Hi All
Another video but a different slant.

At first sight a lorry driver who is threatening a cyclist.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/lorry-drivers-extraordinary-rant-at-cyclist-during-row-over-mobile-phone-caught-on-camera-10326714.html

However it turns out the cyclist was wrong, the lorry driver wasn't using a phone.

I do worry that we're turning into a peleton of cycling vigilantes

Maybe You guys should form a club of superheroes....

Hi
I wanted to post two links.

The point I'm probably not getting across is that the reason cyclists get aggressive and uncompromising is that when it goes wrong, it goes horribly horribly wrong.

That makes us very intolerant to road users whom we feel aren't taking care.

So we've had another serious accident on London's commuter routes.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-seriously-injured-after-being-hit-by-skip-lorry-on-london-bridge-in-rush-hour-10325077.html

And now we see someone in a 4x4 eating cereal at the wheel in SW London

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/angry-cyclist-films-school-run-mum-eating-cereal-behind-the-wheel-of-her-land-rover-10324967.html

I know that this is not all motorists, and I know that stupid cyclists are out there as well, but I am trying to explain why cyclists get so upset

Dear oh dear. "Burn the witch" they all screamed.

The Brew guy lost the plot, thats for sure but are you all honestly saying you've never got seriously angry before? Let he who is without sin etc.

As other posts have said we have no context to how this happened - just stand alone footage. They were clearly p+++ed off at each other, but how do you know that the cyclist hadn't completely antagonised the situation?
And am I the only one who thought the cyclist sounded even more bonkers than the driver? I'm not saying any of it is OK, but to campaign to ruin the guys life is off the chart. The power of the crowd here is really something to behold.

I hope the guy who owns Brew is able to say one day he's delighted to not have narrow-minded, uncompassionate, probably deluded customers such as the ones posting here campaigning for his downfall. Go and drink grey dishwater coffee in the American chain opposite if you like - I'm sure Brew will survive without you.

Sure its not pretty - but to start inferring his wife and family must live in fear is just appalling - and I would imagine libellous (although I'm not a lawyer, you might have guessed)

I think what is happening here are people jumping up and down in glee, relishing at someones distress (both of them) in order to avoid looking at what is lacking in their own lives

And as for "oooh, my husband would neeever do something like that"… The lady doth protest too much I believe.


For the record - I'm a cyclist and a 4x4 driver.

Nearly, if not all, the the poor cyclists that haven even killed in London this year have been killed by HGV's.

Not sure that anyone is saying that the 4x4 driver handled the situation well, but I am pretty sure we shouldn't land all road deaths at his feet.

Also, by linking this new story to this thread there is a suggestion that this accident was one linked to road rage.. Not sure that's the case either..

(Unless of course it was a Brew lorry.. Was it?)

[quote="Cyclist"][quote]What does the above link have to do with the angry dude from Brew's?[/quote]

1. the person who has been injured in Tooting was a cyclist who was hurt by a road vehicle

2. the person who had the 4x4 road vehicle driven at them by the owner of Brew was a cyclist

Until non-cyclists understand that cyclists face aggressive driving and threat of death on a regular basis then it'll always be hard for them to understand why cyclists can get so aggressive in return.

Do I think the cyclist was aggressive. Yes I do.

Do I think he was as aggressive as having a 4x4 driven at you, no I don't.

[quote]Proper little hate campaign starting now[/quote]

Yes there is. He deserves it. He drove a 4x4 at the cyclist. Watch the video.

[quote]but boycotting his business[/quote]

If one cyclist survives because other aggressive bullies don't drive their 4x4's at cyclists then that is a small price to pay[/quote]

I have watched the video. Its all being blown massively out of proportion. Let sleeping dogs lie and all that jazz, starting to feel sorry for the guy!

Hi Everyone
There are some very important points in this discussion but we could lose sight of them if discussion deteriorates into an argument.

Please keep it polite and respectful everyone.

Thanks all for using NVN.

