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.