Road Rage Assault on Cyclist

[helsinkifox]

It doesn't seem to be explained anywhere why the car driver was upset. What did the cyclist do in the first place - anything inappropriate? We see him raise his hand - what did that mean? Perhaps the car driver saw this and interpreted it to be the cyclist 'giving him the finger'. As a cyclist myself I feel it's not out of order to mention that many cyclists are unnecessarily aggressive and deserve a thumping! As in the case of the cyclist who stopped at traffic lights in Helsinki a few years back and spat into the open window of a car beside him straight onto the driver (who got out and, quite justifiably, walloped the cyclist)!
Driving buses in London I've had cyclists leaning against the side of my bus at traffic lights - bound to blame me if I move off and they fall over - so cyclists, mitts off buses, OK?
So let's rewind and ask what happened in this video at first. With the car tooting behind the cyclist later, the cyclist does not stop and ask what it's all about - why not?

[kwackers]

So let's rewind and ask what happened in this video at first. With the car tooting behind the cyclist later, the cyclist does not stop and ask what it's all about - why not?

Looks pretty obvious what's happened to me.
There was a minor jostling for space at the initial meeting where the cyclist had gone up on the inside of the van and then stopped. I suspect the van driver was probably muttering under his breath at that point since he'd had to hold back to let the cyclist go around the parking car.

The next bit is where the van cut the cyclist quite close as it overtook and pulled in due to the car parked on the right. At this point the cyclist honked his horn (not the van driver as you suggested) this was the proverbial red rag that triggered the remaining events.

[Vantage]

I've watched this video a few times to get a clear picture of what happened and although the driver of the van's actions are quite frankly disgusting, unnecessary and frightening, the cyclist only has himself to blame.
At the beginning of the video, it shows the Ford Focus trying to reverse into a small space, one which you cannot simply race into. The cyclist continues to move forward making this an even more difficult maneuver and then shows annoyance at the driver whilst moving into the line of the van driver to overtake. I've no doubt this annoyed the van driver a bit.
The van drivers overtake whilst not perfect, wasn't particularly dangerous imo and certainly not worth blowing an airzound over. Further irritation to the driver.
As far as I'm concerned, the BlackCountryCyclist needs to calm down himself and think twice about taking on someone who he doesn't know and who's future actions cannot be known.
As cyclists, we all know the frustration of poor and dangerous driving, but it seems hypocritical to blast others whilst we're no better ourselves and given the level of rage so common on the roads today, I feel its often in our own best interests to just bite our tongues and carry on.

[hexhome]

the cyclist only has himself to blame.

Whilst I have often commented that there is a 'self righteous' element to the practice of 'policing' drivers with helmet cams and YouTube which tends to find trouble, I can see no possible excuse for the van drivers actions.

We can interpret the interaction with the parking car and van in different ways. It is possible the the cyclist pulled forward assuming that the car was pulling out of the space and was caught out by the following reverse. He therefore moved around to get out of the way. The pass by the van was a little close and the Air Zound and hand signal unnecessary. We can assume all sorts here such as the pass was a punishment, or the van driver felt insulted, we will never know for sure. Nothing we can imply from this video excuses the violent and highly dangerous behaviour of the van driver. It is only due to good fortune that the situation did not result in a more disastrous outcome. If we start to comment that showing frustration towards another person excuses a violent result then I'm afraid we have lost hold of what should be expected in a decent society.

[Mr. Viking]

I am not sure if such an assault would be worth prosecuting over, as unpleasant as the incident seemed to be

Why?

Because I don't think it was a very serious incident, as neither of the parties appeared to be injured. I would not expect somebody to be arrested if they hit me but did not cause injury, however upset it makes me at the time. As I said, I suffered a similar assault last year, and did not report it because I was not injured, but unlike this case my bike was undamaged. The cyclist in this case has received compensation to pay for the repair of the bicycle.

[kwackers]

Because I don't think it was a very serious incident, as neither of the parties appeared to be injured. I would not expect somebody to be arrested if they hit me but did not cause injury, however upset it makes me at the time. As I said, I suffered a similar assault last year, and did not report it because I was not injured, but unlike this case my bike was undamaged. The cyclist in this case has received compensation to pay for the repair of the bicycle.

What a bizarre viewpoint!

So presumably you'd be happy to take a beating that didn't leave any marks? And threatening behaviour is presumably not even on your radar...
So as long as the bullies remember to use their palms rather than their fists then it's all OK.

