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Video: Was this cyclist right to take this motorist to task?

Helmet camera user follows driver into Lidl car park to complain about 'dangerous' overtake...

Helmet camera footage can be found everywhere from YouTube to the national media these days, and can also help convict motorists involved in collisions or altercations with cyclists, or who are simply enjoying their breakfast while attempting to drive a car.

Video: Woman caught eating bowl of cereal while driving

But are some cyclists overdoing it? Have a look at this video, posted to YouTube last month showing a cyclist remonstrating with a motorist he believed had endangered him after she overtook him then turned left into a branch of Lidl to do her shopping.

Is it really that bad of an overtake? Was the cyclist justified in following the driver into the car park and then take her to task for what he saw as her poor driving? Who was being more reasonable, the cyclist or the driver? And would the situation have been different if the person in the car had been a 6' 4" builder?

The commenters on YouTube are pretty unanimous in their thoughts. Let us know your views in the comments below.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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71 comments

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BikerBob | 8 years ago
3 likes

Makes me cringe to watch it...........the bloke is a complete tw*t

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csdnorton | 8 years ago
2 likes

I'd like to see him try that on Ronnie Pickering!!!

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mlimburn | 8 years ago
3 likes

If he thinks that's dangerou he should give up cycling.  To be honest he needs to look at his skills and abilities first.  Should hae had ahigher road position with those traffic islands, and 5 seconds I countedfrom her turning until he got to the turn in.

 

Some people shouldn't have a bike but if they must then don't let them have a camera as well!

 

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thehairs1970 | 8 years ago
1 like

Bikebikebike says something fishy. No. This was just a pollock of a cyclist who I suspect was having a bad day. She did not turn on top of him at all. He did need to slow down. Period.

 

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Colsa | 8 years ago
1 like

Personally the vehicle may have been slightly close to the bike but it was signalling it's intention and the guy on the bike should have had proper road awareness to realise this. It was obvious that the lady driver intended to turn left and she made the manouvre with plenty of space. Biker is totally out of order and so much for him saying "I will delete this when i get home."

It's people like him to give the rest of us a bad rep.

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Chuck | 8 years ago
1 like

When the car went past I was thinking "It's obviously not this one that's going to annoy him..."

But then, oh, it was.

He's well out of order and the driver handled it far more reasonably than he deserved.

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Ush | 8 years ago
1 like

She comes across really well in this! Seems like a very cool person. It's hard to judge from the camera, but it didn't really look like he was cut up in this at all.

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gethinceri | 8 years ago
2 likes

He's an offensive bully who forced the driver to apologise. Nasty, nasty bully.

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oldstrath | 8 years ago
3 likes

He was clearly over the top with his reaction. On the other hand, it wouldn't have hurt the driver to wait 5 seconds. Most of us would have ignored it, but maybe his rant might make her think a tiny bit next time.

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HalfWheeler | 8 years ago
1 like

If it's real (and it probably is) then the cyclist is a sanctimonious tosser.

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StraelGuy | 8 years ago
0 likes

That cyclist was a massive bellend, she was about 100 yards ahead of him!

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FluffyKittenofT... | 8 years ago
1 like

Surely this has to be a parody?  Of all the bits of driving to choose to call out he chooses this one?  Weird.

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DingDongBell | 8 years ago
1 like

The car drive didn't cause the cyclist to brake or to change direction and no offence was committed by the driver on this occasion. Had the left turn taken place a few seconds later (and this often happens) then driving without due care and attention would have been the appropriate offence or, perhaps, reckless driving. Cyclist needs to be careful with language, however, as that may constitute a public order offence.

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moghandour77 | 8 years ago
1 like

i am a cyclist and i get much more "close calls" on people overtaking and turning , especially those who have their side mirrors folded...

the dangerous bit i thought would be the overtaking while next to a crossing island...

that guy needs to chill...and yeah i don't like that he said he will delete it , and he hasnt (and of course there is teh possibility of this being a total fake again) 

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philly | 8 years ago
0 likes

Nasty bloke. Cashing in on YouTube eh?!

