Road-rage driver leaps out of his car and threatens to ‘smash’ motorcyclist’s face because he and his learner daughter are doing 20mph in a 40mph zone
- Motorcyclist Richie Curtis approaches a roundabout in Boldon, South Tyneside
- An irate driver emerges from his white car and threatens to ‘smash’ his face in
- Mr Curtis explains he is with a learner and that is why he is going slowly
An enraged driver threatened to ‘smash’ a motorcyclist’s face in the middle of a busy road because he and his learner daughter were doing 20mph in a 40mph zone.
Richie Curtis, 49, who is originally from St. Albans but now lives in Jarrow-On-Tyne, South Tyneside, captured the moment the irate driver steps out of his white Ford and threatens to fight him in front of other drivers in Boldon, South Tyneside on June 30.
The furious driver holds his fists up in the air for a fight before walking over to the pavement and telling the puzzled motorcyclist to: ‘Go back home!’
Body-cam footage filmed by Mr Curtis shows the unnamed driver hurl verbal abuse at the motorcyclist and continuously sound his horn as he approaches a roundabout with his eldest daughter and a friend who both have L plates.
The angry driver emerges from his car and raises his fists because the motorcyclist is doing 20mph in a 40mph zone in Boldon, South Tyneside on June 30
Richie Curtis, 49, from Saint Albans, approaches a roundabout with his learner daughter and a friend when he hears the irate driver beeping his horn behind him
The furious driver steps out of his white Ford and shouts at him for doing 20mph in a 40mph zone as a line of cars wait behind them
As they pull up to the roundabout, Mr Curtis, who moved to the north east of England in 1996, dismounts his bike and walks over to confront the driver asking: ‘What’s your f***ing problem?’
The angry driver emerges from his car and gestures to the motorcyclist to walk to the pavement so they can fight as a line of cars wait behind them.
He holds his fist up in the air and tells Mr Curtis: ‘Go back home you southern f***ing c***’.
He then shouts: ‘You’re driving 20 in a f***ing 40 you daft little c***.’
Mr Curtis explains he has a learner with him but the man refuses to listen and tells him: ‘You better f*** off away from me or I’m going to smash your f***ing face in.’
The motorist later explained that his eldest daughter and his friend, who past her CBT motorcycle and moped training in January, had been riding in front of him when he was met with the angry abuse and noticed the angry driver was tailgating him.
Mr Curtis, whose youngest daughter, 11, was also sat at the back of his bike with him, told MailOnline: ‘I was riding with my eldest daughter at the front and a family friend just behind her.
‘I heard the man beeping his horn and he followed us around the traffic light. As soon as we were clear there was an opportunity for him to overtake us and he kept shouting at us to pull over.
‘I couldn’t pull over because that would have left the learner riders in front of me in a vulnerable position and so I held my place to stop my daughter and my friend from feeling nervous and to protect them. ‘
Despite the man’s threats, Mr Curtis said he remained calm and tried to be the ‘bigger man’.
He continued: ‘He didn’t hit me and I didn’t hit him. I think you have to be the bigger man to walk away.
The unnamed man steps out onto the road and tells Mr Curtis to follow him so that they can fight
The enraged driver tells Mr Curtis to ‘go back home’ as the motorist tries to explain he is with a learner driver
Following the incident Mr Curtis shared the footage on Facebook and explained he was riding with his eldest daughter and a friend
‘The only reason I got off my bike was because he was about six inches away from my back wheel which was putting me at risk.
‘The guy is an idiot and the amount of comments I’ve received from social media users has been positive. I got the desired effect that I wanted.’
He added: ‘It just so happened that he argued with the wrong biker, or maybe the right biker.’
The video, which was uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday, has since gained more than 1.5 million views on social media.
Mr Curtis later posted the video on Facebook with the caption: ‘Let’s make this d**k h*** Facebook famous.’