Assault on cycle home route 23

[cazzyr]

I was cycling home to ED tonight on a popular cycle route (23) at 6.30 pm. I was passing Michael Faraday primary school on Portland Street. A young boy was standing by the side of the road (roughly 12 years) as I passed he threw a plastic beaker of liquid at my face. The contents were warm and obviously urine from the taste of it :( He immediately ran off. Luckily a male cyclist stopped to assist and gave me some water. I am fine but angry and dirty and a bit shaken. I have contacted police. Cyclists please be aware and vigilant.

[Robert Poste's Child]

Cazzyr, that's appalling. How are you feeling now? It must have been very distressing; let's hope they catch him. Hope you're OK.

[mynamehere]

I add to the good wishes of everyone else. I cycled exactly there all this week.

[lavender27]

A horrid little bastard. I hope you are alright cazzyr. It's quite dark at that time now, are 12 years old supposed to be out at that time in the dark? He was obviously a delinquent.

[katanita]

Ugh, how extremely unpleasant. If it's at all reassuring I've cycled that way many hundreds of times at all times of the day and night over the last 7 years and never experienced any issues. So hopefully it was a one off and the little twit gets caught and severely told off.

[cazzyr]

Can I ask why this thread has been 'lounged' - "the place to relax and chat"? I endured a serious and horrible assault and it is important other people know about what is happening on a cycle commute between ED and central London.

The police came around this am and have asked if the kind guy who stopped and helped could contact them as a witness. Apparently there have been other similar assaults.

[katanita]

@cazzyr the lounging will merely be about location (it didn't take place in East Dulwich), rather than being a comment on the severity of what happened, I'm sure. The tagline for the lounge is misleading in that respect.

That's worrying to hear about similar assaults, does it sound like the same person doing them?

[cazzyr]

Ah ok. Thanks for clarification katanita. Police unsure if it same person but several incidents reported in that area.

[dirac]

That's awful, and totally shocking. I'm so sorry to hear that is happened to you. Besides being spat on a couple of times, I've had nothing like this while cycling. Hopefully they catch the person and put a stop to it.

[JohnL]

A curse on him and his (it works).

(only as much as he gets urine all over him mind)

[malumbu]

OK a reality check. If you go through life with this being your worst attack then you have done OK. If the worst thing that that kid does in his life is chuck piss then society has done OK.

I wont list the personal threats that I have had cycling but fortunately the list is short. Yesterday a taxi driver decided to drive close to me in the rain to teach me a lesson for daring not to use a (pointless) segregated cycle lane on the elephant roundabout. Yet only one in thousands of cabbies is like that. Spookily he had a cartoon of a cabbie urinating on an uber driver in his back window

That doesn't diminish that you were assaulted and the effect that it has had on you. Even if the police do not act this time it is intelligence and if a regular thing they will do something. I'd also contact the school. The kid will be bragging and someone may well shop him. Better that they intervene at this age rather than let the kid go seriously off the rails. They may even have a suspicion who it is. (assuming that he may go to the school)

[Jeremy]

malumbu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If the worst thing that that kid does in his life is chuck piss then society has done OK.

I find this a little hard to swallow. A child of barely secondary school age throwing piss at strangers.. society has done OK?

[alice]

as did cazzr

[Robert Poste's Child]

Jeremy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> malumbu Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > If the worst thing that that kid does in his

> life is chuck piss then society has done OK.

>

> I find this a little hard to swallow. A child of

> barely secondary school age throwing piss at

> strangers.. society has done OK?

Completely. If a 12yo is (by the sound of it) regularly throwing cups of urine into the faces of cyclists travelling in the dark there's something wrong with him that needs sorting out before it escalates into something even nastier.

[rendelharris]

I've got a lists of threats/actual violence from cycling in London as long as your arm, malumbu, including having all manner of substances - coffee, soup, beer, spit (though fortunately no urine), takeaway food etc - thrown at me, a passenger waving a machete from the back window, a passenger trying to drag me off by the strap of my bag in the middle of the Elephant gyratory etc etc...but they were all with drivers who felt I'd done something wrong or whom I'd, ahem, admonished. The worrying aspect of cazzr's horrible experience is a) that the victim was chosen at random and b) there seems to be a good deal of preplanning, it's not just some little whatsit deciding to throw their drink can on impulse. If not apprehended I wouldn't be in the least surprised if he gets bored and escalates to pushing cyclists off, throwing solid objects etc. I've been wondering whether to get a GoPro or similar and held off thus far as I don't like the perceived message it sends - "I'm looking out for trouble" - but it certainly would have been handy in this instance.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Sorry to hear about this - horrible.

