Brunswick, Coburg cycling: road rage hits riders on Sydney Rd
Distressing footage shows the frightening moment a cyclist begs an enraged motorist to stop stalking and harassing him on a Coburg street, yelling “you just tried to run me over”, as the driver hoons around the man with tyres screeching. WATCH
North West
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A terrified university student chased down and harassed by an angry driver says more needs to be done to take care of cyclists on the road.
But police say they haven’t seen an increase in the number of incidents between cyclists and drivers.
Oskar, who asked for his surname not to be used, was riding along Barrow St, Coburg on February 19 when a driver allegedly began driving dangerously around him.
“I went through this roundabout and this driver pulled up really fast behind me,” Oskar said.
“He immediately got mad that I was in his way in the roundabout. He swung around in front of me and ‘brake tested’ me.”
When the driver pulled over and started shouting abuse, Oskar began filming the incident on his phone.
The video shows a distressed Oskar repeatedly changing directions to escape a car which screeches into nearby driveways in an apparent attempt to cut him off.
“I was terrified. I did actually think he was going to run me over,” Oskar said.
Oskar, a Greens member, said drivers needed to remember their car could be an intimidating weapon.
The incident occurred just three days after another cyclist, Phil Smith, was hit on his bike on Blythe St in Brunswick.
Mr Smith claimed an angry driver was upset after Mr Smith’s bag rubbed against the side of his car and deliberately swerved into him and knocked him to the ground.
“I’ve been riding twenty years in Melbourne. It’s always pretty aggressive. There’s usually words said but I’ve never seen anything like that let alone experienced it myself,” he said.
Mr Smith said he’s now scared to take his children riding with him.
Brunswick state Greens MP Tim Read said protected bike lanes and safe passing laws were desperately needed.
“With more people on our roads, it’s more important than ever that we protect vulnerable road users,” he said.
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Brunswick Police Senior Sergeant Kate O’Neill said police treated incidents like these as assaults but added there had not been any increase in reporting of incidents between cyclists and drivers.
Sen-Sgt O’Neill encouraged cyclists to call triple-0 to report dangerous behaviour and said to collect registration details, talk to witnesses and take photos of the driver or car if safe to do so.