Near Miss of the Day 491: Driver almost hits cyclist head-on – then assaults him (includes swearing)

Another angry dangerous nutcase driver on the loose!
At least he later admitted his guilt and paid up after coming to his senses..
QUOTE:
Today's ​video in our Near Miss of the Day series shows an absolutely shocking incident in which a van driver towing a trailer almost knocks a cyclist off his bike on a narrow country road – and then got out of his vehicle, ran back and assaulted him.

It happened in June close to Eccleston in Lancashire. The rider, road.cc reader Jon, said in the description to the video on YouTube: “This all happened because an angry man in a white van just couldn’t slow down or give me enough room or time to stop to pull over so we could pass each other easily and safely, and he had just passed a passing point on the corner in the road.

“The reason for my response is that if either of us had got it wrong it would have been me bouncing off the van or worse, hooked by the trailer and dragged back down the lane.

“Just through his demeanour I decided to leave and made a couple remarks for myself and set off, which he obviously took offence to and then chased me and assault me.

“As he was walking away he threatened me again that he did not want to hear anything else about it!

“As he was going back to the van I did call the police and he had a visit from them. I was offered the option of moving forward with the possibility of court prosecution or to do restorative justice.

“With a bit of encouragement I agreed to the later, and he agreed to pay for the damage. This nearly changed as he was taking too long to pay, but he did pay and in that process he admits the assault.�
ENDS

(APPLAUSE)

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...assault-278319

On Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 5:25:01 PM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:
Another angry dangerous nutcase driver on the loose!
At least he later admitted his guilt and paid up after coming to his senses.
QUOTE:
Philh68 | 350 posts | 7 hours ago
7 likes


Someone that easily angered and quick to resort to physical violence has no place driving a motor vehicle. Ever.

this absolutely should have been prosecuted. The cyclist de-escalated the situation by attempting to leave. Even if the language was provocative, that act negates any defence of provocation. It's common assault and should be dealt with as such.

On Thursday, October 29, 2020 at 12:05:13 PM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:
On Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 5:25:01 PM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:
Another angry dangerous nutcase driver on the loose!
At least he later admitted his guilt and paid up after coming to his senses.
QUOTE:
Rendel Harris | 25 posts | 16 hours ago
7 likes


As with the majority (all?) of the comments below, i would have pushed for it to go to court. The police and CPS love restorative justice as it goes outside their purview and cuts their paperwork. If this guy had been properly prosecuted he could have been done for dangerous driving and assault, got a very hefty fine, points on his licence, criminal record and would still have to pay Jon damages (and probably aggravated damages covering emotional distress as well). He must be laughing like a drain having just had to pay for a new jacket or whatever and having got no record and no license endorsment. I don't blame Jon at all, the police/CPS should never even have considered allowing restorative justice. Someone who drives like this and then responds like that should have the book thrown at them. A tap on the wrist won't change their behaviour at all, and next time they might well kill someone.