Including an alleycat race in a prime-time TV programme talking about general safety issues like this – even one called “road wars” – is a diversion and can misrepresent how most cyclists behave. Ian Austin MP seems to agree.

While the helmetcam stuff may seem OTT some of it is not that different from what I’ve experienced (thankfully only a few times). I’m more interested in the reaction from the AA’s president and organisations like RoadPeace and CTC and whether something positive emerges from it.

a) The BikeBiz review was made without seeing it

b) There are few programmes that are adequately described by the “TV Guide” description.

There are indeed quite a few people who’ve watched it and were incensed it didn’t cover every possible cycling issue in detail and/or that it showed footage from a very reckless messenger race through London (which was quite real). However it seems at least a few people thought the programme was balanced and reasonably thought-provoking.

Even if you dislike the more sensational helmet-camed “cyclist and driver shouting at each other” incidents (which I thought was still covered in a more balanced way than I thought it was going to be), the mother’s story was incredibly moving, and it took up a good portion of the programme.

It was worth watching for her story, and (in my opinion) that her story was presented on prime-time to the nation made any other flaws in the programme forgiveable.

One of the things that did seem notable was how riled some car drivers get at the idea of you touching their car. This is difficult because sometimes it’s the only way to get someone’s attention before they squash you.

Even the policeman in the film seemed to side a bit with a taxi-driver in order to diffuse the situation and get the confrontation over with. He suggested that instead the cyclist could use “a bell or a whistle”. The cyclist was understandably taken aback – “no one’s ever told me to wear a whistle!”. The suggestion was ridiculous, especially coming from a cycling policeman who should know better. We didn’t see him advising the driver to always give cyclists room. It didn’t fill me with confidence in the police.

And there I go with the indignation, getting sucked in again!

My philosophy is that if I expect other road users to do just what I don’t want them to do, I won’t be disappointed.

I followed your 2008 link which lamented the retiring of Dave Moulton’s blog, though happily it has returned. Not sure if you knew, as I can’t see it listed on your other cycling blog links.

@cbrndc – the choice whether to report an incident is yours, but bear in mind two things: firstly, if you don’t report this aggressive bully he may well injure or kill someone, possibly deliberately. Secondly, if this behaviour occurred in a different context (in a shopping precinct, outside a pub) you can be sure people would not think it inappropriate to contact the police. That he threatened onlookers as well as yourself proves he is a menace. Name and shame.

You may well intend it to go no further but you cannot count on the other person not taking it further and it can very quickly get out of hand. I used to do this and felt ok about it but then . . . I was close passed just before a set of traffic lights with the lights at green so I just tapped on the rear window. The driver then turned left in front of me so thats 2 goes at injuring me in less that 3 seconds. As I passed through the junction I noticed he had stopped and I just continued, riding uphill . The driver must had done a U turn because he soon passed and forced me into the kerb and got out. He was violent and abusive but, thankfully, it never came to blows, saved in part by pointing out that I was recording on a helmet cam; but it could have been a lot worse. Eventually after a long exchange and with three witnesses looking on I rode off and continued uphill. That unfortunately put the driver behind me once more so was not a good situation to be in. Later I found out that he had stopped to give abuse to one of those witnesses, another cyclist who had ridden past but had stopped to keep an eye on what was happening (he must think all cyclists know each other).

I should have reported the driver to the police but thought better of it. I still have the video clip and intended to put it on a video site and maybe I will one day but the language used by the driver is not for general release.

So IMHO touching the car is not really an option and if the police are involved I think it would look as though you escalated the situation by provoking the driver.

I cannot personally recommend it.

Full details of the incident can be provided if requested but it still upsets me to think about it.