Terrifying moment a furious cyclist in green lycra repeatedly reaches into the window of a woman’s car as she accuses him of hitting her
- A mother has shared footage of her allegedly being assaulted by a male cyclist
- Monique was in her car when she was approached by the man in Sydney’s north
- The video shows him accusing her of pulling in front of him
- Monique has handed the clip to police, who say they can’t act without his ID
- The incident has sparked calls for cyclists to require registration to be on roads
A single mother has recalled her terror after she was allegedly hit by a cyclist during a road rage incident in Sydney’s north.
Monique was driving along Pittwater Road when she was approached by a furious male cyclist who accused her of cutting him off in traffic.
Concerned for her safety, the mother pulled out her phone to film the confrontation as he opened her driver’s side door and began yelling at her.
‘You hit me,’ Monique says in the footage.
‘You f***ing c***,’ the man seethes as he leans into her car and appears to repeatedly swat towards her face.
A mother has shared footage of a furious cyclist reaching through her car door in a road rage incident
‘Don’t hit me!’ she screams.
‘You’ve just hit me twice!
The unidentified man, who was wearing a green lycra shirt reading ‘Tour of Ireland’, then turned around and rode away from the scene.
‘The day after it happened, I just fell apart,’ Monique told 7News.
‘I was shaking. I couldn’t drive. It wasn’t safe to drive.’
Monique has passed the footage on to police, but has been told there is nothing they can do without the cyclist’s identification.
The incident has reignited calls for cyclists to require registration to be on NSW Roads.
‘There’s nothing you can do because there is no registration plate, there is no identification – there is nothing,’ lawyer Sam Macedone said.
Debate on whether cyclists should require a licence has remained a contentious topic in NSW over the past few years.
In May, cries for 4WD drivers to be licensed due to a soaring number of tourists hiring out vehicles becoming bogged sparked calls online for bike riders to require permits, with Aussies claiming cyclists posed a greater risk.
Monique (pictured) was driving along Pittwater Road when she was approached by a furious male cyclist who accused her of cutting him off in traffic
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the time, Peter McLean, CEO of Bicycle NSW, the state’s peak advocacy body for cyclists, said the debate is complex as it poses questions about whether the licence should apply to the rider or the bike, or both.
He said while his association consults with the government about such measures, they believe increasing safety for bike users and motorists is a matter of education.
‘We are also trying we have more people on roads and that it is accessible and affordable for everyone,’ he said.
‘So although we definitely collaborate [with the government], we want more education about safety for cyclists and users.’
Mr McLean said the majority of cyclists also have drivers licences and are aware of road and bike rules.
Monique was driving along Pittwater Road (pictured) in Sydney’s north when the man approached her car
‘Bicycles need to be considerate of drivers, and drivers need to be considerate that cyclists take up less space on roads.
‘Education and awareness needs to be a fundamental process to change the culture in Australia and we need to be more considerate of everyone else using roads.’
In 2014, NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay pushed for a cycling licence to be introduced to combat road deaths after a rise in horror accidents.
The proposal did not garner support from advocates and never eventuated, with Mr Gay instead upping fines for cyclists caught breaching road rules from March 2016.
Fines for cyclists in NSW were magnified to match drivers, taking the penalty for not wearing a helmet to $330; running a red light to $439; riding negligently, furiously or recklessly to $439; and failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing to $439.
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