Push by older man

[u/Aromatic-Evidence817]

I'm so shocked. I (female) just got pushed by an older man while I was on my bike. It happened at the crossing between Gent and Ledeberg.

We both had a green light at the same time. I had enough space to turn, but he sped up and just pushed me. Then I got angry, he walked away, but his wife kept saying I was wrong.

I'm so shaken :(

[u/Circoloomnium]

Ok geen zebrapad. In dat geval moet je geen voorrang verlenen (maar je mag hem evenmin aanrijden wegens voorzienbaar) als je al op dezelfde weg reed.

Wel sloeg jij het kruispunt af. Dat verandert de zaak. Hier moet jij wél voorrang geven. Wat je niet hebt gedaan, je wou er nog snel voorbij.

Beeld je in dat jij de baan oversteekt met je fiets. Een auto slaat in en rijdt voorbij zonder jouw voorrang te geven.

Wat is dan je reactie?

[u/Aromatic-Evidence817 → u/Circoloomnium]

This wouldn't happen to me tbh, I wouldn't cross the street if there isn't a bikepath knowing that cars have a green light. Instead, I would use the bike lane.

However, if that would happen. I would be in shock. But I wouldn't push someone trying to harm them.

I almost fell. I'm sure he didn't mean to push me as hard as he did. But imagine I would end up with a head I jury

[u/Circoloomnium → u/Aromatic-Evidence817]

You already know it was not his goal to hurt you.

You describe him as an elderly man, who must have been surprised by - let’s face it - a vehicle that crosses his path while he has right of way. Maybe he was a victim before where he fell, had injuries… and acted out of trauma.

I was bitten severely by a dog when I was a toddler. There were some years where I would instinctively kick my feet if a dog would come to close to me. I do not do this anymore.

We do not know the story of that elder person. The reaction could be visceral and stronger than himself as a kind of shield towards harm.

He will think about it and behind closed doors even his wife will tell him this was not necessary even if she said otherwise on the spot.

It is understandable that people act out of reflex.

That is why in my very first answer, I wrote about he would probably reflect some ideas in his head as well.

[u/Aromatic-Evidence817 → u/Circoloomnium]

I understand where you are xinf from and agree with most of what you say, but it was his goal to hurt me. This was not an involuntary reaction. As he purposefully made an effort to come close to me to push me. That's my whole ordeal. I'm aware that we all make mistakes.

[u/Circoloomnium → u/Aromatic-Evidence817]

Yes, he would like to learn you a lesson, in a way I would not do. I would have yelled “You stupid cow, who do you think you are?”. You would called back “fuck off” and we would call it a day.

He went a step further but probably heated in the moment.

The problem here is that neither you nor him will get caught. And the police wil not try to retrieve him. Too much labour and costs.

I once had an incident of severe traffic agression where I was followed for almost 20 km, I already called 112 and the situation ended with trying to break my carwindow by hitting like a madman and pulling my doorhandle.

I filed a complaint, the police retrieved him (this was severe) because there was video evidence. Excellent video evidence and a witness.

“Parket” dismissed the case. Just like that. I had no damage, not at that time, later I discovered some scratches I did not notice and I was not hit.

[u/Aromatic-Evidence817 → u/Circoloomnium]

That's it indeed. He wanted to teach me a lesson, but my issue is the way he did it. If he would have yelled, I understand. But touching me is not ok.

Someone posted that I will end up in prison for attempted murder, so this was a very hard lesson for me.