Thoughts on this?

I would have taken several grand off the value of that Audi. I'm totally on the side of cyclists in London, the death rate is quite shocking, seems like every week someone dies on their bike.

 

The audi driver is obviously an accident waiting to happen
The nob should be locked up for a day.

 

Could be, but looking at that video clip, it seemed to be either straight ahead or left turn.
Didn't appear to have a right turn?

 

Looks like some building is going on, with the right turn temporarily blocked off. I could well be wrong though. I'm not sure what that Farringdon banner is covering.

 

Tell you what it does say Jay......it's a bit stressful on the road network in London, whether you're in a car or on a bike.

I don't mind visiting the place, but couldn't live there.

 

Exactly, I don't get the big cyclist box in front of where cars park at lights. As for the cyclist it looks to me like he was up for some confrontation and went looking for an argument. It just went a little wrong when the driver got out and landed one on him. He wanted trouble and he got some.

 

I'm really not surprised at all. When I drive around London I am amazed by the utter stupidity that I see from some cyclists. I know some car drivers are idiots too and I am not going to try and defend them but when there is an accident the car driver tends to win so i would expect a little more caution from both sides but it appears that neither will give any ground. There are morons on both sides.

 

Both knobs in my opinion...but the cyclist almost knocks a woman cyclist down as she is crossing the road pushing her bike.

 

Agree with that.

The way I look at this situation is to try to imagine what I would have done.

If I was on the bike and I was going straight on, would I have pulled up in front of the car? No, I would have stayed left. It just seems rude to me what he did. He deliberately blocked the way of a faster vehicle. I suspect he has a chip on his shoulder being a cyclist. He's allowed to do what he did, but it doesn't mean he should. The rest of the cyclists stayed left because that's just good etiquette.

If I was in the car and someone on a bike pulled up right in front of me, would I have then got all aggressive and gone in the cycle lane? No. I might have thought he was a dick, but that would have been as far as it would have gone.

Would have I have sped off at great speed if the there were cyclists all around me? No.

If I was on the bike, would I have remonstrated with the car driver had he gone in the cycle lane? Probably, yes. I'm a bit of an arsehole and I like a bit of conflict.

Would I have chased him if he'd gunned it from the lights when there were cyclists all around him? Yes, see above, what he did was dangerous.

Would I have banged on the window and had a go at him? Yes, see above.

If I were the car driver, would I have hit the cyclist had he banged on my window? No, I'd have just argued with him.

If I were the cyclist would I have ridden off if the car driver had got out and hit me? No, I'd have taken his shiny Audi and shoved it right up his arse.

 

I blame Lance Armstrong.

 

I've just spat me tea all over me phone

 

Wrong, the driver moved into the cyclist advance stop area breaking the traffic laws in the process and most likely broke the speed limit as he accelerated away. The cyclist was a bit stupid in my opinion but nothing he did warrants a physical assault. In law the driver was at fault at least twice (passing a stop line and actual bodily harm) whereas the cyclist only once (threatening behaviour).

 

The knob in the Audi ought to be banned from driving for life. He might have to get a bike then and see first hand how stupid and dangerous his actions were.

 

Better those cyclists are on bikes rather than in car though, imagine the traffic jams.

 

Every cyclist is one less car in front of you in a traffic jam.

You should be applauding each and every one of them.

 

I agree Ponty, and the way that cyclist went hell for leather down the road - I'm surprised there isn't more accidents around.

But they were both fecking idiots in this case, but why have big cycle boxes in front of the cars? Asking for trouble that is. Where can the car go - nowhere, until all the cyclists have sorted themselves out. Madness. I'm pretty sure that cars can go faster from a standing start than cyclists.

 

Audi driver shouldn't have pulled into the cycle area

But the cyclist went looking for it, and got a scutch. Hard lines.

 

It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen

A cyclist observing a red light! F,cking hell, strike a commemorative coin!

 

I don't get the mentality of that particular cyclist at all.

In general terms, cyclists deserve protection of sorts on the roads. They choose to be there, yes. But they are also choosing to reduce traffic congestion, fuel usage (and so emissions as well), and freeing up much required road capacity. In the position you are in cycling on heavily trafficked roads, you are massively vulnerable. So protected lanes, priority at some
junctions and so on are justified.

That doesn't entitle you as a cyclist to a devine right to get in front of everybody though.

In the clip, plenty of cyclists stayed to the left. A sensible move, leaving enough room for passing traffic at much higher speed to pass at a safe distance once the lights changed.

The cyclist featured chose then to not only position himself in front of the Audi, but to bypass the lot of his fellow cyclists at the junction and render the courtesy they offered useless. At that point he might not have broken any traffic law, but he was certainly guilty of being an inconsiderate pillock.

The action of the Audi driver to pull wider whilst encroaching the cycle only area was aggressive and unnecessary. As was driving off at the speed and manner he did.

But his aggression at that point was not aimed personally and no one in particular was singled out. The cyclist, on his high horse and apparently under the illusion he was superior and had much more right to use the road exactly as he wanted than a driver should. He chased the car down, with the sole intention of hammering on the car door and hurling abuse.

The Audi driver's response was to get out of the car and lamp him. I'm not going to say fair enough, it wasn't, but the cyclist sought out trouble, made an aggressive approach, and got more than he bargained for.

If he had simply called the driver a *****, and avoided whacking on the door and shouting the driver down, he'd have maintained the moral high ground. As it is he's just as guilty as the driver for the whole incident. If he'd stayed left as his fellow cyclists did, none of the incident would have occurred. Drivers should show care and consideration to cyclists but if you are on a bike then primarily the responsibility for your safety is yourself. Show the courtesy to other road users that you expect yourself and if you come across an arsehole like the Audi driver stay out of the way, a car driver isn't as vulnerable as you.

 

Well said troff, nailed it IMO.