WATCH: A road rage confrontation in Central Saanich Tuesday is one of several in the region caught on camera in just the past few months. April Lawrence reports.
A cyclist was caught on camera kicking a car at a Central Saanich intersection Tuesday afternoon.
“He drops his bike, starts jumping on my car, kicking my door,” said driver Steve Bengal.
While shocking to see, road rage videos are becoming more common on social media.
In May, a witness was filming as a violent altercation broke out between two drivers in Saanich Plaza ? the apparent result of a driving error in the parking lot and a heated exchange of words.
And that same month on the West Shore, two vehicles started intentionally cutting each other off before one driver got out to confront the other.
ICBC says while it doesn’t track data on road rage it does appear to be on the rise.
“People are feeling an increasing amount of stress related to time, they are decreasingly patient with each other,” said ICBC Road Safety Manager Mark Milner.
Milner says adding to that, driving can give people a feeling of anonymity sort of like the Internet.
“People do tend to feel a bit more anonymous when they’re surrounded by that metal and glass,” he said.
Tuesday’s road rage incident has also lead to heated online arguments pitting cyclists and motorists against each other.
They are attitudes cycling advocacy consultant John Luton is trying to combat.
“The friction or the issues that sometimes emerge between a driver on the road and a cyclist on the road is not malicious intent but people make mistakes. You want to cut them some slack whoever they are now and again,” Luton said.
While the 31-year-old cyclist in Central Saanich has been arrested and is now facing charges of assault and mischief, that might not be the end of his worries.
READ MORE: 31-year-old cyclist arrested following road rage incident in Central Saanich
With damage to the car estimated at $5000, ICBC says it will usually go after the person who caused the damage to cover the bill.
April Lawrence
