Cyclist and Driver Have Roadside Altercation over Close Pass
Occurred on August 11, 2020 / Bristol, UK
Info from Licensor: "I had to go to court to give evidence, where this driver was found guilty of using threatening behavior and fined a lot of money and costs. I'd had to fend off his car which was closing in on me, by rapping it, and he took great exception to that, and then wouldn't engage civilly without threatening violence.
Thankfully this sort of driver is rarely encountered but it was good to have the video evidence (which he continued to argue against in court). He or his lawyer said that I should've been no more than 50cm from the curb, he knows this as he's a cyclist himself. His actions afterward were reasonable remonstration for my rapping on his car, what right did I have to do that, and at no point did he intend for me to think he was going to hit me. His fist was merely pointing at me and not clenched, despite the video showing otherwise. The prosecutor asked him about holding back until it was safe to overtake with more space, but he couldn't understand that idea at all. If he'd started out with less aggression I would've been happy to apologize for touching his car and explain why I had felt it necessary to do so, especially as he stated in court that he didn't hear my horn. If he'd admitted the offense in a police interview it would've ended with caution. Instead, he faces a criminal record and financial penalties of over £1300 on top of his legal costs. It's a sad case demonstrating the need for people to realize that cycling on the road is legal and that we need to give proper space to cyclists. The highway code is going to be updated to spell out that this means 1.5 meters and that if you can't give that space safely, you need to wait until you can. And threatening to thump people may have condign legal consequences."
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