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Johnny25 | 8 years ago
1 like

Why is this person videoing himself riding  down a high street? I just don't understand it. Is it sexual frustration or something? 

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Johnny25 | 8 years ago
0 likes

Why is this person videoing himself riding  down a high street? I just don't understand it. Is it sexual frustration or something? 

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brooksby | 8 years ago
2 likes

Erm - no, he shouldn't have taken the motorist to task. Rubbish overtaking by the traffic island, but not dangerous and not *really* a left hook. Unless I've just got some motoring version of Stockholm syndrome...

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HLaB | 8 years ago
0 likes

That can't be genuine !

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mrfree | 8 years ago
0 likes

Absolute class A doooooooooshhhhh bag.

I coulda been in hospital and I coulda also been a magical fairy panzy-pie.

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Brawn | 8 years ago
0 likes

The video has been removed by the user. Better late than never.

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Airzound | 8 years ago
1 like

I would love it for this woman to be an off duty police officer.

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ironmancole | 8 years ago
2 likes

I suspect he's actually a petrolhead who borrowed a bike then rode 100m or so with a friend driving past playing the role of 'much put upon and needlessly harrowed motorist poor us' just to troll cyclists who do actually have to put up with passes that are scary and reckless.

Just think, if the sort of crap we have to put up with happened between pedestrians walking down the street it would look like a mass brawl requiring police intervention.  Put it on the roads however and it's called a 'transport system'.

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Eric D | 8 years ago
0 likes
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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Ush | 8 years ago
1 like

Ush wrote:

She comes across really well in this! Seems like a very cool person. It's hard to judge from the camera, but it didn't really look like he was cut up in this at all.

Perhaps there's a general rule that the more appalling the driving the more crazed the driver's response will be, and the more unjustified the cyclist moan is, the more polite the response is?

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Low Speed Wobble replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 8 years ago
0 likes

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Surely this has to be a parody?  Of all the bits of driving to choose to call out he chooses this one?  Weird.

It's not a parody. Helmet cams have simply given insignificant busybodies the wherewithal to become policemen, judges and jury by proxy. There's no doubt cameras have proved their worth, but not in the hands (or the helmets) of people like this. I hope he's looking at it again and feeling ashamed of himself. I doubt it though. He's probably out trawling the highways for some other unsuspecting motorist. I wonder if he drives? Maybe he doesn't / can't and feels aggrieved in some way. Is there a psychoanalyst in the house?

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bikebot replied to Johnny25 | 8 years ago
4 likes

Johnny25 wrote:

Why is this person videoing himself riding  down a high street? I just don't understand it. Is it sexual frustration or something? 

Wrong question. Thousands of us do that and you know why.

The correct question is, why is he uploading it? Maybe he wants other people to tell him how bad his perception of risk is.  Maybe it's performance art. Maybe trolling on youtube has now skipped past the comments and gone straight to the video. Maybe it's some sort of clever marketing campaign for Lidl!

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hawkinspeter | 8 years ago
2 likes

At first look, there appeared to be plenty of room and enough space for the car to turn left. After watching a second time, I'd maybe be concerned (if I was the cyclist) about the left turn being a bit close, but the overtake looked safe enough to me.

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bontana | 8 years ago
3 likes

Disagree folks. I think that overtake is totally unnecessary. She is indicating left as she overtakes. If i am driving and decide to indicate to make a turn, i dont overtake something moving to do it......that is just dangerous and stupid. Fair enough, it might not be a "left hook" but that shouldnt be standard that we apply to safe/unsafe overtakes.

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moonbucket | 8 years ago
3 likes

He reacts as if but for his superhuman braking he would have been pranged right into the side of the nice girl's car.

If he really believes that is what happened I think I would be asking questions of his spatial awareness and general suitability to be on the public road at all.

We've all had some close (or worse) incidents but this wasn't one of them - and it does make one wonder how many cyclists, with the twin cameras fitted, are now so heightened it's distorting their reality.

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