Go on, run me over!
‘Idiot’ cyclist’s bizarre rant leaves cabbie’s fare in tears
SCREAMING abuse, this is the moment a road rage cyclist leapt on the bonnet of a taxi and ripped off a windscreen wiper.
The bizarre display, in which the young man goaded the cabbie to ‘run him over’, was captured on the vehicle’s dashcam.
Taxi driver Justin Duffy, a married father of one, said he had never seen such a display of anger.
But he was most concerned with reassuring his sobbing passenger.
Mr Duffy, 46, said he thought the cyclist planned to ‘punch his way through the window’ and attack him.
Police are investigating the incident in Blackpool at 7.35am on Bank Holiday Monday. The drama started when the cyclist – who seemed to be taking photos of the traffic – fell off his bike after pedalling past the taxi.
He picked himself up and began shouting at Mr Duffy, who is originally from London. Mr Duffy can be heard on the video telling his female passenger: ‘He’s an idiot, flipping hellfire. He’s off his nut.’ As the cyclist moves round towards the driver’s door, Mr Duffy manages to accelerate away.
But he is confronted again moments later after the cyclist rides down a side street and catches up, before flinging his bike to the ground.
He can be heard yelling at Mr Duffy: ‘Come on, where you going? Where are you going? You’re running me over mate. Come on, what are you doing?’
He then leaps on the bonnet and rips off a wiper.
Mr Duffy, who works for private hire firm Premier Taxis, can be heard further reassuring his passenger, saying: ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s okay, it’s okay. The guy’s crazy – it’s all right, don’t worry, the guy’s nuts. Are you okay? The guy’s crazy.’
The passenger says she’s sorry the car has been damaged, but Mr Duffy replies: ‘Don’t worry about that, I’ve still got one good one [windscreen wiper].’ The taxi then moves away but is tracked down by the cyclist for a third time. Mr Duffy finally gets away by reversing and driving down a different road.
Describing what happened, he said yesterday: ‘[The cyclist] was very deranged. His eyes didn’t seem to be focusing very well. He was very aggressive and shouted abuse at us. I didn’t get out to confront him because he could have been carrying needles or knives, you just don’t know. My priority is keeping my passengers safe.’
Mr Duffy, who was on his first pick-up of the day, added: ‘When
‘Nine out of ten on the crazy scale’
he lunged on the bonnet I was worried he would punch his way through the windscreen when he reached forward, but he grabbed the wiper instead.
‘While this was going on I was trying to calm the passenger down who was crying in the back.
‘He bent the wiper and snapped it off. Off camera, he threw it on the floor and then was making his way to the driver’s side door.
‘At that point, I could shoot off as he was out of my way. I looked in my mirror and saw him screaming at the van behind me.’
Mr Duffy said: ‘You see all kinds of things being a cabbie – but this was nine out of ten on the crazy scale.’ John Cutler, managing director of Premier Taxis, said: ‘The footage is unbelievable, it’s so shocking. I can only praise our driver for his cool reactions and for keeping the passenger calm.’
Lancashire Police said last night it was investigating.