The only thing wrong with your viewpoint is the fact that the authorities think the same.
Post a remark on a social media site in jest and you can expect to serve time in prison. Give someone a bit of a kicking because you're a c**t and expect a wagging finger.
There's something profoundly smelly there.

[Mr. Viking]

What a bizarre viewpoint!

So presumably you'd be happy to take a beating that didn't leave any marks? And threatening behaviour is presumably not even on your radar...
So as long as the bullies remember to use their palms rather than their fists then it's all OK.

The only thing wrong with your viewpoint is the fact that the authorities think the same.
Post a remark on a social media site in jest and you can expect to serve time in prison. Give someone a bit of a kicking because you're a c**t and expect a wagging finger.
There's something profoundly smelly there.

You are quite right, it is an old fashioned viewpoint. I would have to say that it was the aggressive behavior that annoyed me, not the actual violence. I suppose it is a classic example of an assault, but I don't know if assault is usually prosecuted, does it not usually result in a warning/caution rather than going to court

I thought that I would have responded differently when I was assaulted, but after a short period of shock I got on my way, though I did feel shaken for a few days.

It was a personal experience of mine which was very similar to the one portrayed and I could hardly say I expect a prosecution when In my case I did nothing about it.

[Geriatrix]

I've watched this video a few times to get a clear picture of what happened and although the driver of the van's actions are quite frankly disgusting, unnecessary and frightening, the cyclist only has himself to blame.
At the beginning of the video, it shows the Ford Focus trying to reverse into a small space, one which you cannot simply race into. The cyclist continues to move forward making this an even more difficult maneuver and then shows annoyance at the driver whilst moving into the line of the van driver to overtake. I've no doubt this annoyed the van driver a bit.
The van drivers overtake whilst not perfect, wasn't particularly dangerous imo and certainly not worth blowing an airzound over. Further irritation to the driver.
As far as I'm concerned, the BlackCountryCyclist needs to calm down himself and think twice about taking on someone who he doesn't know and who's future actions cannot be known.
As cyclists, we all know the frustration of poor and dangerous driving, but it seems hypocritical to blast others whilst we're no better ourselves and given the level of rage so common on the roads today, I feel its often in our own best interests to just bite our tongues and carry on.

I watched the video a few times and I can't see much wrong with the cyclist's actions. Where the he was held up by the parking car he squeezed passed the van in queued traffic. That's quite permissible and would not have affected the duration of the van drivers journey in any way.

He sounded his airzound at at a punishment pass, and yes it was a punishment pass because if the video is slowed down the camera picks up the driver gesticulating in the car. The intent to assault was already fermenting at this stage. It's also unfair to judge the severity on the pass on the video alone. That's taken with a wide angle lens which exaggerates distance. That pass was a lot closer than you perceived it to be.

That assault was completely unprovoked. There is absolutely no excuse for it.

[Vantage]

Whilst I have often commented that there is a 'self righteous' element to the practice of 'policing' drivers with helmet cams and YouTube which tends to find trouble, I can see no possible excuse for the van drivers actions.

At no point did I suggest that the van drivers actions should be excused. I did in fact say "the driver of the van's actions are quite frankly disgusting, unnecessary and frightening". You failed to include this along with the rest of my comment.

We can interpret the interaction with the parking car and van in different ways. It is possible the the cyclist pulled forward assuming that the car was pulling out of the space and was caught out by the following reverse. He therefore moved around to get out of the way.

Sorry, but no we can't. Whist I can agree that the cyclist maybe thought the car was pulling out initially, he still carried on up the side of the car whilst it was reversing and still pulled out in front of the van. He should have waited behind the car for a few seconds until it was clear to pass and then carried on. It's called being patient.

The pass by the van was a little close and the Air Zound and hand signal unnecessary. We can assume all sorts here such as the pass was a punishment, or the van driver felt insulted, we will never know for sure.

We can assume all sorts here??? Maybe the pass was a little on the close side, but the lack of verbal abuse from the driver or passenger, a revving engine or any violent movement of the van would suggest an ordinary everyday overtake.

Nothing we can imply from this video excuses the violent and highly dangerous behaviour of the van driver. It is only due to good fortune that the situation did not result in a more disastrous outcome. If we start to comment that showing frustration towards another person excuses a violent result then I'm afraid we have lost hold of what should be expected in a decent society.

