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'Police' scold cyclist riding with pet cat in basket for not wearing a helmet after moped rider knocks them off (@sigirides/Twitter)'Police' scold cyclist riding with pet cat in basket for not wearing a helmet after moped rider knocks them off bike
Footage of a cyclist in London, riding with their pet cat in the bike's basket, has gone viral online, the video showing the moment the pair were knocked off their bike by a moped rider, only for advice from a police officer pulling up at the scene in an unmarked car with blue lights flashing recommending the cyclist wears a helmet.
Travis Nelson and his feline passenger Sigrid, a deaf Norwegian Forest cat, have become something of an internet sensation, the Londoner sharing videos of the pair exploring the English capital by bike. Travis has been a guest on the road.cc Podcast, the double-act having more than 150,000 followers on Instagram and more than 21 million likes on TikTok.
> Meet Travis the human and Sigrid the cat, the viral sensations who have just switched to an e-bike
The pair's most recent video has been viewed more than 2.4 million times on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, and captured the moment an "impatient, close passing moped driver knocked us off our bike" in London on Monday.
Impatient, close passing moped driver knocked us off our bike today. Fortunately the police (?) were right behind us, so they could scold me for not wearing a helmet and then leave. First time off my bike since 2007.
Sigrid is fine; my knee is messed up, can't ride for a bit. pic.twitter.com/LdAESnSXnO
— Travis and Sigrid (@sigirides) November 13, 2023
The crash footage is shocking enough, with Sigrid falling from the HumanForest hire bike's basket towards the moped. All involved were thankfully uninjured, aside from a "bruised up butt cheek and aching knee", Travis tells us.
In the aftermath of the collision, an unmarked vehicle with blue flashing lights stopped at the scene. A woman, later confirmed by the Met to be a police officer, got out to first check everyone was okay, but then advised Travis to wear a helmet when cycling.
"You've not got a helmet on," the plain-clothes officer said. "I recommend wearing a helmet."
Travis later told his social media followers, "If anyone can fill me on how a helmet would have prevent this motorist from driving into me, I'd love to hear it."
Recalling the possible police advice given at the scene of the incident on Clerkenwell Road near Old Street, Travis told road.cc: "She asked if I was ok, asked if I was sure, then said the helmet thing. She didn't mention being police or anything (that's why I had the question mark in my post)... but they had the blue lights."
Responding to road.cc’s request for clarification on the vehicle and the police’s role following the incident, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that officers in an unmarked car had indeed stopped at the scene of the collision, offering medical assistance and creating a police incident report.
However, the Met also claimed that both parties involved in the collision told the officers that they did not wish to report the matter to the police.
“Police are aware of a road traffic collision that occurred at around 13.45hrs on Monday, 13 November in Clerkenwell Road EC1. A moped was in collision with a bicycle,” the Met spokesperson told road.cc.
“An unmarked police car was passing the scene during the aftermath of the collision and stopped at the scene.
“Blue lights were utilised to ensure the safety of all road users and an officer offered medical assistance. This was declined by both parties – with no injuries disclosed.
“Neither party indicated a wish to report the matter and a police incident report was created. Road safety advice was given to both parties, who then left the scene. Should any of the parties involved wish to report any concerns to police we would encourage them to do so.”
The spokesperson continued: “Police are aware of video footage of the collision and interactions afterwards circulating on social media platforms. It should be noted that this footage is heavily edited.
“All road users should be mindful and abide by the Highway Code and Road Traffic Act and consider the space needed for themselves and other road users when using London roads.”
> Government shuts down mandatory cycling helmets question from Conservative MP
It is Travis' first time off his bike since 2007, but fortunately "Sigrid is fine; my knee is messed up, can't ride for a bit".
"This is exactly why I don't like to stop for red lights," he wrote on social media. "Inattentive or impatient motorists frequently hit cyclists when the light turns green. Note also, I was in an ASL (Advanced Stop Line), meant to prevent exactly this kind of negligence."
This image is seared into my brain. At this moment the only thing going through my mind was "please don't go under the tires". pic.twitter.com/iGM4wm9AGO
— Travis and Sigrid (@sigirides) November 13, 2023
Speaking to our sister website e-bike tips back in September, Travis explained how Sigrid usually travels in a unique set-up, with a specially designed pet basket which attaches to the bars of Travis' bike, a fixed gear track bike built for street riding, and even occasionally wears goggles specifically designed for pets.
At the time of Monday's incident however, he was using one of HumanForest's hire bikes.
Explaining their usual set-up, Travis told ebiketips: "The basket is a Doggy Shopper by Klickfix Rixen & Kaul. They were the first sponsor we ever had and sent us their top-of-the-line basket to replace my cheap Amazon one. Over the past couple years I've customised it quite a bit to suit our particular needs."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
Latest Comments
- Willd 6 min 7 sec ago
The section being talked about is the southern part of Clifford Bridge Road from the B4082 to the B4027. A cycle route of sorts already exists on...
- Rapha Nadal 12 min 52 sec ago
I'd buy a motorbike fo rthat kind of money!
- IanMK 18 min 50 sec ago
It's tempting to get in to whataboutery. However, looking at Google maps I can't see why users would leave their Lime bike there. The one thing I...