[Ms Blueberry]

Stay strong cazzyr. Upon first reading, my immediate thought was that assault was a gang initiation.

[mynamehere]

I agree that people using a bicycle are considered to be targets for abuse from simply overtaking and then cutting sharp left across their path to death with no consequences. And of course this thread subject. I agree it might have been a sick initiation

[Robert Poste's Child]

Abusive and intimidating behaviour towards cyclists is a daily occurrence now, to the point where you wonder if it needs classifying with other abuse based on prejudice. Often the only provocation is the fact you're in front of them, or even just sharing the road.

I had two very close together on Saturday between home and Brixton. In the second one I did an emergency stop to avoid a BMW reversing fast out of a side road around a large parked van, both of which made me think the driver hadn't seen me. My back wheel flipped up and round to the side but I managed to stay on. He then stopped and I hung back for a moment to let him go first (hard to read his intentions as all the windows I could see had smoked glass). I didn't say or do anything, literally just waited a moment. As he didn't move I started off again, and he then drove close alongside me with his window down shouting at me for having stopped. In the end I asked him why he needed to intimidate a middle-aged woman on a bike, which just made him angrier. I was afraid he was going to either ram me or get out and attack me. I ended up shaking and in tears at the police station asking what I can do as it seems to happen more and more often. Got a form to report him but still in two minds. Guy on the desk recommended getting a camera. He also said, which I think is a good point, that learner drivers should be taught about the point of view of motorbikes and cycles so they can read the road properly. Worth a petition I think.

[uncleglen]

the worst thing my growing boys have done is take a piss down an alley after the pub and got caught by a cop. So I've done better than OK- yes?

Spitting at someone is classified as battery...and is illegal- I would imagine sharing any of your bodily fluids with another without their consent is also illegal.

[rendelharris]

uncleglen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Spitting at someone is classified as battery...and

> is illegal- I would imagine sharing any of your

> bodily fluids with another without their consent

> is also illegal.

Even throwing tap water at someone can be classed as battery, so urine very definitely so. If it could be shown that the intent was to make a cyclist fall off then the charges could be raised to attempted GBH, I'd imagine.

[titch juicy]

malumbu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> OK a reality check. If you go through life with

> this being your worst attack then you have done

> OK. If the worst thing that that kid does in his

> life is chuck piss then society has done OK.

>

> I wont list the personal threats that I have had

> cycling but fortunately the list is short.

> Yesterday a taxi driver decided to drive close to

> me in the rain to teach me a lesson for daring not

> to use a (pointless) segregated cycle lane on the

> elephant roundabout. Yet only one in thousands of

> cabbies is like that. Spookily he had a cartoon

> of a cabbie urinating on an uber driver in his

> back window

>

> That doesn't diminish that you were assaulted and

> the effect that it has had on you. Even if the

> police do not act this time it is intelligence and

> if a regular thing they will do something. I'd

> also contact the school. The kid will be bragging

> and someone may well shop him. Better that they

> intervene at this age rather than let the kid go

> seriously off the rails. They may even have a

> suspicion who it is. (assuming that he may go to

> the school)

That cycle lane at E&C is far from pointless. It's a damned sight safer than the roundabout.

Cyclists spend so much time bleating and hollering about getting segregated cycle lanes, the government spends a fortune providing them, then cyclists don't use them. I see it every day. It drives me mad and i'm a commuting cyclist, goodness knows how much it must wind other road users up.

Not using it is pure arrogance. And every time a cyclist decides to use the road instead of the segregated lane it sets the cycling agenda back a bit.