A

[quote]What does the above link have to do with the angry dude from Brew's?[/quote]

1. the person who has been injured in Tooting was a cyclist who was hurt by a road vehicle

2. the person who had the 4x4 road vehicle driven at them by the owner of Brew was a cyclist

Until non-cyclists understand that cyclists face aggressive driving and threat of death on a regular basis then it'll always be hard for them to understand why cyclists can get so aggressive in return.

Do I think the cyclist was aggressive. Yes I do.

Do I think he was as aggressive as having a 4x4 driven at you, no I don't.

[quote]Proper little hate campaign starting now[/quote]

Yes there is. He deserves it. He drove a 4x4 at the cyclist. Watch the video.

[quote]but boycotting his business[/quote]

If one cyclist survives because other aggressive bullies don't drive their 4x4's at cyclists then that is a small price to pay

What does the above link have to do with the angry dude from Brew's?

Proper little hate campaign starting now, its quite ugly to read, everyone loses their **** at some point or another. Granted this guy took it to an extreme, but boycotting his business?? really?

Dreadfully sad

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/tooting-crash-cyclist-rushed-to-hospital-after-crash-with-lorry-in-busy-high-street-10321481.html

Also, if you look in the reflection of the car the first person to get aggressive is the cyclist who lifts his bike up and threatens to throw it at the little angry man...

[quote="Davinao"]I think it might be wise idea if those posting here and encouraging a boycott of Brew had a brief pause to reflect on their own very worst emotional outbursts. Now imagine that your entire workplace were allowed to determine the future of your career (or role as a parent) based on that one hideous and probably a typical moment. His behaviour whilst appalling happened in isolation from his work and to set out to damage a person's livelihood because he lost the head in a road rage incident is - in my view - utterly wrong. He has been filmed and outed in a way most of us aren't when we are at our very worst.[/quote]

Another thumbs up from me for Davinao's post

Davinao.. Great post..

I won't draw conclusions on someone's home/work life and wouldn't hope a business is ruined based on this.

I would hope he is ashamed and has sought out the cyclist to apologise.

My husband was once raced down the street by a man in a car whilst he was cycling..he also didn't hand in his helmet camera and try and ruin the guy. They ended up shaking hands after both agreeing they had acted like prats...

Just because you can antagonise an angry person doesn't mean you ought (even if they are wearing a tight leather jacket)..

@ Davinao: i absolutely agree with your post and yes in principle i would like to be able to do just that, to think of it as a one off moment and he shouldnt loose everything because of that.
However you see this year i went through hell (breast cancer) and even at my lowest (think physically sick from morphine then chemotherapy, think unrationnal, emotional and paranoiaque) i did not endanger anyone's life (children and cyclists alike) because of my mood or because i was having a bad day.

When you are a grown up you have responsabilities. When ypu are a driver even more so.

In my book it is anexcusable. But i grant you that i may have been more forgiving a year ago... Maybe.

Hi All
I wanted to drop back in to explain my motivation for the original post.

Also to clarify, I am a very regular user of this site but used a separate identity for the post for this very reason.

It's worth restating my original motivation for the post.

EVERY time I get on my bike to commute to work I am cut up and harassed by motorists. Not most times, or some times but every time.

Some times that harassment is just stupid people driving and texting and not seeing me, so it's passive aggression.

Some times if deliberate and pro-active because they feel we're holding them up.

For those that aren't cyclists it is hard to explain the fear that a near miss can generate. After all, people die on a regular basis on our roads and I've sat in traffic on my bicycle with tears running down my face as a lorry sits on top of someones crushed bike (Ludgate Circus). I've attached a photo below but for this particular accident I was about five minutes behind and could see the remains and the crushed bike under the rear wheels.

When you're exposed to that and see that destruction, ones tolerance for people who use their cars as weapons is zero.

Frankly I don't care if he loses his business or not, but I do care that this year we've had far too many cycling deaths already

http://www.london24.com/news/cycling

I have a zero tolerance approach to this and feel that one often needs this to effect change when prejudice is so deep rooted.

If one cyclist's life is saved because an aggressive foul mouthed yob in a 4x4 thinks twice before deliberating driving into a cyclist then the loss of the Brew cafe chain will have been very good value indeed.