Road rage cyclist sparks outrage in Belgium after using his knee to knock over a child blocking his way and peddling off in video captured by girl’s father
- A family were out walking in a nature park in Baraque Michel on Christmas day
- The cyclist appears to deliberately strike the girl with his knee as he passes
- Video of the incident sparked outrage on social media and the family filed a police complaint
- The cyclist has reportedly been identified and contacted the father to explain but offered no apology for his actions
- Do you know the cyclist? Email [email protected]
A cyclist has sparked outrage in Belgium after using his knee to knock over a child that was blocking his way before peddling off.
The shocking moment when the cyclist appears to deliberately stick his knee out to hit the girl was captured in a video taken by her father.
The impatient cyclist has now been identified by police, the Liège prosecutor’s office said.
The footage was shot on Christmas Day at a nature park in Baraque Michel, Belgium and showed the girl walking happily with a woman and another child before she was struck by the cyclist who emerged from a bend in the snowy road.
Instead of waiting for the young girl to be pulled out of his way, the man sends her toppling into the cold, wet ground. The child, reported by local media as being a five-year-old called Neïa, was uninjured.
A cyclist has sparked outrage in Belgium after using his knee to knock over a child that was blocking his way before peddling off. The shocking moment when the cyclist appears to deliberately stick his knee out to hit the girl was captured in a video taken by her father
Instead of waiting for the young girl to be pulled out of his way, the man sends her toppling into the cold, wet ground
The child, reported by local media as being a five-year-old called Neïa, was uninjured after the fall
It appears that the woman and child, whose ears were covered by hats and their hoods, may not have been aware of the cyclist approaching, although the cyclist does seem to use a horn-like bell which can be heard in the video.
Furious dad Patrick Mpasa, who had been filming his wife and two children, shared the video on social media asking if people agreed that he was right to complain to the police.
Mpasa said he had chased the man down and managed to make him stop but the cyclist had been unrepentant.
Public prosecutors confirmed they are aware of the video and are looking into the incident.
The family believes that if the cyclist had hit the little girl by accident he would have stopped to check if she was okay rather than speeding off.
They filed a complaint with police and both the cyclist and any witnesses were asked to come forward.
The cyclist then contacted Mpasa to ask him to withdraw the complaint to the police.
‘He explained what happened and asked us to withdraw the complaint to police, but he showed no remorse and did not apologise,’ Mpasa said.
‘What’s more, he accused me of being aggressive. He claimed that he had not seen that Neïa had fallen, that he would otherwise have stopped… I have the impression that he thinks it is normal,’ Nieuwsbald reported Mpasa as saying.
The footage was shot on Christmas Day at a nature park in Baraque Michel, Belgium and showed the girl walking happily with a woman and another child before she was struck by the cyclist who emerged from a bend in the snowy road
The impatient cyclist has now been identified by police, the Liège prosecutor’s office said
The dad added that he was not seeking revenge but wanted to share the video on social media to ‘raise awareness’ about dangerous situations on the road.
He said: ‘A lot of people tell me that I should have hit him, but I don’t agree and in any case, I was in front of my children which would have made things even worse for them. I also don’t want a witch hunt, I just want him to apologise.’
Local cyclist Association GRACQ which has seen the video describe the man’s behaviour as ‘unacceptable’.
They said the cyclist had an obligation to give priority to weaker road users, which in this case was the people walking.
They said they understood that the cyclist wanted to maintain his pace, but that that did not justify knocking the child over.
It is not clear if cycling was allowed on the route.