A motorist who allegedly followed a cyclist during a road rage incident, \u201cpinning\u201d his bike to the kerb and loudly revving his engine, before throwing something at the rider, has had his two-year driving ban lifted by an Irish court following an appeal.<\/p>\n
BMW driver Romeo Stoica was allegedly spotted using his phone behind the wheel by a cyclist while driving out of Elm Park and onto Sarsfield Road, Cork, on 30 April 2020. According to a statement provided by the cyclist to the police, the rider told the 24-year-old to get off his phone and \u201cpay attention to the road\u201d.<\/p>\n
The cyclist claimed that Stoica responded by following him, driving closely behind the rider and revving his engine loudly in an attempt \u201cto pin his bike to the kerb\u201d. The cyclist also reported that a small object was thrown at him from the car as Stoica passed.<\/p>\n
No allegation was made, however, that the driver made contact with the cyclist with his car or the object in question, StickyBottle<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cyclist asked the driver to get off the phone and pay attention to the road,\u201d Judge Kelleher said during the subsequent court proceedings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe then continued to cycle. The white BMW followed him and the driver was revving the car loudly at him, attempting to pin his bike to the kerb, but he never made contact with the bike.\u201d<\/p>\n After the cyclist complained to the garda\u00ed, an investigation was carried out. But ironically, it was not the alleged incident itself that resulted in Stoica being prosecuted, but his own handling of the police\u2019s attempts to investigate it.<\/p>\n When the cyclist\u2019s allegations were initially put to him by officers, the 24-year-old said he did not want to make any comment. He then failed to keep an appointment with investigators, before telling them that he could not remember the alleged incident or recall who was driving his car at the time.<\/p>\n