abstractform20

wow. simply wow.

#!

BykOfALesserGod

I would step off the bike first before using the phone.
He could've casted doubt on the fatty's driver licensing process.

HigherGround

Sorry, someone already posted this.

kalliergo 

Yeah. Most important cycling lesson is early in the video: don't pass on the right.

From there on, everyone is an idiot.

Chris516

At first, I would agree that it wasn't smart to pass on the right. But considering the driver's menacing behavior, I think the would have been left-hooked by the driver. In addition to the behavior the driver was already displaying.

kalliergo 

Yeah, he probably would have left-hooked him; the folks in the van wanted trouble. In this case, staying behind was the right thing to do. But passing on the right, between moving traffic and parked vehicles. . . pretty much always asking for trouble, unless there's lots of room and the traffic cannot turn right.

SeanBlader

About 10 seconds before he tapped the car I realized the driver was specifically trying to block/crush him. I'd have put a foot down and waited for the driver to continue. At that point I'm evaluating the contents of the van, if it was a contentious scene like 4 gang members in the car (which it was), then when he didn't go within about 30 seconds, I'd have turned around and gone down a different street. Realistically though I shouldn't have to go to the trouble, but me vs. gang, not a good idea.

Although if the driver got out, at that point, I'd have been on the phone with 911. "I'm about to be kidnapped by a group of bearded guys in a van." That brings the anti-terrorist response team out.

On the other hand, if I caught one of those punks harassing a female cyclist, I'd seriously consider laying them out right there.

agent pombero

diphthong

the driver of the van displayed menacing behavior not once, but several times. the driver clearly had bad intent towards the cyclist the first time.
with situations like this, i've found it's easier to just pull off the road and let the jerk(s) go by. that situation could have escalated into something much worse.
and yah...once you come across a jerk that's pinning/cutting you off, they'll do it again until they've made their point-which likely ends up with a cyclist/bike
being injured/broken. kudos to the guy in the blue suv that came to the cyclist's defense. clutch.

Chris516

I hope the guy turned the video into the police.......wait a minute, the NYPD doesn't exactly have a stellar record, when it comes to cyclists'. I still hope he turned it in.

Chris516

DX-MAN

Yep, just stop and let the a-holes go.... Self-important tools who think their opinions are law. Either let them go on their way or prepare to get violent.

turbo1889

Also, the cyclist smacking the vehicle and saying "get out of the way" along with trying to squeeze by on the right was not a wise thing to do considering he was recording the incident. If he had not done those things it would put him in a much better position for legal action later. You want to at the very least appear to be an innocent victim just trying to go about your business in peace and not be part of the escalation process, at least when your not standing on your own ground and in a public place (supposed to be neutral territory) and especially if you are running a camera which is recording your actions as well. Don't get me wrong I believe in self defense when necessary up to and including the ultimate use of force if necessary but when it comes to @%$^#@$@ they don't need any help from you in escalating the situation and can take care of that all by themselves. Save your move for the last move. Don't get in a fights, only finish fights other people start and only if you can finish them and wait to make your move until you can make only one or two moves that finish the fight. Don't make tit for tat escalation moves.

Not saying the guy(s) in the mini-van weren't the primary aggressor and shouldn't have been dealt with fiercely by the long arm of the law in a fair and just world. Rather I’m making comment on how the cyclist could have dealt with the situation better. I would just have stayed behind him after he passed and not put myself in harms way by trying to squeeze past on the right. If the lane is too narrow to safely share and I'm ridding "in the middle of the road" in the first place to try to keep cars from trying to squeeze past me with oncoming traffic making an unsafe pass then it is also too narrow for me to try to pass a car in the same lane on either side and I could only safely pass by a full lane change which I'm not above doing and have done but probably would not do in this situation. I would prefer to have this vicious criminal in front of me where I could keep an eye on him and I'm at his back rather then the other way around. But then you are talking to a guy who still always chooses a table at a restaurant in the corner or where he can have his back to at least one wall if possible and checks his six no less then every three seconds or so when moving even when just walking around shopping in a grocery store ~ some old habits die hard.

Essex

I see yellow license plates + white ones? Where was this thing filmed?

That said - I wouldn't be too surprised if it was filmed in parts of Williamsburg / Brooklyn NY. Things like this happen all to frequently in NYC and when you mix stupid in there you get stuff like this all the time. I can easily say that I see crazy stuff like this 2-3x a week when I travel in NYC.

FBinNY 

The driver was clearly harassing the cyclist, and you can hear the horn before the first time he cut him off. That said, you never know how road rage can play out, so the cyclists best option would have been to pull over and let this a-hole go on. (Same thing I do in a car if there's a crazy around). Otherwise, if he had a cell phone he could have called 911 early on.

There are more crazy people outside than inside, so the best course of action is to defuse situations rather than let them escalate the way this one did. BTW- had he stopped after the third pull over and turned off he might have been able to report the incident, and maybe gotten some action.

spare_wheel

take a fall when they restrain you and then sue them in civil court for back and neck injuries.

Angio Graham

I think it was Iseal.

sudo bike

Good thing that driver stopped that crazy cyclist... he might have impeded traffic or something.

FBinNY 

The license plates, scenery, accents and other clues point to Brooklyn, NY. Probably Williamsburg or close to there. If you really care, you could note some landmarks then use google earth images to try to pin it down.

Chris516

lol

Essex

It's definitely not Iseal (Israel), or Williamsburg. I went through the video again and the high % of yellow plates and the level of cleanliness on the streets doesn't indicate NYC. I think it's a Hassidic area in Pittsburgh/Philadelphia, or other.

Essex

He was doing a traffic Mitzvah.

FBinNY 

Guess again. It's on Wallabout Street in Williamsburg, just past the corner of Bedford. I got curious, so I noted the two businesses whose signs I could read and did a google maps search.

Essex

Good on you.

I-Like-To-Bike

Are you recommending that someone pull a con job in order to get money under false pretenses?

Does riding a bicycle give anyone the license to be a lying thief scumbag?