• interesting read http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/insurance-website-inflames-motorist-vs-cyclist-debate-32484

    just in case no one reads the link this is the sole response posted there:

    warning: it makes for grim reading

                **[BikingBernie](http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=484206)**
    

    Doubtless some cyclists do get angry when careless, irresponsible and aggressive motorists put their lives at risk. However, when it comes to so-called 'road rage' it is motorists who are overwhelmingly the perpetrators and cyclists the victims. What's more the courts are notoriously lenient when it come sot delaying with motorists who attack or deliberately run down cyclists. Consider the case a few years back of Carl Baxter, who deliberately drove over a cyclist called Stephen Kirwin and his six-year-old daughter, Emily, who was in a trailer. The cyclist was seriously injured, whilst the girl was in coma for six days and left with brain damage. The driver was sentenced to a paltry 2 years (i.e. less than 12 months) and astonishingly given only a 2 year driving ban.

    In another case another motorist called Andrew Hart came up behind a 62-year-old cyclist called Alan Scott whilst driving his'4x4' down a narrow lane. The cyclist pulled over and stopped at the side of the road to let the driver past. The drive then stopped, went back to the cyclist and attacked him for 'getting in his way', leaving him with a broken shoulder. This injury caused a blood clot and as a consequence the cyclist died a few days later. Another driver who witnessed the attack said that the cyclist was 'slightly built' and had done nothing to provoke the attack. Hart was found guilty of manslaughter but incredibly the judge gave Hart only a 9 month suspended sentence. That is, effectively no penalty at all.

    Unfortunately, such cases are far from exceptional. They also stand in stark contrast to the cases one reads about where cyclists have been violently arrested by the police after shouting at drivers who have put their lives at risk.

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