The Dublin taxi driver caught on camera driving on the wrong side of the road at a cyclist this week says he wanted to stop the man because he’d just broken his wing mirror.

The footage shows both the cyclist and the taxi driver run a red light before the taxi driver veers towards the cyclist a little further on.

When the cyclist moves to a cycle lane on the opposite side of the road, the taxi driver also steers across, braking in front of him in an apparent attempt to block his path.

Buzz.ie reports that the taxi driver involved was Felix Ukachukwu, who claims the cyclist had just smashed his wing mirror.

“I was at a taxi rank in Stephens Green. I was coming to Talbot Street. So I came to Talbot Street, pulled on the side to drop off the girl and then a cyclist that was passing stretched out his hand and smashed my side mirror,” he said.

“I dropped the girl and followed him. He didn’t stop. So I followed him, I tried to get his attention and there was no police. So he went through a red light, (and so did hoping that the police would see me and say what’s going on here.”

The video ends with Ukachukwu manoeuvring onto the pavement because he’s found himself stuck at a junction on the wrong side of the road. The cyclist rides off round the corner.

“I was really infuriated,” added Ukachukwu, admitting, “I was willing to go any length to get him.”

He also claims the cyclist was taunting him. “When I passed him on the North Circular Road I got him on the next street and he said ‘you think you can catch me, you can’t catch me.’”

The Garda Press Office said that it was aware of the incident from media enquiries but the matter had not been reported to officers.

“In order for An Garda Síochána to investigate, a complaint has to be submitted,” a Garda spokeswoman said.

Dr Mike McKillen of Dublin Cycling Campaign told The Irish Times that gardai had the option of acting on the video but “they don’t want to”.

“Every time we meet with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Garda Road Policing Unit we keep emphasising that you can act on [video] evidence. Just do it. But they don’t want to, they seem to be not interested in protecting cyclists,” he said.

“They’re prepared to stand on a street corner and hand out high vis vests and tell cyclists they should be wearing a helmet,” he added.