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news
Road rage driver tries to ram cyclist off bike (screenshot Kionne Potter)Shocking footage of road rage driver repeatedly trying to ram cyclist off bike
On December 15th last year, road.cc reader Kionne Potter went on his usual one-hour lunchtime training loop, the footage he sent us today shows the shocking road rage attack that followed from a driver who repeatedly tried to ram the West Midlands cyclist from his bike.
The motorist involved admitted driving without due care and received three penalty points and a £100 fine after West Mercia Police downgraded the report from assault to dangerous driving, and then once more to driving without due care, saying there was insufficient evidence for a more severe prosecution.
In his own words, Kionne reacted to the unnecessary dangerous close pass on the A491 Kidderminster Road in Hagley, instinctively throwing an arm up in frustration.
"The motorist then slowed down and as I approached him he wound down his window and shouted abuse at me and instructed me to ‘get off my f***ing bike now’.
"He continued this abuse throughout the incident but you cannot hear most of it. He then deliberately prevented me from getting back into the lane I needed to be in, if I increased my speed so did he and if I slowed down he did also. He made four or five attempts to hit me which I had to avoid and then he tried to pin me into the gutter whilst still shouting ‘get off your f***ing bike now’.
> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling
"When I got in front of him he then tried to hit me from behind, you can hear the car rev hard and hear wheelspin from the hard acceleration, he then made one last swipe to the left before driving off.
"I tried really hard to get away from him but he did everything he could to prevent me escaping. Although the camera got some decent footage it still missed a lot that happened, and because the GoPro Hero 8 is so good at image stabilisation it smooths out a lot of my evasive manoeuvres so it looks a lot less dramatic than it was."
The driver was apologetic once the police were involved, citing relationship problems for his uncharacteristic behaviour, and after the report was twice downgraded by West Mercia Police, he was fined and given penalty points.
road.cc has contacted West Mercia Police for a further comment on the footage.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.
Latest Comments
- Dnnnnnn 4 min 22 sec ago
Maybe so, and causing fear in someone to this extent should certainly be a crime. My initial responses were to those who specifically said there...
- hawkinspeter 29 min 7 sec ago
It's not as ideal as providing proper infrastructure, but I can't see that the UK is going to implement that....
- bikeman01 43 min 8 sec ago
Agreed. I would prefer we stop paying lip service to cycling infrastructuere and merge all cycle lanes back on to the highway....
- brooksby 47 min 8 sec ago
OK, my misunderstanding then.
- Grumpy17 1 hour 5 min ago
I was knocked off in very similar circumstances. There was absolutely no contesting the claim and I was paid out very quickly. We should ignore any...
- brooksby 46 min 11 sec ago
I think it's the stereotype of who votes Tory. Once you get out into the countryside south of the A369 heading out toward Nailsea, Tickenham, etc,...
- mctrials23 1 hour 30 min ago
I think this is the only data that they probably can't really assess accurately. They can tell how often, how long, what sort of stuff people do in...
- pockstone 1 hour 32 min ago
I wonder if Councils are going about this the wrong way. 30 mins parking- £20, 1hr- £10, 2hrs- £5, 4hrs- £2. And no moving your car until your time...
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95 comments
Not self defence?
If you're carrying pepper spray in the UK, it would be a firearms offence before it becomes an assault. If caught, you'd bein the same shit you'd be in if you were carrying a gun.
Not even that. If you grab a rock or a stick to protect yourself that's fine. If you carry something that can inflict harm that can be deemed as premeditated. From what I can make out is if you squirt your bidon or lash out with your pump you would be fine. Though that could escalate things more. I usually fall back on the stand-off (5mins is my record) or quickly take a turning while behind. Also don't recommend passing if catch up at lights at risk of being doored.
If you carry anything with the purpose of using it as a weapon, even in self-defence, it becomes an offence. Pepper spray is, itself, illegal; carrying hair spray, or a comb, or your keys between your fingers for the purpose of protecting yourself is illegal.
Apart form that, defending yourself is not:
‘get off [your] f***ing bike now’ ... that, sir, is the last thing you want me to do.
Pepper spray is illegal in the UK, though if for example you squirted WD40 or chain lube in the driver's face that would be deemed self defence as cans of WD40 or chain lube are not weapons and are also something a cyclist would reasonably be expected to be carrying.
Ask Bertrand Gachot, he got six months.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37146829
As others have said - almost certainly you'd be in the frame and likely get a far harsher punishment than the driver (even if he'd killed someone).
Rule #1: don't make threats (even on social meeja). It's not very classy and also on occasion the police like collecting this. All admissible in court I believe.
Rule #2: as is noted (and illustrated by the sentence) if you want to do ill to someone and not do the time for it just use a car...
Rule #0: spending your time in a homicidal rage - or even just being a powerful keyboard warrior - isn't a good use of your life. Unless you happen to be in charge of a major world power. Even then you probably get ulcers and have sleepless nights about your subordinates or the thought of large parts of the world cackling at memes of you riding bare-chested ...
There is an identification spray that is legal to carry in the UK. Might help the police if the vehicle owner fails to identify who was behind the wheel!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ANM3624
The reviews on Amazon have someone saying they got in trouble even for using that stuff.
Typical British situation of legal to buy, sell, or own, but not to use...
It's legal to buy and own, but if you use it, you would be committing a common assault (unless used in self-defence). Same as squirting water or throwing an egg. The only downside is the impact of a purple face and car interior is probably greater, so it might be taken more seriously.
Some people just deserve to be beaten to death... with a wet fish.
Seems harsh.
What's the fish ever done to upset you?
What have you got against wet fish? Molotov cocktail his car and/or house preferably with him in it.
Wet presumably to avoid charge of battery? With a suitably big fish though you could pollacks someone with a single blow and leave them dace-d.
Ah fish puns - keep reeling them off...
Cod have mercy upon us all.
May the piece of cod that passeth understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of cod.
Personally, I think I'd go for a pike as my weapon of choice. Or possibly a sword(fish).
It was Colonel Mustard, with the pipefish, in the aquarium. The sadist probably uses a filefish, or for deniability just pull a triggerfish and hide the body in a trunkfish.
Presumably after using a sawfish and perhaps a hammerhead to make it fit?
Not really surprising he's got relationship issues: he's an arrogant, selfish bully.
The angry apparition in the mirror is the stuff of nightmares...
That face deserves a cleat mark.
A Class.
Enough said.
GLA, the poor mans SUV, but it does have the three pointed star so he can use it as a penis extension.
Would have got a bullet to the chest in Texas...
In this country the psychos just run people over.....
Deservedly IMO. What an absolute tonsil that driver is.
Insufficient evidence is the lying dodge routinely used by the police when they don't want to do anything much, or when the driver has paid someone to bin the charge. The other favoured dodge is 'it's nothing to do with us, it's that CPS'.
Thats appalling. Clearly using a car as a weapon.
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