Met Police admit officers "clearly wrong" to scold cyclist who swore when unmarked vehicle blocked bus lane

Just wondering what vehicle they were waiting for to pull over. Or had they pulled it over, let it go on its way and was now....... what?

Interesting. So on Saturday a BMW driver close passed me - 3-4 inches close pass at about 30mph. The driver pulled into a car park nearby (traffic held him up so I was almost behind him when he did. Being in a bad mood already (non cycling related) I confronted him (no swearing). 

Me: Why did you just close pass me?

Reply: You were in the middle of the road. 

Me: No I wasn't. So, why did you just close pass me?

Reply: You were weaving around in the road. 

Me: No I wasn't. You couldn't pass if I was. 

Reply: Effing and jeffing this and that. 

Me: Don't close pass me or anyone else. 

Reply: More effing and jeffing. 

Me: Turn round and ride off thinking he is not fit to be behind the wheel of any vehicle. 

What he meant was I was riding a bike on the road and that wasn't going to get in the way of his journey in any way shape or form. 

The power of stereotypes / preconceived opinion.  We see and hear what we want, not what's there.  And if not we'll fill it in after the fact in an argument!

I think you mean it's called lies. As well as revealing an attitude towards other road users that means the privilege of driving should be immediately removed. 

srchar wrote:

Both wrong and both right.

I wouldn't swear like that with the kids in the back, and the police shouldn't have started talking about public order offences. But they're right to warn him that he's no idea who's in the car and could be putting himself and his kids at risk of retribution just to make a point. London isn't short of people who would feel the need to teach him some respect after that.

We often bemoan the fact that people dehumanise riders, well here's an example of a rider dehumanising a driver because they're in a car. I assume the rider wouldn't react like that to a pedestrian standing in the bike lane waiting to cross the road.

Agree with all of this. No point being in the right when you're in A&E eating through a straw. 

Quote:

We often bemoan the fact that people dehumanise riders, well here's an example of a rider dehumanising a driver because they're in a car.

In an apparently illegally parked/stopped car forcing them to move out from "safety" into other traffic. Dehumanising normally means referring to people in a way that removes their humaness, so referring to cyclists as scum, infestation on the roads etc. He didn't refer to them, just the location they happened to have illegally parked in. 

The rest though is reasonably spot on. 
 

srchar wrote:

I assume the rider wouldn't react like that to a pedestrian standing in the bike lane waiting to cross the road.

Have you tried being a pedestrian in an unfamiliar part of London?  I can absolutely assure you that it wouldn't take long for the abuse to start if you stood in a cycle lane...

My biggest issue with the issue with the cyclist's behaviour* (and it's something I struggle with myself) is that by losing his temper**, he's reducing the quality of his riding - he'll be safer on the roads if he takes a step back and is a little more zen.

Not safe from the nutters of Wandsworth, who'll knife you for swearing at them - they don't need a reason, and if they did, being on a bicycle is more than enough "reason" (even more so, if you are attempting to cycle safely).

It will help keep him safe in situations such as this, where he may feel he forced to change lanes due to the presence of a stationary vehicle in the bus lane. A stationary vehicle doesn't force a cyclist to do anything dangerous. Getting angry in such a situation can lead you to making foolish decisions.

* I don't expect more from the cyclist than the police officer.  I'm pretty if there weren't a bus lane or cycle lane here, he would have blocked the entirety of the pavement, rather than a single lane of traffic.

** I've not played the clip with the audio on, so it's difficult to gauge how angered he is by the presence of the stationary car.

Addressing the root cause - why are we so commonly using bike infra as "extra road space" / "overspill"?  Also - if they were really being undercover / busy on an operation, putting on the blues and then getting out for a discussion of a very minor offense would seem to be... not concentrating on their primary job, no?  That's probably what I'd be objecting to if I were their boss.

Anyway - just waiting for the false equivalence* / "bringing it on yourself" comments.  I've also never quite understood the "traditional values" folks who held that swearing was really really bad but seemed to have a more relaxed approach to violence ("parents should physically discipline their children" / "he just needs a slap").

* Increasing the danger to someone's health and possibly life by blocking the bike lane not equivalent to fruity language.  Really, really not - aside from them being utterly different actions anyway.

Aye. Pretty much all of this. 

Is it just me or does anyone else find that the policeman looks a nasty piece of work and doesn't care about the danger he's causing? Try shouting danger or attention instead to warn dangerous people.