[Closed] Punched when cycling down a hill at 55km/h - wtf

I'm glad your are not hurt, these idiots might be looking out for you in future now you have confronted them, so be careful

This happened to me once when I was stopped at the top of a hill taking a picture. Fortunately for both of us I couldn't catch them.

If the police take a kiss seriously then I'd hope hitting a cyclist at speed would also be looked at!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-england-derbyshire-52699104

Glad you are ok. I had someone lean out of a car & try to grab my handlebars as I cycled through a town centre. Contacted the police and got a phone call a few weeks later to ask if I was happy with how my report had been dealt with. I'd heard nothing and it turned out nothing had been done. Within a couple of days I heard again - they had finally gone round to the house & spoken to the owner, but denial, no witnesses and no further action. They did say that the car was now on their radar so I'd like to think that's true.

This happened to someone in my local cycling club. He went down. Didn't get on a bike again for over a year. You are lucky.

At no point would i recommend any form of revenge now you know where they live.

The Police tend to ask people not to post too much detail on social media until they have finished whatever it is they are going to do

From my own experience a few years ago, even if little seems to be done, if a vehicle gets flagged they will be much keener to follow up any subsequent reports.

Well I put it on the police's twitter last night. Can't say i'm hopeful. If the people that punched me want to sue me for deformation, I say go for it! At least i'll get their address.

If the people that punched me want to sue me for deformation

Deforming them or their property would definitely be a police matter. 🙂

Sounds scary, hope the cops follow it up.

That's bloody scary, glad you're ok.

I had someone lean out of a car & try to grab my handlebars as I cycled through a town centre.

Someone did the same to me a few years ago, thankfully in an area with good CCTV coverage. Right outside Cardiff Prison! That meant he got a visit form the police and I got an apology.

Also had someone grab me by the throat outside the local supermarket last year, something about I was in his way whilst in a parking space. Despite the shop having CCTV the only option I got offered was a resolution meeting with an officer present. He'd told the officer he would apologise beforehand but then changed his tune completely when in the room. Complete and utter waste of time, even the officer agreed with me.

Still have respect for the police but I can see how some people in society think they can do what they want when the rules are applied so differently.

Sad to say but I wouldn't be expecting much from the police, not the kind of thing they are interested in these days.

Any potential for an insurance claim? It was still a collision of sorts. Even if it is just getting whatever you were wearing cleaned, that's about all I can think of!? Not for the money, but hopefully a claim for an at fault accident will hurt them a little in the pocket and make insurance renewal more of a pain. Police would be better but it doesn't sound promising.

Contact local media - but leave out your estimated speed.

If its a legit car then I'd hit em where it hurts and kick the wing mirrors off one night.

Just deny all knowledge when the police come round and claim coincidence, but also ask the officers why they are happy to deploy resources for property damage but not potential manslaughter.

Glad you are ok and yes i think someone was watching over you.
I think there is something about being a cyclist that attracts bad energy at times. In lockdown I've reflected a bit on my past, and one time I think I could have been seriously beaten up if not killed by a group of drunk idiots for no reason whatsoever. They started throwing stones at me as I was cycling, I went over and said why are you doing that, then they got very aggressive so I cycled off.
I went back later on and confronted a few of them and by that time the drink/drugs must have worn off as they weren't up for it then. But you have to be very careful, most of these people have issues with drink and drugs.

Contact local media – but leave out your estimated speed.

50mph road, so was well within the speed limit.

I'd take a piss on their car doorhandles and down the vents near the scuttle panels at the bottom of the windscreen, so when they use the fresh air blower they get a whiff.

Perhaps drink some strong black coffee before you do this for maximum impact.

Obviously I wouldn't.. that was a joke.

However, I'm glad to read you're alright.

Have the police logged the crime and given you a crime number?

I'm shocked by their apparent lack of interest at an assault that could had had such serious consequences.

It's not like you were punched on the street - a two tonne vehicle was also driven dangerously (and illegally) close to a vulnerable road user at speed.

I'd be putting in a complaint about the police response tbh.

Jesus cogwomble, you shouldn’t even joke about that.
Pee has dna evidence.
Use dogshit instead.

Mmm....syringe full of brake fluid as you cycle past their nice cars . Only joking obviously.....

Is a holed bumper not an unsafe driving offence...

I think if you'd just been to halfords to buy some brake fluid and oops, it's come undone, and oh-no, it's dropped on their bonnet and spelled a rude word, thats a shame isn't it.

The police weren’t very sympathetic as it was only assault apparently

Game on then?

A 5 litre milk carton down the scuttle panels will not only stink the car out but will also make the car impossible to sell.

Well had the call back now. Apparently the registration number alone is not sufficient grounds for a line of enquiry. Experience has shown that they'll just deny driving, forget who was in the car, deny all knowledge, etc. etc.

