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news
Cyclist at Shard.pngVIDEO: Cyclist staring at Shard runs head first into BMW
A cyclist who was distracted by London’s landmark The Shard was caught on camera this week smashing head first into a BMW that was dawdling on the wrong side of the road.
The rider, who was peering into the luxury Shangri-La Hotel in the Shard, appeared not to notice the car, seemingly waiting to pick up a passenger.
The incident, which happened at around 9.15am on Sunday, saw the cyclist flung onto the bonnet of the car.
Appearing not to be badly hurt, he began shouting at the driver.
Kevin Portch, 53, captured the odd incident on the dash cam of his taxi, which was waiting nearby.
He told the Mirror: "I didn't see what happened live, it was only when I heard shouting that I looked out the window and saw the cyclist and the driver arguing.
"I immediately got called out to a job so I didn't see the end of it but they both seemed to be blaming each other.
"The only reason I could think that it could have happened is that the BMW would be parking up because it is a two-way street.
"If you look carefully, you can just see the cyclist take a quick look in the hotel because you often get quite a few Lamborghinis and posh cars in there so whether that distracted him or not, I'm not sure."
He added: "I've been a cabbie for a long time and you see a lot of things happen on the city streets between cyclists and cars as you drive around.
"But I've never seen anything like it with a car basically at walking speed on the wrong side of the road."
Last year, we reported how a video emerged of the moment when a cyclist riding through north-east London hit a pothole and somersaulted into a parked car.
The man is heading up Cazenove Road in Stamford Hill when a sudden jolt appears to jar his hands off the handlebars. Falling forwards, he goes head over heels and somehow flings the bike onto the bonnet of a parked Lexus in which the camera is placed.
Mr Filip, who captured the footage, said the cyclist was largely unharmed and in fact hurried off after the incident, saying that he was late.
“I just saw the bike flying towards me. I wasn’t sure what was going on and then I saw him pick himself up.
"It was shocking – he could easily have smashed into the windscreen and into my face. He didn’t need medical treatment but he had quite a bit of blood on his head and his hand. He was in a rush to get somewhere and he said he was quite late.”
Latest Comments
- Saracen888 6 min 23 sec ago
That's a great price. Just bear in mind Import duty and handling charges will be applied pre delivery.
- Paul J 8 min 7 sec ago
It's a standard technique. See my longer comment....
- open_roads 10 min 49 sec ago
It is a big deal when the other media reported facts* are taken into account:...
- rogerwb 31 min 43 sec ago
I came here after reading that, could not believe it.
- NotNigel 39 min 17 sec ago
My word, the comments don't get any better the further back in time the articles are.
- bikes 52 min 3 sec ago
It happens so often that people need to drive expecting it to happen. People walk / jog across the road without looking all the time, particularly...
- Griff500 1 hour 28 min ago
Yep, I appreciate your problem. I wouldn't buy a bike without at least sitting on the same frame configuration on a trainer in the shop, something...
- Secret_squirrel 2 hours 42 min ago
One less thing to clutter up your jersey pockets no? Though difficult to retrieve in a hurry...
- David9694 3 hours 34 min ago
was it one of these? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411246675771?
- lesterama 3 hours 51 min ago
Houchen is utterly corrupt and morally bankrupt, as readers of Private Eye know all too well.
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24 comments
Given that the crossing is from London Bridge UG to Guys Hospital, I'm surpised he didn't collect a number of pedestrians who just walk across the road with their heads looking up at the Shard or looking for correct Guys clinic.
Cycling on the correct side of the road doesn't give you super powers of righteousness against the unexpected.
Telling St Peter at the pearly gates that it really wasn't your fault is a bit late.
I don't understand this.... why did he not swerve / stop / slow down? I get the car is on the wrong side, maybe it even swung over and we are simply seeing the end of the manouvre but still, that bloke is not reading the road and hazards that well. (I don't need a flaming please, I'm not victim blaming or any of that shit, I'm just trying to work out why the guy couldn't avoid it.). Maybe my spidey sense is more hyped from being taken out several times myself but I'm pretty sure I'd have read that one.
I think that's about as clear cut as it gets, don't see any complications at all.
Two way street, cyclist on his side travelling in the correct direction...BMW (no surprise there really) driving on the carriageway on the wrong side of the road.
Reverse the situation and try arguing the cyclist wasn't at fault if the car was on the correct side of the road...it wouldn't wash.
If you choose to switch to opposite sides of the road against opposing traffic flow and subsequently hit someone it is quite simply your fault.
Careless driving at best.
Well done Road.cc astoundingly crap headline and journalism on this one. Wow
The video I saw shows a distracted BMW driver on the wrong side of the road, at considerably more than walking pace, hitting an oncoming cyclist at a crossing. I can't see how there can be any blame on the cyclist here.
..because even though the car shouldn't have been there, the cyclist should perhaps have noticed it whilst riding - it could have been something rather more prone to damage like a person. If you're on the road, try and keep your attention on the road (and surroundings). That said, difficult to tell exactly how the car got to be there (speed, direction, swerved ?) - but I think it's not unreasonable to say that there was at least a small contribution to the incident from the cyclist.
'hitting an oncoming cyclist at a crossing' - rather misleading and technically incorrect (hit in the prohibition zone by the crossing) and does introduce a not inconsiderable amount of innuendo.