[titch juicy]

rendelharris Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I've got a lists of threats/actual violence from

> cycling in London as long as your arm, malumbu,

> including having all manner of substances -

> coffee, soup, beer, spit (though fortunately no

> urine), takeaway food etc - thrown at me, a

> passenger waving a machete from the back window, a

> passenger trying to drag me off by the strap of my

> bag in the middle of the Elephant gyratory etc

> etc...but they were all with drivers who felt I'd

> done something wrong or whom I'd, ahem,

> admonished. The worrying aspect of cazzr's

> horrible experience is a) that the victim was

> chosen at random and b) there seems to be a good

> deal of preplanning, it's not just some little

> whatsit deciding to throw their drink can on

> impulse. If not apprehended I wouldn't be in the

> least surprised if he gets bored and escalates to

> pushing cyclists off, throwing solid objects etc.

> I've been wondering whether to get a GoPro or

> similar and held off thus far as I don't like the

> perceived message it sends - "I'm looking out for

> trouble" - but it certainly would have been handy

> in this instance.

What on earth are you doing on your bike to elicit these responses? I've been commute cycling for 8 years now and never had a single incident or threat.

[binkylilyput]

titch juicy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> malumbu Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > OK a reality check. If you go through life

> with

> > this being your worst attack then you have done

> > OK. If the worst thing that that kid does in

> his

> > life is chuck piss then society has done OK.

> >

> > I wont list the personal threats that I have

> had

> > cycling but fortunately the list is short.

> > Yesterday a taxi driver decided to drive close

> to

> > me in the rain to teach me a lesson for daring

> not

> > to use a (pointless) segregated cycle lane on

> the

> > elephant roundabout. Yet only one in thousands

> of

> > cabbies is like that. Spookily he had a

> cartoon

> > of a cabbie urinating on an uber driver in his

> > back window

> >

> > That doesn't diminish that you were assaulted

> and

> > the effect that it has had on you. Even if the

> > police do not act this time it is intelligence

> and

> > if a regular thing they will do something. I'd

> > also contact the school. The kid will be

> bragging

> > and someone may well shop him. Better that

> they

> > intervene at this age rather than let the kid

> go

> > seriously off the rails. They may even have a

> > suspicion who it is. (assuming that he may go

> to

> > the school)

>

> That cycle lane at E&C is far from pointless. It's

> a damned sight safer than the roundabout.

>

> Cyclists spend so much time bleating and hollering

> about getting segregated cycle lanes, the

> government spends a fortune providing them, then

> cyclists don't use them. I see it every day. It

> drives me mad and i'm a commuting cyclist,

> goodness knows how much it must wind other road

> users up.

>

> Not using it is pure arrogance. And every time a

> cyclist decides to use the road instead of the

> segregated lane it sets the cycling agenda back a

> bit.

Totally agree- arrogant cyclists who don't use cycle lanes and skip red lights are doing the cycling agenda harm and other cyclists are annoyed by you and find you dangerous as well as drivers

As for minimising the seriousness of a kid throwing p*ss in someone's face, well...........

[rendelharris]

titch juicy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> What on earth are you doing on your bike to elicit

> these responses? I've been commute cycling for 8

> years now and never had a single incident or

> threat.

Well, I've been riding in London for more than thirty years and had plenty...interesting that you assume I must be doing something wrong. As you ask, let's see...the passenger who tried to pull me off the bike at E&C was in a white van that got annoyed as my slowing down and stopping when a traffic light turned amber prevented the driver running it on red...the machete waver was a passenger in a car which I shouted at as it jumped through a red light and nearly hit me...the last person who threw liquid at me was a van driver who shouted I should "ride in the f@cking gutter!" when he was held up for a few yards when I moved out from the kerb (after checking and signalling) to avoid broken glass...the person who spat at me - this was a really weird one - was someone to whom I politely said at the traffic lights, "Just so you know mate, your rear right brake light's out, better get it fixed or you could get a ticket," a hundred yards further on he spat at me as he passed...

I'm not perfect by any means but I am very experienced and very careful: I do a lot of miles (150+ most weeks) so maybe I just encounter more nutters.

As for cycle lanes, personally I use them myself at every opportunity but there's no legal requirement to do so and certainly drivers don't have a right to start castigating cyclists using the road, they have just as much right to be there as on a road without cycle lanes.

ETA Why don't you ask RPC and the OP above "what on earth have you been doing on your bike to elicit such responses"? Just because something's outside your experience doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and I would imagine you're in a lucky minority of people who haven't experienced similar incidents.