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@Velocio
I'm with Aidan. There's not really an excuse for the behaviour.
But then, I'm with Bill too. Everyone does something that they regret from time to time and being deported is disproportionate to the actions he took.
I'm not very good at giving leeway to excuse someone's behaviour, and I too dislike the image for it's gloryfication. However, I would not turn my back on another person in need and at risk of deportation, especially one who is a fellow cyclist.
I'll not buy a t-shirt, but if I see Bill or anyone around, or if there is a paypal address, then I'll give something to add to the fund. It's not saying that his actions are acceptable, it's saying that he doesn't deserve to be deported and have his life up-turned because of one moment of anger.
Oh, and the comment earlier about 8 hours or more of putting up with crap drivers. That's called professionalism. You don't carry the ill will or anger from one incident onto the next. The next driver isn't responsible for all that happened prior in the day. Cycling in London is a constant exercise in exerting calm and avoiding conflict. Implying that the accumulation of stress on the road justifies or excuses behaviour like this is just wrong.
And for the record, none of us know that story of the Merc driver. Can't we consider that he also might have been having a hard day. The poor sod is stuck in his shiny car and unable to move at more than 10mph. Surely that would be enough to drive you to desperation? No? Precisely... none of this is inexcusable, not even as retaliation. But people are people and we should be able to forgive everyone's moments of madness and instead focus on making their lives better. In the case of the Merc driver it means a new windscreen and not being in fear of cyclists, in the case of the cyclist it means not being deported and having the financial trauma and stress lifted.
It's not hard to be cool about such stuff is it?