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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Tom Barnes

Cyclist hits Mercedes with bike after driver goes straight on in left-turn-only lane

A row between a cyclist and a driver was caught on camera after a Mercedes van apparently used a left-turn-only lane to drive straight ahead.

The vehicle then appeared to cut the cyclist off, triggering an angry exchange between the two men which ended with the bike rider him picking up the frame and landing it on the bonnet of the chauffeur’s vehicle.

Dashcam footage of the incident shows the furious man shouting at the driver after he goes straight over a junction using a left turn-only lane in Borough, central London.

The cyclist looks behind him at the chauffeur making the manoeuvre and exchanges words with him once they have both reached the other side of the junction.

“You spend every morning looking at cars,” the driver tells the cyclist, who replies: “that is a left turn only for you” as he launches into a string of expletives. 

The driver then pulls over to the left, blocking the cyclist’s path.

From this point, the incident escalates, with the chauffeur getting out of his car to confront the man, who begins gesticulating angrily in his face.

The cyclist then picks his bike up and drops it into the bonnet of the car, causing what the driver claimed was £1,500 worth of damage.

“That’s criminal damage,” the chauffeur is heard to say, to which the cyclist replies: “good”, before riding away.

The Metropolitan Police said the incident, which took place on 27 September, was being investigated by officers.

“The victim informed police the incident happened when he had been travelling in his car,” a spokesperson for the force said. 

“He alleged that the cyclist deliberately collided with his vehicle and when he confronted him, pulling up alongside him near a curb, the cyclist abused him and assaulted him.”

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

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