I agree that the van driver deserves to have the book thrown at him and that his actions were way over the top, but had the cyclist not first cut up the van driver whilst going around the Ford Focus, then blasting his horn and waving his arms around due to a slightly tight overtake and then inflaming the situation by blasting his horn again after the driver stopped in front of him, the whole situation probably wouldn't have started up in the first place.

[[XAP]Bob]

Looked like a negotiated pass round a parking vehicle ahead of solid traffic...

[Geriatrix]

Looked like a negotiated pass round a parking vehicle ahead of solid traffic...

Yup, plain old filtering in queued traffic.

[thirdcrank]

Nobody seems to have mentioned that the headcam footage has been accepted as corroboration of the rider's evidence. that seems to be a positive.
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Usually by now, somebody in a thread like this has mentioned guns. (Perhaps they already have and I missed it. ) It's a point I often make on here that driving tests look at technical skill rather than temperament. Conduct like that seen in the linked footage would inevitably affect somebody's ability to hold a firearms licence. By that, I don't mean if they had been running about with a gun in the street, just that displaying a short fuse doesn't help obtaining or retaining a gun licence, but it's not really taken into account in respect of driving licences.
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When people discuss the law, some like to dwell on the history and traditions. One of the oldest powers of our criminal courts was to bind people over to keep The Peace. They do say that when it all started, the goodies were bound over and the baddies got what was coming to them. During my career, if a case like this had gone to court, it would have been almost inevitable that the complainant would have been bound over. It wasn't a punishment - just a requirement to promise to be good in future. For the best part of a thousand years, it was pretty summary, but eventually, they introduced a system where the person concerned was offered the opportunity to show why they should not be bound over. It was scrapped since I retired.

When I've mentioned this before, it's attracted at least one riposte about victim blaming. Possibly so, but it used to deal with some of the issues being discussed above under the broad heading of provocation.

[Geriatrix]

Nobody seems to have mentioned that the headcam footage has been accepted as corroboration of the rider's evidence. that seems to be a positive.

Yes that is. I hope that signals a broader acceptance.

There is broad anger on this because most who have view the footage believe that the driver should have at least been charged. The guy who posted the YouTube footage is a member of the CC forum and he commented that he was happy about the way they treated him. I get the impression that his face to face experience with the police was sympathetic and good. When I dealt with the police face to face that was my experience and it goes a long way to placating the anger. I suspect that the guy just wants to be done with it now & I can't fault him on that.

When I've mentioned this before, it's attracted at least one riposte about victim blaming. Possibly so, but it used to deal with some of the issues being discussed above under the broad heading of provocation.

If I knew that it was due process then I wouldn't feel it a slight on my character so I would have no objections to being bound over to keep the peace. Its just a procedure to compel you to do what you should be doing anyway. I can see that where provocation is involved it would be appropriate.

[reohn2]

.......... I suppose it is a classic example of an assault, but I don't know if assault is usually prosecuted, does it not usually result in a warning/caution rather than going to court

Why shouldn't someone who is willing to use violence over such a small and trivial occurrence not be prosecuted and if found guilty fined heavily?
I'll put it to you that there is a multi tier justice system at work in the UK and that cyclists are very close to the bottom of that system.

I thought that I would have responded differently when I was assaulted, but after a short period of shock I got on my way, though I did feel shaken for a few days.

It was a personal experience of mine which was very similar to the one portrayed and I could hardly say I expect a prosecution when In my case I did nothing about it.

Why?
I too have been in a similar situation and defended myself with the bike(I hit the assailant with it).If someone comes at me with fists flying I'll defend myself with whatever I think is reasonable force.
The problem is people like this think they can get away with it,what's worse still is that due to a poor excuse for a police force and justice system they can!

[Mr. Viking]

It was a personal experience of mine which was very similar to the one portrayed and I could hardly say I expect a prosecution when In my case I did nothing about it.

Why?
I too have been in a similar situation and defended myself with the bike(I hit the assailant with it).If someone comes at me with fists flying I'll defend myself with whatever I think is reasonable force.
The problem is people like this think they can get away with it,what's worse still is that due to a poor excuse for a police force and justice system they can!

Did you prosecute, or were you prosecuted?

I took no action because I did not want to go through the stress of making statements and asking witnesses and contacting the police and so on and so forth. I did not strike back because I did not see how it would have helped.
In that case I used reasonable force by not reacting, and he seemed to get bored and left me alone.