The lady I spoke to did see it as 'serious' but said she had to manage my expectations, they'll note it on the system in case it happens again. They'll also pass it onto the neighbour hood team, however given they didn't want my photos or video i'm not sure how that works (spoiler, it won't).

Apparently i'd have needed witnesses + a dashcam for them to have done anything more.

Thanks for all the messages of support. At least they were probably surprised to be chased down by a cyclist 😀

Any potential for an insurance claim? It was still a collision of sorts.

Not legally!

Yep milk **** it. Shame on the police ffs!

Oh and well done op for chasing them down. Lsave it a couple of weeks.

So the bottom line is that the police are going to precisely.... Nothing.

Not even  little visit to maybe discourage any future repeats.

Not good enough IMO.

Not even little visit to maybe discourage any future repeats.

Yeah, realistically, that's all i hoped for. Police officer knocking on the door, conversation in the family home whilst mum / dad tut loudly wondering where it all went wrong.

Generally evidence is required, the accused could have shagged your girlfriend and you could be trying exact some kind of revenge for all the Police know.

For that reason I wouldn't try to carry out any form of vigilante retaliation, would suck if they filmed you doing it 🙂

I'm having a very similar argument with the police round here. It's incredibly frustrating. Initially the police refused to even investigate as an assault, preferring to categorise it as an RTC.

You have given them a very good story, a number plate and some pictures. I would have thought that they would have to investigate thoroughly if an assault including interviewing any potential witnesses under caution. I don't know if this is the case.

I wonder what the police officers would do if it was a member of their own family that was assaulted? I bet that would get a more robust response.

protect and serve, ha!

It's a thing with the more thuggish elements of da yoof innit.

My brother was pushed off his bike on Cleeve Hill by the passenger in a white van. Cops not interested of course.

They're going to kill someone soon.

The attitude to cyclists from police and people is shit. Police need to sort themselves out.

I’d be going around with a lump hammer one night in a few months time and beating the shit out of the cars with it.

Did I type that out loud?

Fiesta, no shirt, joggers. Figures.

To the OP.... you are able to make a formal complaint regarding how your report has been handled.

That's poor. I had a close pass - nothing more - that I felt was just too close for comfort. Ummed and ached but eventually reported it, trip to local station, phone call back to say the driver had been spoken to, didn't realise blah blah but apologised and would take more care. Realistically a decent outcome, for what you say that would at least warrant a visit.

Generally evidence is required, the accused could have shagged your girlfriend and you could be trying exact some kind of revenge for all the Police know.

This would be a seriously niche revenge tactic 😀

For that reason I wouldn’t try to carry out any form of vigilante retaliation, would suck if they filmed you doing it 🙂

Yep, don't worry. I don't intend to, they drove like an accident statistic waiting to happen anyway.

whilst mum / dad tut loudly wondering where it all went wrong.

Or, more likely, verbally abuse the copper alongside their dismal little whelps.

Apparently the registration number alone is not sufficient grounds for a line of enquiry.

This is disgusting. I would definitely be all out for my own revenge, but that's just me.
You do what you gotta do.

Do you have an elected Police and crime commissioner? I'd consider a letter with a copy to your MP pointing out feel let down....the Police could have chosen to visit the registered owner and ask who was driving and who was the passenger...issue is intent...there was clear intent to injure with the potential for an outcome that could have resulted in serious injury...a comparable situation would be people unknown throwing bricks off a motorway bridge...intent to harm and the possibility of very serious injury....the other issue is changes to the law to make the registered keeper of the vehicle responsible if refuse to name the driver...in this case evidence limited but drivers and passengers need to know that the law doesn't allow people to get away with this type of thuggery...time that cyclists are protected by law rather than having to suffer serious injury before the law sort of moves to their aid...and breathe...writing from experience of having a bottle hit me and mrs antigee being spat at...oh and don't try and take them on..I always recall the old guy who ran furniture restoration place next to where I worked in Leeds demonstrating with 2 lads throwing their meal wrapper out of the car...the driver jumped out with a baseball bat

I got taken down in the same way 2 months ago, multiple broken bones and a punctured lung. Two days in hospital on day one of the lock down.
I had an officer come out to the scene (2x other riders taken down in separate incidents on the same day), and in their defence they've been pretty good. Mine's been officially logged as GBH although I doubt there'll be any comeback to the driver or passenger, but that's down to getting positive IDs.

Awful !! I’ve noticed a clear degradation in people’s behavior in last few weeks. Not just cyclist related but folks in general 🙁 Lockdown fever I reckon

h and don’t try and take them on..

You don't have to take them on. (Look how much they love their little Fiesta FP06VVS and GY11TCV pieces of shit.)

