Figures released this week suggest Britain is an increasingly peaceful society, but assault by a complete stranger is still occurs with alarming regularity, especially on the road.
Friction between cyclists and motorists has occurred since cars first took to the roads and now a growing number attach cameras to their bikes and helmets to record evidence if they are hit by a car or, as in this case brought to light by bikebiz.com, its driver.
The story centres around helmet cam footage that captures the moment a cyclist is assaulted for no good reason by a van driver.
The film is testament to how cyclists can find themselves at the mercy of thugs, our judicial system’s lethargy over road safety and the lackadaisical attitude of the police towards a minority group. Most powerfully of all is the story’s illustration of how video evidence can help jog people’s memories; the driver involved had initially claimed that the cyclist had kicked his van. Full story at Bikebiz.com
Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the story is how it highlights apparent double standards where physical assault is concerned. If you walked into your local shopping centre later today, stopped in front of a CCTV camera and punched the person next to you in the face, it would be unusual for you not to find yourself tomorrow standing in front a magistrate, but that does not appear to be the case where road rage incidents are concerned.
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Amoeba
Absolutely disgraceful!
Double-standards!
Is this thuggery what society needs more of?
Or perhaps is road-rage something that needs to be stamped-out?
Whatever led to this outrageous decision, needs to be reversed. Snivelling little turds such as the attacker in the video need to be punished severely. I would suggest as an absolute minimum: A one year driving ban. But they would not be able to resume driving automatically after the ban had elapsed. They would need to undergo a series of psychological tests (for which they must pay) to establish that they are reformed characters, and are not likely to reoffend, plus a minimum of several month’s driving tuition (enhanced to discourage anger) and would need to pass the much more challenging extended driving test.
This is the minimum and assumes no aggravating circumstances, such as physical assault.
Robert Neil Coupe
As a cyclist and licenced motorist who gave up driving nearly a year and a half ago at least for the time being because running a car seemed to be getting unaffordable for me because of high inflation in both petrol and insurance prices, one piece of bad driving that most commonly angers me as a cyclist travelling to and from work within 3 miles from home is the selfish, inconsiderate and ignorant driver that cuts off cyclists in heavy congested traffic by position his car too close to the curb to allow cyclists to get past without having to mount the pavement to do so. In that way drivers, despite the car normally being the much faster vehicle compared to the bicycle, is how even a car driver can even hold up a bicyclist on a congested road, and it is even more infuriating to the cyclist if he is in the middle of freewheeling downhill. It really tempts me to blow my top and swear at and abuse the offending driver while I pass him. Such drivers seem to think they are the only ones on the road own the road to themselves up to the curb and only care about themselves getting from A to B.