Bike-camera video of Atom Emet's bicycle being tail-gated and then contacted late at night in Wellington.

A cyclist who was almost rammed off the road by an aggressive off-duty bus driver warns drivers: "don't be a d*** 'cause somebody might be watching".

Wellington cyclist Atom Emet caught the late-night encounter on October 12, 2014 on three cameras he had attached to his bike in case of such an incident.

That footage was used in court to help prove the charge against driver of the SUV David John Simeon of dangerous driving. The charge was proved but Simeon was not convicted.

FAIRFAX NZ Atom Emet is pleased the judge made it clear that bikes have a right to use the road.

The video, which Simeon claimed was edited, shows Simeon driving up close behind Emet on Kent Tce, before tooting at him to get out of the way.

Simeon then moved into Emet's path of travel, swerved and connected with Emet.

READ MORE: Cyclist's cameras show all angles in court case against aggressive driver

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Emet was not knocked off his bike but moved onto the footpath to get away from the SUV.

Simeon said Emet should have been in the bus lane but on Thursday Judge Arthur Tompkins ruled Emet was entitled to be in the furthest left of three lanes.

"[The judge] made it clear that bikes have a right to use the road," Emet said.

The incident had been all the scarier because a professional driver's attitude to a cyclist had been, "Get out of the way".

"This guy has a remarkable lack of understanding of how cyclists have to safely use the road...

"He seems not just unapologetic, he seems not to understand that what he did was wrong…

"He was just p***ed off because he knew he got caught."

Emet's been car-free since he moved to Wellington from the United States in 2007.

In his experience the majority of drivers were courteous to cyclists, he said.

"Like anyone who uses the road in any capacity, we've all dealt with stupidity, we've all dealt with aggression, we've all dealt with all these things.

"There's nothing unique about being on a bike, we deal with just as much stupidity as anyone else.

"The difference is we're not in a steel cage to protect us."

Emet said he went home after the incident last year because he did not want to become involved in a subsequent road rage incident.

The way to avoid these encounters was for all road users to "chill out and take a breath".

Cycling Action Network project manager Patrick Morgan said Emet did well to keep his cool.

Wellington drivers had to get along with cyclists because they were here to stay, he said, adding that the number of cyclists had doubled during the past decade.

"It's not really a cycling story, it's a story about a guy who made a really bad mistake and he got caught for it…

"Ramming someone with your car is really bad behaviour and it's never acceptable...

"To use your car as a weapon to intimidate or possibly injure someone is way across the line," Morgan said.

Simeon could not be contacted for comment.