Police in York are searching for the driver of a 4x4, who repeatedly nudged the rear wheel of a bike before running over it when the cyclist got off to protest.
The car was behind a cyclist who was waiting at traffic lights, and the driver pushed against his back wheel several times.
The cyclist was waiting in the right-hand filter lane for Rawcliffe Lane when the dark-coloured car, possibly an Audi, approached on Monday, September 12th at around 5.45pm.
When the cyclist dismounted, the car ran over it, damaging the back wheel. The driver then disappeared towards Shipton Road.
No-one was injured during the attack, which took place in a busy area.
Police are appealing for witnesses or dash cam video to help their investigation, and ask the public to dial 101 and ask for PC John Armstrong or York Police.
Back in 2012 we reported how Mary Creagh, then Shadow Environment Secretary, wrote to London private hire firm Addison Lee to complain about an incident in which one of its drivers allegedly bumped her back wheel while she was waiting to cross a junction on her bike in London.
She described the incident in a letter addressed to the firm’s chairman and founder John Griffin.
“I was interested to hear you a few weeks back on Radio 4, saying that your minicabs should be allowed into bus lanes,” she wrote.
“Perhaps you would be interested to hear my experience of one of your drivers today? I was at the junction of Bloomsbury Square and Tottenham Court Road, which is left turn only for vehicles, with an exception to go straight ahead for cycles. The lights changed and the road was blocked by a bus. I was on the right hand side of one of your vehicles and behind a van which could not move because of the bus.
AdTech Ad
“The lights changed back to red, the van ahead of me curled around the corner but I decided to wait at the red light rather than risk crossing the road as my sight line of any oncoming traffic was obscured. Your driver bumped into the back of my bicycle.
“When I observed that the lights had changed to red some five seconds earlier, he shouted and yelled at me.
“It was the first time I had been bumped in well over ten years. I am a slow, careful cyclist with excellent hand signals and always make eye contact with drivers.
“It was certainly an interesting experience to be barracked for obeying a red stop light when driver mythology has all cyclists down as light-jumping lunatics. Based on today’s experience, your drivers’ reputation for careful driving may be just as much of a myth.”