Video: BBC Wales road rage programme highlights plight of vulnerable cyclists

Critchio wrote:

Drivers cutting corners like in the video is perfectly legitimate if you can see that its safe, even my driving instructor taught me that 28 years ago. I do it all the time. The move on the video was safe, the driver wasn't even travelling at excess speed.

To be picked up on that by the likes of our helmet cam vigilante is not doing cycling enthusiasts one jot of good.

The drivers actions are outrageous and he should never of reacted that way but it would not have happened had Mr Turner not challenged what did not need challenging.

I'm going to stereotype Mr Turner by lumping him together into a group of road vigilantes that transform into completely irrational morons the second they get a helmet cam perched on their head. I would even go as far as saying that they even change their riding habits, which may involve increased risk to their own safety so that they can encourage and bait drivers into committing minor and not so minor breaches of road traffic law just to catch it on video.

These guys do not really do us any favours at all and when I see the likes of Mr Turner being interviewed I cringe. But please don't think I am anti-cyclist, far from it. If anything I come down harder on motorists because they are cocooned in 1.5 tons of metal shell and surounded by airbags. I'm on me 10 kilo bike with a styrofoam helmet. We need better protection from bad motorists but Mr Turner's approach is the wrong way to go about it and this article paints him in a bad light. To me anyway. Helmet cams are fun and offer clear evidence in accidents/incidents when used correctly and sensibly. But not like this...

So he's a vigilante now, I must of missed that bit.

kie7077 wrote:

Wow, how is cycling going to get anywhere with when a cyclist sticks up for themselves, everybody here jumps on them with petty crap like 'The cyclist sounds like a right twat' and 'don't be petty and stir up trouble'.

What different does it make whether he's a wimpy looking kid or a bloke built like a brick shit-house, enough prejudiced bollocks already.

Who needs enemies with friends like you lot.

I see what you mean but this Matt bloke is hunting out trouble, almost delibrately riding so defensively to cause the aggression and filimg it to broadcast. He's a duffnut.

kie7077 wrote:

Wow, how is cycling going to get anywhere with when a cyclist sticks up for themselves, everybody here jumps on them with petty crap like 'The cyclist sounds like a right twat' and 'don't be petty and stir up trouble'.

What different does it make whether he's a wimpy looking kid or a bloke built like a brick shit-house, enough prejudiced bollocks already.

Who needs enemies with friends like you lot.

He's not "sticking up for himself", he's calling someone out for cutting across the road a bit. He may "technically" be right but it's completely unnecessary, some people will take exception to being called out and some people will be very aggressive about it like the motorist here.

I'm not saying the motorist is right - of course he isn't. But that situation wouldn't have happened if the cyclist, who was in no danger here at any point, would have minded his own business - which isn't to call out all the faults of all the other road users. If he called the driver out after a near miss or something then I'd totally be on the side of the cyclist, but in this case he was just asking for trouble.

I commute in London every day and have never had any confrontations with any other road users. If I had a helmet cam and decided to shout at people every time they cut a corner here or there, I'm sure my rides would be a lot more... eventful. Maybe I could even start a cycling youtube channel showing this "war" on the roads that people like SOTW seem to experience daily.

eurotrash wrote:

He's not "sticking up for himself", he's calling someone out for cutting across the road a bit. He may "technically" be right but it's completely unnecessary, some people will take exception to being called out and some people will be very aggressive about it like the motorist here.

It doesn't matter whether or not it's unnecessary or sticking up for himself or whatever.

Some psycho nutter who probably shouldn't be allowed out of the house, let alone put in charge of a car is clearly identified threatening violence, parking like an effing moron etc..

Personally I wouldn't be arsed to do/say anything about it, but the lad that did was completely: 1) accurate; 2) not breaking any laws.

The unspoken context to this, which you accept tacitly, is that screwballs like the driver pictured above are allowed on the roads.

It's quite remarkable that you would choose to focus on the cyclist in this instead of the holding of a license to operate a motorvehicle by the pillock who was advised by some sympathetic police officer to offer an apology.

You could instead choose to focus on the danger that the driver and the rest of the looneys running around on the roads present to all of us.

Or you could just wallow in some sort of weird "it couldn't happen to me because I'm not like him" morasse of stupidity.

Carry on.

Ush wrote:

It's quite remarkable that you would choose to focus on the cyclist in this instead of the holding of a license to operate a motorvehicle by the pillock who was advised by some sympathetic police officer to offer an apology.

You could instead choose to focus on the danger that the driver and the rest of the looneys running around on the roads present to all of us.

I think the driver's attitude and actions speak for themselves.

Quote:

Or you could just wallow in some sort of weird "it couldn't happen to me because I'm not like him" morasse of stupidity.

Of course it *could* happen to me. That's not the point. I don't go out looking for confrontations. This cyclist did, and *shockingly* that's what he found. So I have little sympathy for him.

Surely you've got to accept that in the real world, there are aggressive twats who will take exception to being told off. Knowing that, if you decide to go around telling people off for every little traffic violation, then surely it will come as no surprise when one of those people happens to be an overly aggressive twat whose pride gets injured or whatever, and a confrontation ensues.

As I said before, it's one thing to cuss a driver after a near miss or something, in the same way you might at anyone else who does something to put you in serious danger in any other situation - but this cyclist is just being petty, there was no danger to him and such a minor infraction, so no reason to go around acting like a wannabe cop. If you walk down any road and start telling random people off for minor things you deem to be incorrect (even if they technically are), you'll eventually encounter a punch in the face. Doesn't mean that person was right to react like that, and he should of course face whatever penalty for doing so - but if you go around confronting people as a matter of course, you have to accept that some will react as in the video.

eurotrash wrote:

As I said before, it's one thing to cuss a driver after a near miss or something, in the same way you might at anyone else who does something to put you in serious danger in any other situation - but this cyclist is just being petty, there was no danger to him and such a minor infraction, so no reason to go around acting like a wannabe cop. If you walk down any road and start telling random people off for minor things you deem to be incorrect (even if they technically are), you'll eventually encounter a punch in the face. Doesn't mean that person was right to react like that, and he should of course face whatever penalty for doing so - but if you go around confronting people as a matter of course, you have to accept that some will react as in the video.

Two points

It was a minor infraction (and I very much doubt I'd have said anything in that instance, but sometimes words just come out, not necessarily aimed at anyone) but its in the context of motorists regularly and as-a-matter-of-course committing such infractions and they add up to a constant level of danger for everyone else. Its not something that doesn't affect anyone.
(Apparently Jeremy Paxman reproaches people he sees dropping litter in the street - would it be OK for someone to threaten him with violence in return, incidentally?)

Secondly I really don't get why so many on this thread chose to concentrate on ticking off the cyclist for a rather minor bit of questionable judgement, while only mentioning in passing the thuggishness displayed by the motorist in response. To me that is a far, far, more significant issue. The concentration on the cyclist's behaviour seems like a kind of power-worship.

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

(Apparently Jeremy Paxman reproaches people he sees dropping litter in the street - would it be OK for someone to threaten him with violence in return, incidentally?)

No one's condoning what the driver did here. I'm saying you have to accept that people may react like that - not saying it's right they do so, it's just simply how it is. That being the case, don't go around acting like a self righteous prick just because you have a camera on your head.

eurotrash wrote:

Of course it *could* happen to me. That's not the point. I don't go out looking for confrontations. This cyclist did, and *shockingly* that's what he found. So I have little sympathy for him.

That's not the point either. Again you're focusing on the cyclist, who may have acted in a way that neither you nor I would, instead of on the out-of-control screwball that threatened violence. The constipated looking looney driving the silver Citroen reg "GK03 ZTM" is obviously not in control of either his car, or his head if he goes after such a non-threat as the video taker.

It seems more than likely to me that he will display similar aggressive and incompetent behaviour in other aspects of his driving.

My suggestion that "it could happen to you" doesn't suggest that you're suddenly going to be come the video-taker in build and mannerism -- it means that you, like me, will be sharing the road with this irrational cock.

Why you get excited about the cyclist in this instead of the driver can only be explained by you thinking that because you don't behave like the cyclist above that you will somehow be magically safe from the fool, and the many like him.

Good luck with that. Keep hating on the cyclist.

pmr wrote:

Ive often thought about carrying a large wrench or some kind of defense spray for RR incidents. There's a minority that hate cyclists in this country, nothing to do with how people are riding, they just hate cyclists.
The Police are powerless, and the justice system is pathetic, not fit for purpose.

On the other hand, you might find that the justice system is quite effective when it comes to dealing with cases of assault. Best to leave that sort of response for action movies.

pmr wrote:

Ive often thought about carrying a large wrench or some kind of defense spray for RR incidents. There's a minority that hate cyclists in this country, nothing to do with how people are riding, they just hate cyclists.
The Police are powerless, and the justice system is pathetic, not fit for purpose.

If you were to use either, you'd be up for assault and deservedly so. Don't forget that the driver has the wheel wrench and jack in the car, for legitimate reasons. If it comes to waving bits of metal around he can hide in the car and then run you over with it. What jury is going to convict him if you've covered his car in dents first?

mattbibbings wrote:

If the lad on the bike didn't look like a wet-weekend in Bognor then you can bet this wouldn't have happened.

This was a simple willy waving contest between two socially inadequate men. One who feels the need to film Highway Code infractions for his own youtube gratification and the other who feels it is ok to pick on people smaller than him.

Both if them have issues they should deal with but it is nothing to do with cycling and motoring and it is no service to our sport that it is dressed up as such.

This pretty much sums the whole video up perfectly