A city councillor who is also a dedicated cyclist has revealed how he was assaulted by a lorry driver who then deliberately drove over his bike.
Green city councillor Dick Wolff spoke out after saying last month that some drivers do deliberately set out to intimidate drivers by coming too close.
He is one of the latest cyclists to take part in a debate, backed by Oxford cycling campaign group Cylox, about how drivers and cyclists share road space.
One Oxford Mail reader, Julian LeBad, suggested that Mr Wolff, was “easily intimidated”.
Dick Wolff
He wrote: “Why are these Greenie leaders so easily intimidated on the road? I’m a commuter cyclists and I do not allow car drivers to intimidate me.
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“I hold my position on the road, as I’m entitled to do. If you don’t ride your bike defensively and assertively then you are massively increasing your chances of becoming an RTA statistic.”
Mr Wolff, who sometimes rides an electric bike, responded by insisting he was not easily intimidated when he was cycling on the roads and revealed details of an astonishing attack by a lorry driver he suffered many years ago.
Dr Alison Hill, chair of Cyclox
He said: “Believe me, I’m not easily intimidated on the road. I’ve cycled in 18 cities around the world, and 6 of those as a regular commuter - including one in India, where the rules of the road seem to be ‘the biggest has priority’ (unless it’s a cow!).
“But there’s not a lot you can do when a lorry driver who’s in a bad mood because he’s had a letter from the Child Support Agency decides to cut you up, jump out of his cab, haul you off your bike, smash your glasses on your face and then reverse his lorry over your bike.
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“I didn’t take it any further (he was identified) because the world doesn’t need another driver with a grudge against cyclists.
“But that was over 25 years ago, in Coventry, where even the bus drivers used to run you off the road. Oxford’s almost completely different (and Coventry’s probably changed since).
“I’ve had no such experiences here, but plenty of close shaves - there’s just not enough space on the roads.”
Another cyclist contributing to the debate is Jan Maulden, who rides her bike in Oxford.
She rides a dark green Phillips bike.
Jan Maulden
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Problems she has encountered include bad roads, and sometimes “boyracers’” coming up very fast behind on narrow bike lanes. She has had her bike stolen twice in London.
She added: “Once it happened outside my office and once outside my children’s school.
"Both times I found it abandoned round a lamppost.”
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