- Car Delenda Est 23 min 31 sec ago
I'd charge high income offenders with the cost of their imprisonment. If it's income from assets charge them twice.
- hawkinspeter 31 min 38 sec ago
Article on the BBC - "thousands" demand halt: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6296300l05o
- wtjs 10 hours 34 min ago
There is an increasing 'disconnect' between comments in this topic and reality. Cords are either all cotton or mostly cotton and are going to last...
- ktache 11 hours 6 min ago
There are people out there who will make you the belt out of your old tyre.
- chrisonabike 11 hours 7 min ago
Furry dice and an air freshener for your helmet.
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130 comments
Sound advice? Wonder if they wpuld advise assault victims to buy face guards...
I would have preferred if she focused on the moped driver who was 100% responsible for the collision. Maybe the moped driver has done this kind of thing hundreds of times with no consequences? Maybe he's drunk / drugged?
Imagine you'd been burgled and you're standing next to the burglar and the police, do you think the police should start with you?
Cop: "I hear you've been burgled - I recommend putting padlocks on all your expensive possessions"
Victim: "The burglar is standing there right next to you. Aren't you going to do anything?"
Cop: "There's nothing wrong with giving friendly advice"
A helmet would neither have prevented the accident, nor would it have protected his knee.
Will the police be advising cyclists to wear knee pads from now on? And elbow pads? And back protectors? And chest protectors? And neck protectors? And... etc.
Idiocy.
And note that the police (if they were police) chose to spend their time lecturing the cyclist rather than setting off after the actual perpetrator of the offence.
I agree with your point, except it looks like the moped driver who caused the accident didn't drive off? At least not immediately.
I trust that the police gave the moped rider a Stern Talking-to, then?
No. They were clearly wearing a helmet.
Statistically, more lives would be saved by drivers and front seat passengers wearing crash helmets than if all cyclists wore them.
So in the interests of reducing serious injuries to herself the female officer should have been wearing a crash helmet whilst in the car.
And a hans device, should cut down on the whiplash claims and reduce the cost of insurance
The moped rider should have stopped, the police could have been more diplomatic...but did the cyclist not ride off at an angle? If I had been cycling where the moped went I would have been calling for him to look to his right.
If the cyclist has assessed that it's safe for him to proceed, which he obviously has, then it's fine. He's in front of all other traffic and the highway code states others must give way to him, since he's a vulnerable road user.
Oh jog on. He's taken up a position at the junction where he is clearly, obviously, definitely going to head right. The guy on the moped then squeezes past, on the right, through a restriction that was barely the width of his vehicle in the first place, two meters before an acre of empty tarmac opens up that would have allowed him to overtake as safely and easily as anyone could possibly desire. But somehow it was the cyclist's fault for not seeing it coming?
Looks like the moped rider did stop otherwise they would have committed a greater offence. The police officer should have at least ensured that the moped rider gave his details in case of any damage/injury not noticed at the time and told them to report it on 101.
That's the sense of the word priority: he's in front so he has priority. Which is also the use of ASLs, to give cyclists priority und this protect them (somewhat) from motorised traffic. As the cyclist himself points out...
I can imagine this is the type of reporting that really hacks off police officers. The officer stops to make sure he is okay, is clearly concerned and rather pleasently says, "I recommend wearing a helmet".
I also recommend wearing a helmet; but don't give a sh1t if you don't. She forgot to add the second part of the sentence, which was clearly a mistake.
How often do Police recomend pedestrians involved in RTAs should wear helmets? how many car crash occupants are told they should wear a helmet?
You'd think that cyclists were getting head injuries once a month from the helmet clamour.
11.2 fatal head injuries per BILLION km cycled
Did she talk to the idiot on the moped, maybe recommend he doesn't squeeze through gaps that aren't there? Nope.
Desperately feeling the need to make a whataboutery comment.
Sounds as if the lady is simply stating her own opinion in a friendly manner, she's not telling him off for not wearing a helmet, saying that anything is his fault for not wearing a helmet or claiming that wearing a helmet would've prevented the crash. Mr Nelson appears to be making a very large mountain of a very small molehill. Personally I'm a lot less concerned about him not wearing a helmet and a lot more worried about the safety of Sigrid, his own photograph shows just how close she came to being mutilated or killed; I personally wouldn't risk the safety of any of my three much-loved little blighters on a bike in London traffic for a second, however many TikTok likes it got me.
I agree. All cyclists are allowed to do as they please, as it should be, but sometimes people go a bit far.
OK, I'll bite: why are you using a picture of me lifted from YouTube as your avatar?
OMG - really??
Yep, it's from the video of the end of my charity ride to which so many road.cc readers contributed so generously in December 2021!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIy8zdHuLP4
Okay, that's actually quite funny.
Is that what you look like!
Not quite sure what you're talking about. That's a picture of me.
Don't play silly buggers mate, the link to my video is above, everyone can see you're using my image – I'm not that bothered if that pleases you for some bizarre reason, I'm just wondering why?
Maybe all road.cc new members automatically get a "Rendel Harris Lookalike Avatar" as standard as this is your personal community?
I'm not playing mate. I've shaved since I took the pic but I don't think it takes much these days to be a bald bloke with a beard.
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