Earlier I was just badly shaken up by this (always been a bit emo) but now I can’t sleep because I am seething. Going to vent here, so this may be a little long-winded. Scroll to the end if you are mildly interested but cba reading a wall of text.

My wife was cycling home this evening at about 6pm, decked out like a Christmas tree as she likes to be, and the following occurred:

She was heading along a two lane road in Edinburgh, leading to a crossroads – cars parked randomly in the left hand lane. Bus overtakes and pulls into a stop, my wife indicates, moves over and overtakes the bus. White van pulls up behind her and sits 2 inches away from her rear wheel until she pulls over in front the bus, he guns it passed her, cutting her up, to pull up to the red traffic lights 10m further on.

She cycles up the the left of van, stops next to the passenger door and does the universal hands-palms-up-shrug of what was the point in that then. 25 year old driver starts going mental, swearily shouting and starts rolling down the window on his side of the van.

Thinking he might actually want to talk about what just happened, she walks her bike round the front of the van to his side to try and have a civilized conversation with him. She starts with something along the lines of ‘Why so aggressive? I am just trying to get home safely the same as you.’ His profanity-full tirade steps up a notch. At this point, she puts the bike down, takes out her phone and tries to take a picture of his license plate – thinking that she is going to report him for being a dangerous, over-aggressive mentalist.

He decides to prove her right by reversing and driving at her and her bike. His bumper drives the bike into the ground but he stops short of doing her any physical harm although his bumper leaves marks on her cycling shorts where it hits her. Now in the heat of the moment, she thinks, if I move out of the way he is just going to drive straight over my bike so she stands her ground as he reverses and drives at her another two times.

Meanwhile, a nice Polish guy who was waiting to cross the road has written down the van’s license plate and is banging on his window asking wtf he is up to.

WVM reverses again, swerves round the bike and drives off.

Polish guy, woman driver behind the van, another woman who was crossing the road and a guy who was having a smoke outside a pub all say they saw what happened and are willing to be witnesses.

My wife heads to the police station round the corner where there are no police to actually take her statement. So she ends up explaining it to the receptionist? clerk? who gives her an incident number and says that the police will have a talk to him. Her only other input being a non-empathic, it-must-have-been-all-your-fault ‘What were you doing in front of his van?’. ‘Who gives a **** some guy just drove his van at me?’ would have been my response but my wife was either in shock or is just more polite than me. Just what you want to hear when you have nearly been run over 3 times by a lunatic in a van, eh?

So, my wife seems to be handling it better than I – she is asleep at least, but we shall see what happens when she has to actually get back out on the roads again. Her lovely Boardman CX has black bumper marks/scratches all along the top tube, the left shifter/brake is scratched up pretty good and the front wheel looks like it may have buckled slightly – not sure if there is more significant damage that I haven’t spotted – it seems like the tough-as-f Ortlieb pannier which was on the ground may have protected the bike to a certain extent.

Now I have no idea what to do or what will happen…will the police take it seriously? Not sure what crime the guy actually committed – assault? Hit and run? Do I let them get back in touch or do I phone them up to make sure that they are actually going to do something about it? What the hell is up with people that this is how they deal with it?

Anyway, if you read all of that, well done, and I would appreciate any thoughts or advice. Let me tell you, it is a particularly unpleasant experience to get a text from your wife saying she is at the police station and that some guy in a van just tried to run her over.

tl;dr Crazy white van man repeatedly reverses and drives at my wife, stopping short of physical harm but scaring the shit out of her and scratching up her bike.

Sounds a awful. Definitely stick with the Police and get them to follow up on this. Having witnesses and a reg number are definitely good assets to have.

probably his regular commute route, i know what i would be doing today

We only have one side of the story here, don’t get the pitchforks out just yet folks.

Report it-report-it-report.

Then keep on at the Police til something is done. Tell them you want his details for an insurance and damages claim etc. Don’t let them drop this, you have witnesses so push for a charge.

I have an appointment with the Police this afternoon to give my statement about an agressive driver, although not as serious as your wife’s event.

Hope she’s better this morning – and you are calmer 🙂

EDIT: Gary, exactly what tale would make the above behaviour acceptable FFS? If 3 different witnesses are happy to make a statement to the truth of the issue then i think we can say there is a case to answer.

Sorry to hear your good lady went through that mate. Must be bloody frustrating. Only thing I’d say is that if your good ladies way of dealing with this is to put a brave face on & forget it, then I would allow her that & be careful not to keep bringing it up & making her re-live it. Do hope she’s ok, & the Police actually do something.

Not been on here for years so be kind.
Reading your post this is why I’ve signed in again.
Last year I more or less had the same incident. But this white van man parked up got out of his van and starting shouting like a fish wife. The language was unliveable, he threatened to knock my head off. While he was shouting and carrying on I was writing down the number plate, make of van, colour and a description of him , name of street.
Then I rang the police, 3 hours later they came to my home took a statement. But in those 3 hours they had tracked him down, got his name where he worked as they rang his place of work hehehe.
Anyway outcome went to court he got bond over to keep the peace for 6mths, fined, loss of job with that company.
I’d say result.

Road rage attack…

call the police today and firmly but politely ask to speak to the officer who has been allocated to the case. Find out what they are going to do…

Keep all the stuff you have. witness numbers, things like that

hope it turns out well

+1000 Muddydwarf

Don’t let him get away with it.

Oh and FWIW I understand the OPs state if mind and why you needed to vent. I think I’d be the same. Hope you got some sleep in the end..?
Your missus is a legend BTW. Well done that girl!!!!

Which junction was it OP?

Very similar to my incident last year. I was rammed into the side of a bus. Both myself, the bus and the car driver were stationary at the time. He turned the car into me and drove forward, pinning me and the bike against the bus but in essence, the same situation as your wife.
Now, time to calm yourself right down and let the smug glow of justice descend (fingers crossed).
The driver of the car got £750 fine, 12 month driving ban and 40 hours community service.
I got the day off work and a new road riding mate. He’s the traffic policeman who attended the scene.
It wrote off my front wheel, frame and handlebar and I’m still arguing with Direct Line about it but I can live with that.

Go back to were it happend and see if there are any cctv camera’s, Edinburgh is getting worse and worse these days, the attitude of a lot of people is disgusting.

Which junction was it OP?

Foot of the Walk I believe.

(not the OP, but I know him: *waves at Binky*).

FWIW I have learnt that when this type of thing happens (and it does too much) it is best to stay behind the vehicle, not to engage in any way and let them drive angrily off in to the distance. They are an idiot with a potentially lethal machine, don’t get in the way.

However, it has happened so follow it up and keep chasing it up with the police. IMO people like that should be banned from driving. Even assuming your wife cut him up that kind of reaction is unnacceptable. Given it sounds like he is just a bit clueless it makes it even worse.

Google cycling lawyer as he has a blog where there might be some advice. Road Peace is a charity that might have some info as might the BC or CTC organisations?

I had someone deliberately cut me up and brake check me at the end of last year. Reported to the police but very little happened. Still have the registration memorised. Sticks in my mind, like the guys details who knocked me off.

binkoth – just keep plugging away with the police – try and get the name of the officer that it’s been assigned to (and if not, why not).

fact you have independent witnesses is very good – if you have contact details for them then perhaps try and persuade them to also contact the assigned officer to get some momentum going.

Waiting at the lights tonight with a baseball bat may feel attractive but it probably won’t help in the long term.

Suggest you DO NOT independently contact the witnesses, let the police do this. This could (should) end up in court and their “independence” and credibility as witnesses could be seriously compromised.

As edlong suggests, your wife needs to keep away from any witnesses.
I was advised that if anybody contacted me in person, I was to record the contact as best I could and reply with a ‘thank you for your consideration and for bearing witneses etc’ but nothing prejudicial. Only one lady did get in touch out of four witnesses and CCTV from the bus. I sent everbody flowers after the court case. Execept for the copper. He gets sworn at on every climb as he goes shooting off 🙂
Your wife behaved much better than I did. I got a Police Caution for chinning the driver.

Foot of the walk – it might well be on camera there is a camera ther that the default position is watching the junction but is sometimes turned to watch the nice chaps sitting around at the top of the kirk gate.

She needs to contact the witnesses and get them to write down statements and pursue the cops to get something done. Fair chance they will do.

When I had a similar (but not as bad) issue I went into St Leonards and asked them to check for CCTV coverage which they did – the camera was not pointing my way so missed the incident. this might be worth doing – wit the time and place they can check it easily and quickly. try to do it during the day

She needs to contact the witnesses

Sorry TJ but I agree with edlong that contacting the witnesses directly at this point might be a bad idea. Let the police contact them.

If the police decide not to press charges then you might be able to raise a civil case and/or chase it through insurers.

Definitely keep on at the police to do something. You have everything you need, van reg, witnesses etc. Her bike’s been damaged and at the vey least she wants reimbursing for the cost of putting it right. I’m no legal expert but the way I see it there’s 2 issues here 1) road rage, 2) leaving the scene of an incident.

Nightmare, hope you’ve managed to calm down and your Mrs is still OK and not having delayed shock or some such.

contacting the witnesses directly at this point might be a bad idea.

aslong as you have contact details and they have already agreed at the scene to be a witness let the police sort it (assuming you can get to speak to one)

Thanks for all the support and advice everyone. I really appreciate it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the STW collective but only one speculative post about how it could somehow have been my wife’s fault is pretty good going IMHO 🙂

As Graham said, it was the Foot of Walk junction approached along Great Junction St, heading east.

I will try and get in touch with the police later today, if they haven’t contacted my wife first and keep you informed with how it going.

Time to do some work unfortunately.

Well, it strikes me that up until your good lady went around the front of his van to have words, the driver hadn’t really done anything illegal. Intimidating maybe, impatient in wanting to get by before the lights maybe.
She should have let it be at that rather than making a scene.

Having said that and given what then did happen, the driver is totally out of order. She is right to report it to the police and you should find out the officer dealing with the incident and pursue it. Although the police would be unlikely to pursue what happened up until she approached the driver they should definitely pursue the assault that subsequently happened.

