Cyclist unleashes spray on motorist for driving too close - but who is in the wrong?
A Sydney motorist has found himself on the receiving end of a barrage of abuse after he was accused of driving too close to a cyclist.
Dashcam footage uploaded to Facebook by the driver shows him making his way along a road in Newtown on Monday with a cyclist ahead of him.
Unable to pass due to oncoming traffic, the driver stays behind the cyclist.
According to the driver, he gave the cyclist “ample space” of three car lengths, “respecting the one-metre rule.”
As they continue down the road several hundred metres, the cyclist begins to slow and turns his head and throws up his arm to remonstrate with the driver for staying behind.
“Run your head in my arse bucket!” the cyclist shouts.
“Faster you wanker!”
Heated argument
The motorist then overtakes the cyclist but encounters the cyclist further down the road at a set of traffic lights.
The cyclist again begins to verbally attack the driver, with the pair becoming caught up in a heated exchange.
“Mate you cause more trouble driving up someone’s arse,” the cyclist begins.
The driver denies riding too closely, saying he also rides a motorbike and understands the annoyance of vehicles coming too close.
“I was respecting you, that’s all I was doing,” he says.
But the cyclist responds, demanding the motorist “drive fast!”
“You’re holding up the traffic and you’ve pissed me off!”
After discovering the man also owns a motorbike, the cyclist tells him to “get one with pedals then, fat c***!”
“What a wanker,” the cyclist says as his departing comment, when he cycles off and rides through a red light.
The driver, who labelled the cyclist ‘Safety Steve’ in his video, also noted the cyclist wasn’t wearing his helmet.
Social media reacts
Facebook users were quick to respond to the footage, with many defending the motorist while praising his driving.
“You’re a very considerate driver and should be applauded,” one user wrote.
“I’m a cyclist, motorbike rider and sporadic cage driver. You get perfect 10’s,” another comment read.
One commenter said such incidents was “why bicyclist get a bad reputation.”
“Safety Steve needs to take a chill pill and stop elevating aggro on the roads,” another said.
One cyclist noted that the rider’s anger may have stemmed from their own experience of feeling the need to cycle faster when a car remains behind.
The incident comes just weeks after two NSW cyclists were verbally abused by a motorist who took offence to their inability to use the cycle path.
It was later revealed the two cyclists were off-duty police officers and the man faced several charges for his part in the incident.
