Happened yesterday but it’s really upset me and been playing on my mind.
I was waiting at a t junction behind 1 car, waiting to pull out onto a main road. The main road has a footpath (not cycle path) running along it, which crosses the side road I was on. The road was busy and the car in front of me took probably a minute to pull out. I stopped well back with plenty of room between my car and the car in front.
As I was sitting there waiting a cyclist came belting up the footpath to my right and slammed on his brakes (so didn’t cross the side road). He then sat back on his bike looking angry and rolling his eyes (at me I think) but didn’t attempt to cross the side road- he could have gone in front or behind me to cross.
Eventually the car in front of me pulled out but as I pulled off, the cyclist went behind my car and thumped it really hard, making me stop again. I could see him hitting my car and swearing at me in my rear view mirror before cycling off.
By this point I was quite shaken but pulled off and joined the main road, turning left so going in the same direction of the cyclist (still on the footpath). As I drove on, traffic was slow and he pulled along side me again and was trying to hit my car, shouting and swearing at me. Eventually, traffic sped up and I pulled away from him and he gave me a ‘salute’ followed by the middle finger.
What did I do wrong? I consider myself an experience, competent driver but I have no idea what he took exception to. He could easily have crossed the road I was on, I wasn’t blocking him and he shouldn’t have been on the footpath anyway. His anger and the fact he was hitting my car really shook me.