You seem to think the cyclist didn't notice the BMW. Please note that cyclist grabs the brakes before the car is in shot and that we can't see anything from the cyclist's perspective.
Not didn't see, but didn't see in time to stop and didn't avoid - but see my reply to FluffyKitten above.
Indeed, that's what I was saying - it was just the innuendo I think I took umbrage with.
But would a pedestrian have been that large and hard to swerve around? (I know obesity is on the increase, but...). Or moving at that speed directly towards the cyclist?
You might expect to see a pedestrian, but cars on the wrong side of the road, going in the wrong direction, take a moment to process, because they don't fit what you are expecting to see (maybe worse because they _partly_ fit, but not in one crucial respect). I nearly got run down as a pedestrian by a car on the wrong side of a pedestrian island (the driver was also jumping a red at the time). The confusion as to why the car was there definitely slowed my reaction in jumping back. It took me several seconds even after to work out what had happened.
I don't see the cyclist can necessarily be blamed for having a brain-freeze in a situation like that.
I get what you're saying and am coming the conclusion you're probably right and i'm not. Certainly the more I look at the video, the more culpable I think the BMW driver is. My view was predicated on us being told the cyclist is gazing at the building and so couldn't see the BMW in time to avoid hitting - but i'm not sure that's what's happening now. No - the BMW didn't hit the cyclist, just, (and certainly not a crossing) but it just looks worse each time I review it. Wish we had another view on this, but regardless it's something that you'd hope he gets pulled up for. Fat chance on that though..
1 minute you are cycling along with a clear lane ahead of you, you get distracted for just a just a few seconds and the next thing a car is coming towards you on the wrong side of the road. It takes a moment for the old brain to work out what is wrong in this picture and before you know it you are grabbing the brake levers and thinking "fuck I wish I'd bought a bike with disc brakes, but at least I'm wearing my fuzzy bubble force field helmet" as you face plant into the windshield.
Could happen to any one of us no matter how clever we think we are.
From the shadows it looks like the cyclist is riding directly into the sun, so maybe the dark BMW was actually difficult to see.
Relieved to see the cyclist was able to walk away from that. To quote the CEO of a certain Irish airline, that BMW driver should be taken out and shot.
why is the headline not
"BMW driver on wrong side of the road hits cyclist"?
Your headline and report are a little bizarre. Somebody driving on the wrong side of the road collides with a bike and some how it's the cyclists fault?! If you watch the video on Youtube it's clear the car was travelling quite fast, not necessarily stopping, brakes at the last minute and makes no attempt to avoid cyclist.
"Cyclist gawping at the Shard"? How about "idiot driver on the wrong side of the road runs into cyclist"? In other words, why isn't the blame on the guy going the wrong way, or are you now cutting out the fluff and going straight to the victim blaming?
Although the cyclist took it on the chin in the accident the BMW driver will have to take it on the chin in respect of any damages as he was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Why would any competent cyclist cycle straight into a car, even if it was driving slowly towards them on their side of the road? It was a straight road with little/no traffic, with good visibility. The cyclist didn't even seem to slow down!
On the crossing zigzag, where there should be nothing stopped, let alone coming towards him.
Fine, he shouldn't have hit the car, but also the car shouldn't have been there - just blaming the cyclist seems extreme.
Neither did the car and don't forget only one of them should have been travelling on that side of the road and it wasn't the car!
That's an interesting one:
You should be looking where you are going but the BMW is moving too right up to the collision. Of course you can't see where the cyclist is looking as someone has smudged the video.
The BMW's on the wrong side of the road, so as they are both moving I'd blame the BMW driver. If the driver claims they had stopped then they are on zig-zags and / or a red route and should get points on their licence anyway.
Glad the cyclist was obviously UNhurt.
I take it you mean 'unhurt'!
LOL yes - thanks will go back and edit.
In what universe is the cyclist not responsible for looking where he's going? This was an easily avoidable accident.
Yes, the BMW was doing something illegal/unexpected at the time.
But the cyclist has the responsibility to look in the direction he is traveling. Period.
Zig-zags or not, the road is not a "look once, then head down and drive" situation. Driving through everyday traffic is not equivalent to riding a closed course like the Giro.
That could have been an emergency vehicle (permitted to selectively ignore normal traffic laws). It could have been a pedestrian. It could have been a child. It could have been a dog. It could have been a tree branch/ball/pothole/anything.
Changing the behavior or identity of the BMW does not avert the accident, nor does it change the fault. As long as the cyclist isn't looking where he's going and he is traveling at a speed where he cannot react to road hazards, he's riding dangerously and is at fault for his actions. This is the biggest flaw in "cyclist" mentality. They expect that because there is a system of laws that everything on the road will adhere to these and if they don't, they can just stand there with blame finger extended. Idiocy. People like this are trying for a Darwin Award more than Leo worked for his Oscar.
100% fault on cyclist. Plus ticket to BMW driver for driving/parking on the wrong side of the road. Easy.
Am I watching a different video? I'm not seeing a distracted cyclist riding into an "idling" car. I'm seeing a moving car, on the wrong side of the road, driving straight into a cyclist.
Totally agree. The car is clearly driving on the wrong side of the road; yes, it was probably about to stop (and I bet they'd intended to park further along if it hadn't been for that pesky cyclist), but at the time of the collision it was still moving, and on the wrong side of the road.
If the cyclist was allegedly distracted by looking into the building, how do we describe the motorist who was DRIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD?