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CarefulCyclist - how not to change your jacket while riding a bike.pngVideo: Cyclists behaving badly - helmetcam cyclist turns his lens on other cyclists
Cyclists’ helmet cam videos of reckless road users behaving badly or breaking the law are a Youtube staple, but here’s one with a difference those caught on camera are cyclists and it ends with a truly spectacular demonstration of how not to take your jacket off while cycling.
York Cyclists Episode 1, shot over a three week period was posted to Youtube on April 1st ago by a long time cycle commuter calling himself CarefulCyclist, but it's no joke.
Red light jumping, pavement cycling, red light jumping, riding no handed, red light jumping, texting while cycling, phoning while cycling and red light jumping (a bit like Groundhog Day) are all here.
It’s a catalogue of the sort of behaviour that irritates and angers other road users and that divides opinion amongst cyclists between those who believe that the rules of the road apply to everyone and those who say they are the product of a car-centric approach to traffic management and that as long as no-one is harmed the independent minded cyclist should be free to ignore them. Watch the video and judge for yourself.
“Cyclists are taking more risks”, CarefulCyclist told YorkMix explaining his reason for posting his films to Youtube: “I hope the families of those cyclists will see what those cyclists are doing, putting themselves and other road users at risk and prevent them.
“The cyclists involved should stop and think, is this risk I am taking worth it?”
He also explained why he started filming his journeys.
“I have, on a number of occasions nearly been hit by inattentive or poor drivers. if you combine poor driving with reckless cycling more and more people are going to get injured. Some fatally.”
He described those riding badly as “a small proportion of repeat offenders, I see the same faces over and over again.
“Young men seem prepared to take the greatest risks, but all types of road users flout the Highway Code.
“I see cyclists running red lights, weaving in and out of traffic, but even the most minor indiscretions like cycling on the pavement can have potentially severe consequences if the cyclist is in collision with someone elderly or a child.
“Pedestrians have been killed by cyclists.”
While some of the cycling on display is certainly of the eye-brow raising variety some may also raise an eyebrow at the inclusion of a woman using her mobile phone while cycling along a near empty bike path - on the other hand the chap briefly glimpsed riding no handed on the pavement was lucky a hapless pedestrian didn’t step out of a doorway.
The penultimate incident would seem to be an example of both rider and driver inattention although had things played out differently it is certainly the cyclist who would have paid the higher price, and that last crash? Well, according to CarefulCyclist the man got up afterwards apparently unharmed.
While his film highlights some risk taking individual in his conversation with YorkMix CarefulCyclist reserves some of the blame for poor cycling infrastructure too:
“Some of the cycling infrastructure is poorly designed and poorly maintained, cycle lanes are too narrow and sometimes bring road users in to conflict”.
The recklessness of York’s drivers and pedestrians are the subjects of his next two videos.
road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.
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107 comments
I was thinking what a waste of 3 minutes of my life until I saw the face plant. lmfao
Funny how the film maker is getting more blame than the people in the film.
I think on reflection this video has raised a valid point around blame.
Do you know what, there are some people out there who are doing some stupid and dangerous stuff on bikes... this video is a great demonstration of the sort of behaviour that is going on around us all the time...
Its true, cyclists aren't perfect.
There, its done, the 'cat' is out of the bag.
With that admissions, can we move on? Instead of blaming each other, RLJ's or whatever for the tiny minority of drivers that behave awfully around cyclists who in turn blame our attitudes to justify their actions, can we look for a uniformed response to...
"you cyclists, you think you are so superior, but actually, you are the bane of the roads'.
The answer is not ensuring everyone rides perfectly, its negating the argument in the first place... Just because a drug enriched teenager rides the wrong way up a one way street swigging cider and chatting on his phone, does not mean my kids should be put in a situation where their father is taken away from them.
In any other context this would not be accepted... replace the term cyclist, with woman, gay, black etc etc and you'd see how ugly the argument that 'we' all have to behave properly or 'we' deserve it' is.
Its time we moved on.
Bugger me, its a happy place here isn't it?
Frankly I think anyone who believes the law applies to me but not to them is an ar$e and whether either of us is driving a car, riding a bike or sitting on a sofa is irrelevant.
Are the risks worth it? Probably.
And it's not illegal to use your phone whilst cycling. It's a non-motorised vehicle. Also cycling on pavements is not against the law in some areas of Scotland.
Liberty
undoubtedly as cycling becomes more popular, so will the number of idiot cyclists increase. The only solution will be to police cycling more. If necessary create new laws to criminalize obviously dangerous behaviour. Just because there are bad drivers this does not excuse bad cyclists. Those who love cycling should condemn , not condone, the wanton acts of stupidity this person has filmed. I'm glad the guy taking his coat off wasn't badly hurt, eg run over. I hope he wont be so dumb again.
That helmet guy is a pleb, thanks for jacket guy though
Anyone else notice how the jacket guy hits his head really hard, and WASNT wearing a helmet?
I'm taking this as "proof" and counter argument to the usual anecdote garbage from some cyclists that have hit their head, but the helmet *definitely* saved their life
He isn't seeing anything, he's right.
To me it looks like he lands more on his upper back / neck area so debate that away helmet worshippers...
Fucking prick filming everything like a cunt. Get a life.
Maybe they were all going for KOMs. No one gets in the way of a KOM.
Are those the same rules that motorist religiously follow ?
Point is you get rule breakers on bikes and you get them in cars, we're just the same as motorist it's just our form of transport is different. Oh, but despite what the daily mail tells you cyclists do not account for thousands of deaths and serious injuries on the roads that the motorists, and as such they should be held to a higher standard.
Shall we let lorry drivers do the same? Cut red lights and ride on footpaths? Next will you start advocating letting people carry knives?
My son got knocked down last week by another child riding on the pavement. The boy who ran into my son did have his parents in tow. Thankfully my boy was ok. Let me tell you that I wasn't too impressed. He has yet to be knocked over by a pedestrian. Interpret that however you want, but I would rather see people riding on the road than posing a danger to my 5 year old. So what you see as considerate use of the pavement, I see as a danger to my child. Why should I have to accept that just so that you and your child can ride on a pavement?
It's cycling across a road where the light is red FFS!, you cannot seriously tell me pushing a bike across is the same as cycling so what's the big deal? ITS AGAINST THE LAW
So in your way of thinking if I am driving and the road detours away from where I need to be I can just nip up the nearest one way street the wrong way as it wouldn't otherwise get me where I need to be, I mean is that the best reason you can come up with? It is simple if you ride a bike drive a car or whatever we have highway laws which apply to everyone not just drivers etc so stop trying to advocate breaking the law with weak poor thought out justifications
So in your own statement the guidelines say if it isn't likely to endanger others it's ok but in rush hour doesn't that become more likely to endanger others? if you don't feel safe riding in traffic fair enough go on the path and push your bike until you can ride without endangering others.
Let me ask one question where in a lane should a bicycle be? I am pretty sure it isn't wherever the cyclist feels like cos he is filtering
Just plain stupid do you think we should text whilst riding as well? But only if it's quiet?
No but you are incharge of a vehicle and in essence are operating it carelessly; what if for the sake of the example you were riding without hands and lost control and veered into traffic and were killed would that be the fault of the other party? Of course not you had no control. But then I guess they should have been more aware and accepted more responsibility.
Stereotyping don't you just love it? In the same way I love getting tarred with the brush that I jump red lights.
I hate the broadsheets and do not read any paper but I think that there is a group of individuals on here who feed their descriminations and do more harm than good to cyclists across the span. If you want to run red lights,ride up one way streets on the footpath weaving in and out of traffic; whilst phoning or tweeting or whatever whilst not having your hands on the handlebars good for you. At some point it will go wrong, epically wrong. But then I guess you can always blame the infrastructure.
Very true.
He's the one damaging my safety, not them.
You MUST be seeing things.
However, you can't take it as proof. You can take it as part of evidence to support your case....
Hence what I said, right above your question.
My point was more about the justification going on above. Don't try to justify the idiots in the video, just accept that there are a whole bunch of cyclists who are absolute t*ats. Just as there are idiot motorists. But it doesn't make a lot of the things seen on the video correct, "because they are cyclists/ mobile pedestrians/ motorists speed all the time in a 30 zone etc".
Then your son has also been let down by the infrastructure. There shouldn't be any need for this conflict, there should be safe provision for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Sadly, planning has focused far too long on the convenience of drivers to the detriment of everyone else's safety.
Fortunately, collisions like the one your son had involving a pedestrian and a cyclist are rare, he was very unlucky.
Why should you have to accept my son and I riding on the pavement? Because we don't pose any danger, we don't incovenience anyone, we ride safely and considerately, to force a child into busy roads with fast moving traffic would be stupid beyond belief.
If you don't like it, campaign for safer infrastructure that everyone from age 6 to age 96 can use safely.
I do hope you don't mean anything you have typed. if you did, my god...
but to the original quote. I think more to the point is if you want to deter cyclists from jumping red, what is the point of the video that has been put up? it is not educational nor is it helpful. it simply reinforces many people's opinion that red-light jumping can be done and it is safe at times. if you want to show reasons of not red-light jumping...show something that shocks and that will put people off. not great for viewing but shock tactics will work for a percentage of people, the rest well it will have to be intervention.
my take of the video taker is that he is definitely a moaner of life and has too much self-righteousness and has a massive passive-aggressive personality.
No its the bad cyclists flouting the hgihway code doing that
EDIT: deleted
They justify it for the same reason that if you go on the maxpower forum and look at the videos of irresponsible driving you'll get people defending it there also. People are people regardless of there form of transport.
Irresponsible cyclists very rarely course any degree of harm to other road user. I agree that cycling could make more of an effort to follow the rules but lets deal with the real problem first, which is motorists.
No, the point is that you need to campaign for safer infrastructure for cycling. Not the pedestrian. The pedestrian already has a safe infrastructure. It is the cyclist who makes it unsafe by choosing to ride on a pavement.
Again you pass the buck onto the pedestrian for a lack of cycling infrastructure. That is what bothers me bout everything said above. It is ok as a cyclist to break rules because "we don't have an adequate infrastructure, or the motorists are horrible people or I am very considerate cyclist" etc etc. Stop with the excuses, man up and learn to do things properly rather than taking short cuts.
Well they both are and neither are. I don't think its fair to hold either responsible for the irrational way others choose to react to it.
Pedestrians don't have safe infrastructure, how else would you explain why drivers kill c70 pedestrians on the pavement each year and more are killed using crossings.
I mostly agree, but perhaps not entirely.
I agree that you can't say "it's OK for the cyclist to break the rules in a way that causes problems for pedestrians, because we don't have adequate infrastructure". That's a bit like saying its OK to bully your children because your boss at work is bullying you. Its not OK to pass on the problem to someone else.
However, it is correct to note that there will _always_ be people in every group who break the rules, and that you are never going to have cops present on every street (and who polices the police anyway!) and so, pragmatically, the best hope of reducing the problems the selfish can cause is by changing the physical environment.
So even back when I was a pedestrian (who didn't even consider cycling as a possibility) I would have liked to have seen proper cycling infrastructure in place.
The other point is that better cycling infrastructure means more cyclists and fewer drivers, and the reality is that cars are still the bigger threat to pedestrians because they can do so much more damage.
Not passing the buck, better infrastructure for cyclists will benefit everyone by removing conflict.
Maybe I'm an anarchist, but I don't blindly follow rules if they put people at risk.
My son and I frequently ride the pavement where the road is unsafe, we doi it without causing risk or inconvenience to others. If we can't, we get off and walk.
To put ourselves at risk for no reason whatsoever other than blindly obeying the law would be stupid.
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