Angry Driver Rams Into Cyclist Because He’s “Not a Car”

Olukayode Ibrahim, the cyclist in question, had cameras mounted on his bike. Presumably, this is not the first time he experiences acts of aggression from drivers, so he learned his lesson: it’s always best if you have proof of what happened.

On the one mounted on the back of his bike, he captured footage of a silver Ford Focus ramming into him on purpose, for the sole reason that the driver didn’t like him cutting in front at the lights.

The incident happened at the lights in Greenwich, London, and was posted online. Ibrahim says he’s also reported it to the police, who are now investigating. Because the driver slammed into the bike and then sped off, this qualifies as a hit and run.

The video begins with the cyclist making his way to the front of the line of cars waiting at the lights. One driver in particular takes offense with what is already common practice in most traffic-heavy cities, and keeps yelling that the cyclist should “keep to the side of the road, you’re not a car!”

Ibrahim tells him that whatever he says is being recorded, as if to discourage him to act on his evident rage. That doesn’t stop the driver, though: with one swift move, when the lights turn green, he rams into the bike, backs up a little and is gone.

To add insult to injury, no one from the other cars comes to Ibrahim’s help. They don’t even bother to ask from their cars if he’s ok. In fact, one driver keeps honking the horn, as if to tell him he should get himself and his probably-damages bike off the road quicker.

On this note, a recent study conducted in Australia by the Monash University, QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) and the University of Melbourne’s School of Psychological Sciences has revealed that drivers tend to regard cyclists as “not fully human.”

This dehumanization fuels aggression towards them in traffic, but it could be brought to an end by banning the word “cyclist” for starters, the researchers opine.