Letter to the PCC is a good idea, depends if he hates cyclists I guess! Will copy my MP in, different consistency (Woking vs Hart where it happened) tho.

I'll give it a couple of days to see if the neighbour hood team bother reaching out (sounded unlikely!)

Will copy my MP in, different consistency

Usually slippery or scaly.

Sadly because of incidents like this in the past this is the reason I have cameras on all of.my road bikes.

I only have rears unfortunately but it would have caught this bellend.

I have had one successful prosecution since using them. My local police force (Avon and Somerset) seem to be pretty good at acting on the footage.

I got taken down in the same way 2 months ago, multiple broken bones and a punctured lung. Two days in hospital on day one of the lock down.

Jesus! Hope you’re healing up well. Some people are just absolute ****s.

Sadly because of incidents like this in the past this is the reason I have cameras on all of.my road bikes.

@eskay, which ones do you use?

I've in Fleet for 27 years - sadly it doesn't surprise me - I'm moving 500 miles north in 5 weeks because of stuff like this.

I got punched by a car driver in Midhurst one Saturday morning - fortunately an off-duty policeman was cycling by at the time and saw it, so the guy got charged and fined, otherwise he'd probably have got away with it too.

I've got the adli copies of the cycliq fly Integrated rear light/camera.

My local Aldi was selling them off for £15 a couple of years ago and I bought 4. I have one on every time I go out.

If they ever fail I will buy one of the originals. Quality is good, you can clearly see driver and registration

Paint stripper in a fairy liquid bottle

Ask for a crime number, that means it been recorded properly

Then write in and ask for the decision not to prosecute to be reviewed as it's an assault and you can id the perp

That is poor, I'd be very tempted to take matters into my own hands after that.

Put it on the police Facebook page, write to local councillor, MP etc. I once saw a birds egg had fallen from the nest, cracked and completely cooked itself on a hot bonnet, the white had bonded itself to the lacquer in the process.

Don’t take revenge, it will come back on you.

Glad you are ok

Not everyones solution, but if that is where those cars get parked up I'd be back with a hammer and I'd make sure they were off the road for a good while.

Thing is, you can't have these scrotes going round hitting people, whether they're walking, jogging, cycling, or just crossing the road - and the cops just basically go "Oh well, you shouldn't have been there" and that's the end of it!

Glad to hear you’re ok and not badly injured.

Try and find out their names then try to find them on social media. My bet is they’ve recorded it for a laugh and will do it again to someone else.

Hammer is noisy. Whack a syringe of 2 part epoxy down the drivers door gap for effective sealing. Nice and quiet.

So would this count as antisocial behaviour? In which case could a s59 be issued? Just thinking if it could it's better than nothing.

Failure to report a collision....

That carrys 9 points.....

Or epoxy the door handles

Feed the birds on top of their cars, I understand our flying friends can reshape body work very quickly.

Or

Sad to say I think We're going to see a bow wave of post lock down antisocial behaviour, violence and general Thug****tery.

With the streets quieter for the last couple of months it's been harder for the scrotes to engage in their normal patterns of behaviour without attracting extra attention, now Bozza has effectively lifted half the sanctions they'll feel a bit happier that they can get "lost in the noise" and the Rozzers won't prioritise their little japes.

I'm also seeing an upswing in bicycle use locally (anecdotally).
It might just be seasonal, lock down induced activity or a mixture, but more cyclists, being generally more visible just means more targets for them.

I just hope this whole incident doesn't affect you too much OP, you've done you're bit in reporting them, don't let the police's intransigence upset you too much. Try to forget about it and move on, the worst thing would be for the little shits to rob you of your mental well being.

Thanks cookeaa. I think i'm pretty chill about the situation, doesn't seem to have freaked me too much and still intending to go on my regular ride tomorrow. Guess we'll see if i'm freaked out then - will probably avoid that rode for a bit! I think the fact I chased them down and confronted them is doing my mental health some good. Just putting it down to ****ers being ****ers.

Ok, opening myself up to some judgment here and I can't recommend that anyone does it but...

I'd leave things a few months, find myself walking past those cars one night with a mask on (Covid obvs) and decorate the cars with paint stripper.

These guys absolutely WILL have a load of "acquaintances" that they'll assume to have done it way before they even vaguely remember the guy they punched eons back. It's definitely a play the long game scenario.

Anyway and most importantly....

Glad you are ok op, could have turned out much different.

Tempting as it is to take up one or more of the suggestions on here don't see why you should you be drawn in to the risk of escalating retribution or prosecution by the police yourself.

The attitude of whichever police are dealing with this is what sucks the most and that is what needs addressing.

Given you were a vulnerable road user and these morons deliberately violently attacked you whilst riding at speed down a hill you have a pretty serious example of common assault and arguably a case of dangerous driving.

