Take care out there because you never know what kind of people you will encounter. A road rage incident resulted in an impromptu helmet test as a Mercedes driver in the UK viciously and ferociously assaulted a motorcyclist with a hammer.
This is only one of many cases of assault against motorcyclists on the road. Another time there was an incident where a Texas driver was jailed for assaulting a group of riders.
A city councilor said that she was “screaming” as she witnessed the driver smashing a hammer into a motorcyclist’s helmet. “I was screaming because the attack was so vicious and ferocious," said councilor Tanagra Jabu Nala-Hartley in a statement. “I was in shock, it’s not something you expect to see,” she continued.
The incident transpired on Bayswater Road on August 11, 2022, and the story was picked up by Yahoo Sports earlier this month. The victim, Szymon Stec, was riding his motorcycle when the driver, Jose Nunes Da Silva, was on the roundabout.
Stec stated that “he [Da Silva] tried to push me off my lane, to force me into the left lane,” and that the altercation happened slowly at about 10 miles per hour. The two turned onto Bayswater Road towards Barton, and Da Silva stopped, forcing Stec to do an emergency stop.
Da Silva, 52 years of age, was “shouting and swearing” at Stec when he got out of the car. The situation got worse when Da Silva pushed the victim, then proceeded to get a hammer from the trunk of his vehicle, and then swung at Stec’s head multiple times.
The helmet visor took the impact and was detached after multiple blows. Stec presented photos of his helmet but was otherwise unharmed by the blows from the hammer.
The driver, Da Silva, claimed that the motorcyclist, Stec, was revving his engine and that the biker kicked the side of his car, a claim that Stec denied. Da Silva also denied that he kept a hammer in his car, however, Nala-Hartley (the witness) claimed that she saw Da Silva with a hammer, stating that “[she knows] what a hammer looks like.”
Da Silva was convicted of assault following this incident, but was bailed and is set for another court hearing on October 28, 2022.
