Moment driver launches foul-mouthed tirade at cyclist during rush hour in south London

Hatty Collier7 August 2016

This is the moment a motorist launched a foul-mouthed tirade at a cyclist in an apparent rush hour road rage clash in south London.

Video footage shows the driver of a white Peugeot beeping his horn and hurling a torrent of abuse at rider John Richardson, 55, as he cycled through Mitcham.

Filmed on a cycle-cam, the male motorist can be seen growing increasingly angry at Mr Richardson for riding his bike outside of the cycle lane in Commonside West.

He shouts: “You’re riding in the middle of the road like you’re a motorbike.

“You’re not a motorbike, go back to cycling school. Lawbreaker. Regardless of anything, you’re not a motorbike.

“If you get run over, what are you going to tell me then, you c***?”

The motorist was caught on camera during an apparent road rage rant in Mitcham, south London

The driver goes on to repeatedly ask Mr Richardson if he can see the cycle lane on his left before branding him a “f****** t******”.

The video ends when the motorist drives off around the roundabout after shouting: “Get back in your f****** cycle lane. Don’t worry mate, people like you… people like you.”

Mr Richardson, who works in the City of London as an insurance underwriter, said the footage was filmed as he was travelling towards his home near Croydon during Friday afternoon’s rush hour and he later uploaded it to YouTube.

He told the Standard: “I initially said something, but after that I felt it best to ignore him as he probably wouldn't listen to anything that I said and I didn’t want to inflame the situation.

“All the time I was ignoring him, I was thinking: ‘Is he going to drive into the back of me?’

“We all make mistakes on the road sometimes. I’m not after vengeance, I just want to raise a bit of awareness.

“I know that some people have commented on my video asking why I wasn't in the cycle lane.

“I was going to the right at the roundabout, and I have found that by using the cycle lane there you open yourself up to be left-hooked - someone overtakes and then immediately turns left across your path - or to have someone pull in front of you from the next entry at the roundabout.”

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