Taxi passenger not proud of dooring cyclist

The Melbourne taxi passenger filmed dooring a cyclist insists he is not to blame for the collision but regrets his belligerent reaction. 

Footage captured by cameras mounted on the female cyclist's helmet and handlebars showed businessman Jeff Hunter, 65, from Brighton, refusing to give his name to the woman. 

He calls her a "fool" and says "the way people like you ride around is disgusting". 

Mr Hunter, who could face possible charges after handing himself in to police over the incident, told The Age he wished he had conducted himself better. 

"It's just a spur of the moment thing that I reacted the way I did but I'm not proud of that fact," he was quoted as saying. 

"If I could do it all over again, I would have approached it in a much more different way."

Mr Hunter, a toy and sportswear importer, described the collision as an unavoidable accident but added that he would accept any fine that police may hand him. 

"I'm certainly sorry that I didn't give her my name, and I'm certainly sorry that we acted as if we didn't care," he said. 

The 28-year-old cyclist, whose footage went viral after being posted on YouTube earlier this week, spoke out for the first time in an interview with Nine News yesterday, saying she did not blame the taxi passenger but said Melbourne's inner-city bicycle network needs an overhaul. 

The woman, who declined to be identified, said she was lucky to sustain only minor bruising when she was knocked to the ground by the taxi door on Collins Street while riding along a narrow cycling refuge marked by white lines and green paint. 

"When I first started riding, I was terrified of that lane, but it is the only practical and efficient way for me to get from work to home," she told Nine News.

Source: The Age

Author: Erin Tennant, Approving editor: Matthew Henry