A cyclist has appealed for information after a car passenger threw an egg at him, hitting him in the back, in an alleged “unprovoked assault” last week – which he says could have had “far worse consequences” if a less experienced cyclist had been targeted.
The incident, captured on the cyclist’s camera, attached to a neck strap, took place on Monday 16 June, at around 2.30pm on Ditton Lane, in the north-east of Cambridge, as the driver of a Land Rover Freelander passed the rider on the busy road heading into the city centre.
In the video, as the car passes, a passenger can be seen throwing an egg in the direction of the cyclist, the egg first striking him on the back before falling to the road and smashing.
The cyclist, who while wishing to remain anonymous goes by the username ‘al_eye_am’ or ‘Thank me for cycling’ on Twitter/X, can be heard in the video saying, “He threw something at me”.
And speaking to road.cc, the rider admitted that he “had no idea what had been thrown until I returned home and viewed the video”.
“I was mildly destabilised, but had the egg hit me on the back of the head, or had they hit a less skilled or experienced cyclist, then the assault could have had far worse consequences,” he says.
“Next time it might be someone else, and they might not stay upright, and end up under the car’s wheels.”
He continued: “I don’t suppose I was the only target for the day. It was entirely unprovoked, and I had not seen or interacted with the vehicle or occupants beforehand.”
Cyclist hit with egg by car passenger (credit: @al_eye_am on Twitter/X)
Following the egg-throwing incident, the cyclist then caught up with the vehicle at a set of traffic lights, as its driver and passengers stare at him.
The cyclist then tells the car’s occupants: “Good move, you’re on a camera – well done”, prompting the egg-throwing passenger to wind down his window and reply, “What?” before the motorist drives off.
“I doubt that anyone carries one ‘fresh’ egg, more like six, 12, or even 48, depending on the source,” the cyclist says. “I hope my verbal interaction gave the offender pause for thought, and he did not throw any more as the car moved into the city.”
The cyclist then reported the incident to Cambridgeshire Constabulary, who told road.cc that they have attempted to identify the person who threw the egg, though no arrests have yet been made.
“The police have ‘filed’ the case pending identification of the driver, but how aggressive their search will be, I can’t say,” the cyclist continues.
“I verbally suggested to the police that they seek to identify the driver, as there is, in my opinion, a responsibility on the driver’s shoulders to prevent his passengers misbehaving, and they could theoretically ascertain the name of the offender,” he says.
“You will also see in the video what appears to be an unrestrained child standing in the rear passenger footwell.”
Cyclist hit with egg by car passenger (credit: @al_eye_am on Twitter/X)
However, as noted by the rider, the vehicle’s tax expired on 6 May, calling into question the up-to-date nature of the car’s registration, and “whether the DVLA has been kept informed about its ownership” – making the police’s task tracking down the culprit somewhat trickier, he says.
“The digital evidence team of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire. and Hertfordshire police, to whom I regularly submit journey camera footage of handheld phone usage and other offences, are very good, and usually advise that they will take ‘positive action’ against a road user I have reported,” he adds.
“The quality of cameras available has much to do with this – with the advent of 360° journey cameras there are few hiding places for offending drivers – and so the footage obtained is routinely clear and indisputable.”
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Not that some social media users found this latest egg-related incident clear and indisputable, however.
An edited version of the above video, posted on X this week by the cyclist, has been viewed over 20,000 times, attracting dozens of comments.
And while many were shocked by the passenger’s actions, with one user describing him as a “nasty idiot” and “totally out of order”, others were scathingly critical of the cyclist’s decision to report the matter to the police, along with – bizarrely – his positioning on the road when the alleged assault took place.
“Surely the police have much more pressing issues than an egg being thrown,” wrote Ollie. “They’d be absolutely drowning in calls on Halloween if this is what they have to deal with.”
“My bad,” the cyclist replied. “If the police are reading this, they can ignore all reports of assault, and if an egg hits a moving cyclist on the back of the head and knocks him or her into traffic on the next occasion, they can say ‘That’s okay, as Ollie says so’.”
“This was a regular past time as kids in the 70s! We would get drop them from a pedestrian bridge! Now it’s a police matter?” added Paul, prompting the rider to respond: “Assault always was”.
Cyclist hit with egg by car passenger (credit: @al_eye_am on Twitter/X)
“Like the non-incident close passes cyclists whinge about, nothing happened here either,” said another.
“Looks like you attract attention on purpose by cycling in the middle of the road like a twat.”
The cyclist again responded by showing the Twitter user – who later reverted to claiming he was riding in the middle of the ‘lane’ – a still from his video, showing him clearly riding close to the kerb and hedge.
“Then silence!” the cyclist told road.cc.
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Reflecting on his decision to report the incident to the police, despite the criticism of some pro-motoring accounts on Twitter, he said: “I do not want this happening to another cyclist or pedestrian, especially without consequences.”
When approached for comment by road.cc, a spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said that anyone with information related to the identity of the egg-throwing passenger should contact the police through its website, using reference 35/44509/25, or by calling 101.
“We were contacted on 16 June with reports a man was struck with an egg whilst cycling on Ditton Lane, Cambridge,” the spokesperson said.
“The egg was thrown by a passenger of a Land Rover Freelander at about 2.30pm. Attempts have been made to identify the person who throw the egg, but no arrests have been made.”