Definitely pursue it.
I got run off the road by a truck a few years ago in very similar circumstances – very aggressive overtake to a red set of lights, he went mental when I overtook him again so once the lights changed he drove after me and ran me off the road, jumped out and threatened all sorts.

Police took it very seriously so I’d be having a little chat with the senior inspector at that station and asking why a clear case of assault has been “brushed off” like that. Remind the Police that they’re their to assist the victim of a crime, not make judgements.

She should have let it be at that rather than making a scene.

Read the OP. The van driver was the one that wound down his window to have a word hurl abuse, so I’m not sure how you can accuse the OP’s missus of “making a scene”. 🙄

Well, it strikes me that up until your good lady went around the front of his van to have words, the driver hadn’t really done anything illegal

Cutting her up whilst overtaking? Careless driving at the least I should have thought – the fact he’d never have been prosecuted for it doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything wrong, simply that the system is broken.

The van driver was the one that wound down his window to have a word hurl abuse, so I’m not sure how you can accuse the OP’s missus of “making a scene”.

After she had gesticulated at his nearside window and she then moved around the front of his van when he wound down the offside window.

Cutting her up whilst overtaking?

We have this information second hand. A couple of metres off your back wheel can feel like a couple of inches, one person’s cutting up is another persons ‘plenty of room’

For what it’s worth, Im entirely on the OP’s wife’s side here but we sometimes have to be realistic about how people who are independant (ie not regular cycle commuters / bike enthusiasts) eg the police view such incidents. But, even if they may be dismissive about the events that led up to the assault, they definitely shouldn’t be dismissive about the assault.

We have this information second hand

We have all the information second hand 🙄

We have all the information second hand

Except the van driver’s… 😈

After she had gesticulated at his nearside window and she then moved around the front of his van when he wound down the offside window.

She shrugged at him.

If you think shrugging is “making a scene” then you win the prize for the most stiff-upper-lip British person I know 😀

While I see some sense in avoiding fights with better armed opponents, I object to this idea that the best way to deal with bullies is to let them do whatever they like and try to keep out their way and ignore it.

Again it seems a terribly apologetic British approach: “Hello? Frightfully sorry old chap, but I’ve rather got my lower intestines caught on your front axle. Dear me, I am such a clumsy aren’t I? Would you mind awfully being a good sport and slowing down for just a moment while I retrieve them? Awfully sorry for the bother.”

“A couple of metres off your back wheel can feel like a couple of inches,”

Still to close.

Thinking he might actually want to talk about what just happened, she walks her bike round the front of the van to his side to try and have a civilized conversation with him. She starts with something along the lines of ‘Why so aggressive? I am just trying to get home safely the same as you.’ His profanity-full tirade steps up a notch. At this point, she puts the bike down, takes out her phone and tries to take a picture of his license plate – thinking that she is going to report him for being a dangerous, over-aggressive mentalist

Bit more than ‘shrugging’ 😯

Speshpaul – Member
“A couple of metres off your back wheel can feel like a couple of inches,”

Still to close.

Maybe on the open road but not really when in urban traffic. It’s all about judgements isn’t it. From what I understand from the OP, she obviously considered the van was badly driven and that his was a pointless manouevre and she let him know; he appears to have disagreed with her point of view and let her know. It then escalated to the point where he assaulted her.

Paul, indeed it is. Shouldn’t be any closer than you should get to a car.

Bit more than ‘shrugging’

Are you even reading anything anybody else is writing? She shrugged. Then she walked round to have a polite conversation, because he’d opened his window that side. At what point did she escalate things in your humble opinion?

Maybe on the open road but not really when in urban traffic.

With the greatest of respect, that’s total bollocks.

To all intents and purposes, bike = car. They have the same rights, and should be treated as such. If you can’t overtake without getting too close then you flipping well stay behind them until you can.

if the driver repeatedly try to ram your wife and bike i would say thats attempted murder not dangerous driving and i would go to the police station and request to speak to the inspector in charge plus i would not say the driver stopped short of my wife i would word it as luckily he did not actually strike my wife

Shouldn’t be any closer than you should get to a car.

Yes, yes, yes, but back in the real world, people do. There’s a difference between what people should do and what actually happens.

There should have been 20 coppers at the station waiting to respond to the situation in an ideal world, but back in the real world there wasn’t.

With regards to the actual incident, you’ve got to make a judgement with regards to your safety and respond accordingly – the white van man was driving aggressively, so was likely to act aggressively when someone reacted to the tool, as he subsequently did.

In short, it’s not worth getting into a fight over, or damaging your bike for, despite what the STW Justice League™ may advocate.

The OP’s wife could have quietly and discreetly taken his numberplate, while taking an alternative route for the rest of the journey. Then report the fella.

I’ve been in plenty of scrapes on the commute, and apart from venting a bit of spleen, no one gains from arguing in the road, as this thread demonstrates.

Unless you’re a proper hard man, of course.

To all intents and purposes, bike = car.

Not on any road I’ve been on.