyclist whilst beeping and shouting behind them is intimidating and threatening and it causes risks to all concerned. I don't apologise for confronting him or for making the entirely legitimate point (which he appears not to have grasped) that, rather than "obstructing" the traffic, as a cyclist I am *part* of the traffic. At that particular point of my journey, there was no safe place for me to ride other than where I was. It was not safe for me to move over at that point (although after the incident I did manage to move into the relative "safety" (yeah, right) of the Bus/Taxi lane). I was cycling faster than the cars in the left hand lane, I was not obstructing the traffic and I was cycling carefully and safely. He had absolutely no right to use his car and his horn to threaten and intimidate me, and I had every right to deal with it as I did.

 

[Lurker]

It's true that I became angry, but it was controlled anger. Roads are supposed to be safe for all road users. Tailgating cyclist whilst beeping and shouting behind them is intimidating and threatening and it causes risks to all concerned. I don't apologise for confronting him or for making the entirely legitimate point (which he appears not to have grasped) that, rather than "obstructing" the traffic, as a cyclist I am *part* of the traffic. At that particular point of my journey, there was no safe place for me to ride other than where I was. It was not safe for me to move over at that point (although after the incident I did manage to move into the relative "safety" (yeah, right) of the Bus/Taxi lane). I was cycling faster than the cars in the left hand lane, I was not obstructing the traffic and I was cycling carefully and safely. He had absolutely no right to use his car and his horn to threaten and intimidate me, and I had every right to deal with it as I did.

Well said!

 

[BentMikey]

Hear hear, well said from me also.

 

[eml1909]

It's true that I became angry, but it was controlled anger. Roads are supposed to be safe for all road users. Tailgating cyclist whilst beeping and shouting behind them is intimidating and threatening and it causes risks to all concerned. I don't apologise for confronting him or for making the entirely legitimate point (which he appears not to have grasped) that, rather than "obstructing" the traffic, as a cyclist I am *part* of the traffic. At that particular point of my journey, there was no safe place for me to ride other than where I was. It was not safe for me to move over at that point (although after the incident I did manage to move into the relative "safety" (yeah, right) of the Bus/Taxi lane). I was cycling faster than the cars in the left hand lane, I was not obstructing the traffic and I was cycling carefully and safely. He had absolutely no right to use his car and his horn to threaten and intimidate me, and I had every right to deal with it as I did.

... and nor did he have the right to get out of his vehicle and asault me!

 

[locker]

Yes, stopping in the middle of the road, blocking his progress and yelling at him looked pretty aggressive to me! You commuter guys are so stressed with all the competition for road space and so obsessed with your own rights that you have a warped idea of what's acceptable. You ought to go for a nice quiet ride in the country from time to time to get things back in perspective. Chill, hang over the fence and banter with neighbours, get drunk more often, enjoy a long relaxing lunch with friends.... sheesh!

And estate agents, don't you know, have what I'd call a high pressure job. They are inveterate liars and cheats and that can't make life very relaxing at all. I bet the bloke in the video had been awake all night worrying about his latest deal falling through.

You are jesting aren`t you? except the bit that estate agents are inveterate liars & cheats

 

[Thomk]

... and nor did he have the right to get out of his vehicle and asault me!

Forgive the rest of his actions or don't, you can argue about it all day long. But this physical assault is on a whole different scale of seriousness and requires punishment.

 

[Crankarm]

... and nor did he have the right to get out of his vehicle and asault me!

Have you reported this incident to the police yet? If you haven't yet, which I suspect might be the case, then I don't think you will as you have heard the decision of the forum which might be making you have second thoughts about reporting it?

There are lots of nutters out there, a lot get behind the wheel of vehicles. Irrespective of who said what or who started it, who is in the right or who is in the wrong, next time it might be better to yield to the nutter, ie let them pass, as a bicycle and cyclist is NEVER going to come off better against a moton in their vehicle. Things can and have become very ugly very quickly. Cyclists have lost their lives in incidents not too dissimilar to yours.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/ne...maging-wing-mirror-court-told-92746-23432533/

 

[defy-one]

If someone did that to me (struck me first), I would give him a smack straight back. Sod the police etc

 

[BentMikey]

The decision of this forum? The majority view seems quite clear to me, that the driver was completely in the wrong and should not have assaulted the cyclist. There is a minority who seem to feel this whole incident is entirely the cyclist's fault, but that's so extreme it's laughable, Crankarm.

 

[Crankarm]

The decision of this forum? The majority view seems quite clear to me, that the driver was completely in the wrong and should not have assaulted the cyclist. There is a minority who seem to feel this whole incident is entirely the cyclist's fault, but that's so extreme it's laughable, Crankarm.

Read my post AGAIN properly. The grim reality is that this nutter could have turned bad which would have meant the OP was breathing through a straw or dead because he was severely assaulted or run down. Defensive cycling would be my preferred option. You never know the background of who you are dealing with. There are ways of bringing people to account without confronting them. Prolonging or inviting confrontation especially when you are IN FRONT of a vehicle would seem to be a RISKY strategy to me, but each to their own.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I think all are agreed the driver was completely wrong to do what he did.
Some of us are suggesting that the OP's actions were unwise, not that it was his fault.