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British Cyclist Confronts Woman Driver, the Internet Disagrees with Him

And we’re back to the old dispute between drivers and bicycle riders, a battle that seems older than the cat and mouse conflict. Hell, it feels like it even precedes the whole good versus evil debacle.
British road rage with cyclist 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
In most cases, the cyclists are the victims, with drivers oblivious to their existence hitting them or forcing some desperate evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision. Seeing too many of these clips, however, runs the risk of making some cyclists believe that they can do no wrong and that the driver is always at fault.

Which is obviously wrong. What happened was that the cyclist was riding on the side of the road, as he should. There are several cars that pass him by, but one of them - a black Ford Focus - makes a left turn (that’s the equivalent of a right turn for you and me who drive on the right side of the road) into a Lidl carpark. The cyclist is enraged by this move, and has some strong language for the driver, as he seems to continue on his way: “What are you some sort of f**king idiot?” he can be heard shouting.

But then he decides to go and confront the driver directly. I’m not sure if his change of heart had anything to do with the fact that he realized he was dealing with a woman (which made things easier for him), but it sure looks that way.

The cyclist’s main objection was that she “didn’t give him enough space.” The woman disagrees. The Internet disagrees. The Universe disagrees. Anyone with a functioning pair of eyes disagrees. He may have been forced to brake a little - just a little - and only as a precautional measure, but that’s the kind of thing you do in a car as well. Sometimes you have to brake, that’s all, it’s not anybody’s fault, it’s just the way traffic goes.

But the man demanded an apology. I tell, watching this clip reminds me just how nice and decent road rage incidents in Britain are. In this case, it’s all down to the woman who, knowing very well she didn’t do anything wrong, remained calm throughout the argument and didn’t fall into the troll’s trap, defusing the tension while still making sure she didn’t give him the satisfaction he was after. He does get to hold his lecture - which, as a cyclist, I can tell you it’s ridiculous; he’s basically saying that if you need to turn and you can see a cyclist, you have to freeze and let him pass, regardless of how far he is - and plays the melodramatic card of “you could have wiped me out,” but he just proves that he’s a pedantic, moralist a**hole.

I feel that wearing a helmet camera instantly flags you for the type of person looking for a quarrel. It’s guys like this that give cyclists a bad name, playing the victim role even when it’s not the case and making sure they don’t lose any chance of proving their superiority in front of the drivers.

What’s your take on the whole incident? Do you think the cyclist had a point or was he just an overreacting drama queen?

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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