Mother left shaken after shocking cyclist attack
A single mother has been left shaken after being confronted by an out of control cyclist in Sydney.
Monique was driving on Pittwater Road in Sydney’s northern beaches where she gave a cyclist plenty of room on the road and indicated when she was turning.
“I looked back ... just to check that he (the cyclist) hadn’t caught up, I was pretty sure she hadn’t but I wanted to double-check and then I consciously indicated because again I wanted it to be very clear to the cyclist that I was going to be turning,” Monique told 7News.
As she continued driving, she heard a loud yell, prompting her to stop her car.
“I just had this feeling that not everything was OK,” she said.
Monique saw the infuriated cyclist approach her car, which is when she decided to pull her phone out and record the ordeal.
The video shows the man repeatedly open her car door and try to hit her, while unleashing a tirade of profanity and abuse.
“Are you f***ing blind,” he can be heard saying.
In response, Monique can be heard asking the cyclist to stop hitting her.
“I’m calling the police, you can’t hit me,” she says.
“I was indicating, and I turned ... it was perfectly safe.”
After the ordeal, Monique said she was left “shaking”.
“I couldn’t drive. It wouldn’t have been safe to drive.”
The video has since been turned over to police as they try to identify the man to press charges.
Lawyer Sam Macedone told 7News the video showed there was “intimidation without any doubt” but said it will be hard for police to actually do anything about it.
“There’s really nothing you can do because there’s no registration plate, there’s no identification, there’s nothing,” he said.
Monique believes the incident should be a catalyst for debate on cyclists needing to be registered to ride on the road.
A spokesperson from the Australian Cycle Alliance condemned the man's actions, but said registration is not the answer.
They said bike registration is an "expensive exercise" which remains deeply unpopular within the cycling community.
“It would cost just as much to register a bike as it does to register a car in order to make it financially viable,” the spokesperson said.
“Do we start at four-year-olds on their balance bikes ... how do you manage when you have multiple bikes?
“The cost of the system would far outweigh the benefit of the system.”
Monique on the other hand said she believes cyclists should be registered if both cars and bikes are going to be sharing the roads.
“We need to share accountability for our actions,” she said.
Image credits: 7News