So it goes like this..

On Sunday I was closed passed by a vehicle coming into a local village, type of close pass where I was actually able to feel the heat of the engine on my leg and swoosh of movement. It closed passed due to overtaking into the face of an oncoming carTHREAD
there were several cyclists behind me (I was solo) who kindly checked to see if I was ok. Which I wasn’t. After another half a mile I was too shaken to continue so I decided to retrace my route and find the car. Which I did... 🚗
The owner was nowhere to be seen and had parked at a local beach, I clearly felt at this point that his walking his dog was more important than my life. I know I’m a twat sometimes but I did feel I don’t think my life should lose priority over him getting to the beach quicker.
So I took the car details and filled in an online incident report to the PSNI, who pretty much contacted me straight away. Using one of the cyclists from the group behind me as a witness, I had a clear case for prosecution.
I was given 48hrs (my choice, you can have longer) to think it through. The driver was contacted and informed and left to ‘sweat it out’. But after much thought I decided I wanted restorative justice and to hear the voice of the driver who put me at risk.
So I’m just off the phone to him. I informed him I’m a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, teacher. And that all I wanted was for him to just wait until it was safe. Didn’t even want an apology, just reassurance.
Needless to say the ‘sweating it out’ approach and relief that I wasn’t going forward with prosecution made him very very remorseful. We left on friendly terms and that we may even acknowledge each other on the road should we see each other again.
I don’t think he was paying me lip service, he was upset. Not touched my bike since this incident, I don’t want it to be ‘just a matter of time’ until something worse happens. So tomorrow , the fight goes on 👊🏼✌🏼🚴🏼‍♀️
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