Don't accept anyone telling you that you don't have evidence because you do, you are able to identify the vehicle, you have pictures of those present at the time as you followed and then took them. There is no requirement for video evidence, your account should be sufficient. Unless you have a history of making false allegations or a string of convictions for dishonesty there is no reason for your word to be doubted.

Unlikely that whatever oik owns the car has a blanket insurance policy so he was either driving or allowing someone to use it un-insured even if you couldn't identify him.

Ask who has made the decision not to investigate the crime and ask for their reasons in writing as you intend to make complaint.

If the police can't be bothered to knock on the door of the registered keeper so he thinks twice before driving close enough to a cyclist to allow his passenger to do this then they deserve the aggro of dealing with a formal complaint.

Glad you're okay mate, could have been a lot lot worse. Absolute morons like this are this reason I don't ride on the road.
I used to commute when I worked and lived in Stockport but a lad in a gti with his mates in th3 car tried to run me off the road.
Wingmirrors are a lot frailer than I thought.

As a fellow local please take it further and don't let the cops fob you off. The next person these idiots do it to might not be so lucky. It wasn't only assault as the police stated, imho at the very least it was also a close pass if they managed to hit you from a moving vehicle. Someone was definitely watching over you as that is a fast downhill. I'm actually sitting here pretty fuming, if I punched a copper would they come out with the it's only assault line, I think not and rightly so.

Email from the police:

We will not be investigating this crime as there are currently no further proportionate lines of enquiry. All crimes reported will be shared with your local Neighbourhood Policing Team so they are aware of the crime happening in your area.

Should your crime be linked to other crimes or if our investigation teams need to contact you, they will be in touch.

I'll reply asking for a detailed reasoning for why they're not investigating and listing the evidence I have.

Mailed them this. I realise it's pointless, but it made me feel better.

Hi xxx,
Thank you for your mail regarding the unprovoked assault that I was subjected to by the occupant of a car as I cycled down a steep hill yesterday evening. As you can imagine I'm somewhat disappointed that no action is to be taken. 

Whilst I appreciate that the likelihood of a conviction might not be as high as some other crimes, I do feel that it would be proportionate for an officer to at least visit the registered keepers of the cars and question them. As it stands at the moment, they will experience zero consequences to their crime - it's worth repeating that given I was cycling at 55km/h (within the speed limit for that road) if I had crashed after they leaned out of their moving car and punched me there is a fair likelihood that I would not be in a position to type this email.

I would remind you of the evidence I have presented:
1. My full and detailed account of the incident, including an account given immediately after it occurred to a 999 operator who told me no cars were available
2. I have a video of the perpetrators, including one of them saying "he was in the middle of the lane", after I chased them down (I kept them in sight at all times)
3. I have photos of them and provided a description
4. I have provided you with the registrations of the cars involved (FP06VSS being the one holding the person who punched me, and their accomplices car being GY11TCV)

I'm not sure entirely why my account is seemingly doubted - I have no convictions, no history of making false allegations, I am an upstanding member of my community, and I have no history of dishonesty whatsoever. Your email states that the details of the crime will be shared with the neighbourhood policing team, and yet no one has requested that I provide them with the photo or video evidence - I don't think it's too much of a leap to suspect that there is a reasonable chance that the people that did this may have appeared on neighbourhood policing teams radar before.

Whilst I am thankfully uninjured, other than being a bit shaken up, the next person that they do this to could experience fatal or life changing consequences.

Therefore please can you provide me with the reasoning for the decision not to investigate this crime, so that I can include this in my complaint to the PCC.

I have taken the liberty of copying in my MP and the PCC for Hampshire.

Regards

Excellent work Ewan.

Some what surprisingly - my MP just phoned me off the back of that agreeing completely (I included my number and address in the email). He's going to email the PCC as well!

Hopefully i've at least spoiled someones day at Fleet Police Station.

That's a fantastically written letter Ewan.
Well Done!

Good work!

Can you name your MP?

Jonathan Lord is my MP.

Evidently I've made someone twitch at Hampshire Constabulary as they've just emailed me to say a mistake has been made.

I have reviewed the contents of the report and the email below, based on the email below and the fact there is video and photos of the offenders, my belief is this matter should be screened in by Contact Management for consideration of a formal investigation. I believe the decision made at the original call to file the incident was not in line with the force’s policy on such incidents.

I will provide feedback to the line manager of the officer who dealt with the call below.

This matter will be passed to our Triage Team to make a full assessment and to allocate to an investigating unit if it meets the threshold for a formal investigation.

Isn't that odd eh
There's a chance that the young gentlemen have got trackers on their cars to reduce their insurance.
That may give a fix on the cars location.
Also I bet they will gob off on fb as well.