Labour Councillor attacked while cycling in Wandsworth

A Labour councillor and Earlsfield resident was attacked whilst cycling yesterday afternoon (19 Jan).

Jo Rigby was cycling along Wexford Road when a car drove past without leaving space and proceeded to try and run her over in reverse.

Cllr Rigby said the car's passenger continued to shout at Jo and threw his drink at her.

Speaking to her Twitter followers, Jo Rigby tweeted that she was 'done with cycling'.

"It's the second time I've had aggression on this road," Cllr Rigby said.

"It runs off Ravenslea and is used to avoid the traffic lights.

"So drivers get particularly annoyed at having another car or cyclist coming the other way."

The Highway Code states that cars must 'give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car'.

The police confirmed that this is 1.5m. If there isn't this much space, then it is the responsibility of the driver to wait before it is safe to pass.

Wexford and Ravenslea Road

Ravenslea and Wexford Road are both single lane due to car parking.

Cllr Rigby believes this is putting drivers in conflict with other drivers and cyclists.

"If a road becomes single track, it's quite tough on drivers to keep two-way traffic, especially on such a popular short cut for to avoid main roads," Cllr Rigby told Nub News.

Support to keep cycling

A sweep of people have shown support for Jo and encouraged her to carry on cycling.

Jeremy Vine, of Radio 2 and Channel 5 fame, tweeted: "Please don't stop."

In 2016 Jeremy Vine was threatened and abused by a driver while cycling in Kensington.

The exchange was recorded on his helmet's camera and viewed several million times on Youtube.

Paul White, Tooting Councillor, said: "That's quite shocking Jo, don't let them stop you."

Cllr Rigby has since confirmed that she will be back on her bike soon enough - this time equipped with a camera.

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