Cycle rage in Manc investigated by police

[ChrisOntLancs]

just noticed this article, in which a cyclist is rightfully being investigated for smashing his bike into a driver's windscreen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-39411703

that's how high the stakes are, somebody using their vehicle as a weapon. it's terrifying and it needs to be stopped.

notice how i don't say 'drivers' and 'cyclists'. this is road rage, just like all the incidents i'm on the rough end of.

he isn't wearing hi-vis so unfortunately i cannot make him out *smirks
(this is a petty joke, but that's how i vent my frustration. not as scary is it?)

[Andy3460]

The guy with the bike is obviously a nutter who should be punished.

In more detailed reports, other things come out though.

The reports all say he is arguing with the female driver, when it is obvious he is arguing with the passenger, her husband.

She also says that the argument started because the guy with the bike accused her of driving in a cycle lane, but, "There was no clearly defined cycle lane, and if there was, I didn't drive in it."

Problem she has, is that dash cams aren't some magical device that only record other people's transgressions. There clearly is a cycle lane, and she has driven in it.

I suggest, firstly prosecute what can be proven, the driving without due care and attention then, when they catch him, prosecute the guy with the bike.


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my XT1068 using hovercraft full of eels.

[ChrisOntLancs]

much more detailed and longer video, good shout! (though i really should have clicked the link in the article )
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cyclist-smashes-windscreen-video-manchester-12803730

the conspiracy nut in me is wondering why the beeb cut everything before the camera pointed away from the road.

still, i stand by my indiscriminate 'pleaaaaaaaaaaase just calm down everybody'

i've had countless encounters like this and thank god they've always ended with one of us realising lifes too short. if this is how we deal with mistakes now though then i hope i don't make any later on... and if somebody else does... i'm not hurting my bike.

the only thing stopping this guy from cycling away was the red light.

ok... think i'm done editing this now

[Postboxer]

Both videos don't start early enough and neither has audio, don't know if dashcams usually have audio or not, although it is funny claiming you weren't in the cycle lane when the video evidence you have provided to the police contradicts that. It doesn't excuse damaging your bike and the car in that way but it appears someone in the car keeps saying something to rile the person with the bike, as they nearly cycle off several times before continuing the argument. I would like to see what happened previous to the video clip though. The MEN article is clearly anti-cyclist.

[thirdcrank]

I think that most of us have been in the situation where fear of serious injury turns to anger: the adrenalin rush, red mist, whatever. Whatever went before, the person throwing the bike here seems to have been increasingly angered by the exchange with the occupant(s) of the car and eventually lost it. Riding a bike doesn't turn anybody into an angel.

[Bez]

notice how i don't say 'drivers' and 'cyclists'. this is road rage

Though you did title the thread "cycle rage"

Which is petty and facetious of me, but the media usually do the same: angry people with bikes are diagnosed with "cycle rage" whilst those with cars have "road rage", which is another propagation of the pernicious meme that cars and roads are virtually synonymous whereas bicycles and roads are not.

There clearly is a cycle lane, and she has driven in it.

If you look on Streetview, the lane is a short feeder lane before the lights and starts roughly where the video begins.

I suggest, firstly prosecute what can be proven, the driving without due care and attention

Good luck with that, because there's none shown on the videos that are publicly available.

the only thing stopping this guy from cycling away was the red light.

LOL

This all smells somewhat fishy to me. Missing dialogue, missing build-up… Not that either would be an excuse for the resulting action, assuming it's a genuine event, but it's certainly being distorted for a certain angle by the usual suspects in the media. No surprises there.

[ChrisOntLancs]

i c&ped the headline

somebody in another thread mentioned something about videos uploaded to youtube and videos submitted as evidence, and i'd hope the police get the full journey so they can determine when the incident starts.

i agree it's fishy, and i dont doubt for a second that a motorist would go out of their way to provoke a cyclist, it happens to me at least twice a day. ...and again, you can switch those... though anybody that's ever submitted videos to the police would say that is a heroic but pointless conquest :/

[thirdcrank]

On the technical aspects of dashcams, I'm on my second, which is quite a posh one and it does record sound if you want. I have that switched off on mine because I don't need a recording of my own or anybody else's everyday conversations. Although these cameras can be set to record continuously and if necessary overwrite, a normal setting is for the recording to drop off after a short time - IIRC on my last one it was after 15 seconds - unless the sensors are activated by an impact or the relevant "Save" button is pressed. I have mine on continuous record because I'm not confident I'd think to press the right button, which is pretty fiddly and just one more distraction.

At 12 seconds there looks to be a gesture from the driver's side.

The camera is obviously twisted round in its mount in an apparent attempt to record the cyclist at the side of the car. The cyclist seems to indicate contempt at being recorded but realises his ID card is visible. He belatedly hides his ID but seems to get more wound up. His hood comes off and there's a good view of his mush.

If this was staged, it's a complicated script. I can't imagine it will be long before he's recognised or grassed.

[squeaker]

There clearly is a cycle lane, and she has driven in it.

Agreed: an advisory cycle lane

[reohn2]

Not only is the cyclist a nutter,he's a stupid nutter.Leaving DNA at the scene shows what stupid nutters do.
When he's been caught,as he surely will off with the dash cam evidence.
I'd suggest £200 fine and whatever the cost of any repairs to the vehicle.

[blackbike]

it's terrifying and it needs to be stopped.

Nobody's life was threatened. Nobody was injured. Nobody was ever in any danger.

I see more terrifying things on the roads nearly every day of the week - speeding motorists, tailgating motorists, motorists who overtake too closely, motorists on the phone.

While I don't condone the cyclist's actions I'd be disappointed if the police devote any time to this matter while they claim to be too busy to deal with much more serious matters like the ones I list above, and which cost many lives every year.

[meic]

But they will. Deliberate minor criminal damage to property is a greater priority than negligent injury to life and limb. Especially if it is getting prominence in the media outlets.

[blackbike]

But they will. Deliberate minor criminal damage to property is a greater priority than negligent injury to life and limb. Especially if it is getting prominence in the media outlets.

Yes.

Especially damage to a car, the possession which many people take great pride in, even to the extent of wasting half of their Sunday morning queuing to get the thing washed and polished by highly skilled EU nationals.

[reohn2]

But they will. Deliberate minor criminal damage to property is a greater priority than negligent injury to life and limb. Especially if it is getting prominence in the media outlets.

With incriminating video footage......

[ChrisOntLancs]

Nobody's life was threatened. Nobody was injured. Nobody was ever in any danger.

well yeah it's easy to say that in hindsight, more so if it isn't your window

i get that we cant see what happens before the video, it's a really good point, but absence of evidence isn't evidence. i see in the comments a lot of people mention the edited video, i'd like to think a jury and legal defence would to.

i'm not getting selective over road rage. he lost the moral high ground when he threw his vehicle at somebody elses. that's exactly what i say when it's a motorist hassling a cyclist. if that's what this is, that's what i'll think.

i've held my cool through much worse than this, and so have most of the people here i bet.