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news
One London cyclist’s video reports to police in 2018 alone saw drivers fined almost £12,000 (+ video)
London bike commuter and action camera user CycleGaz has posted a video to his YouTube channel that brings together all the reports he made to the Metropolitan Police in 2018 and provides a compelling answer to the question of why cyclists record footage of their rides.
Writing on his Croydon Cyclist blog after receiving the final update on the last two cases this week, Gaz revealed that he had submitted 65 videos to the Met during 2018.
Of those, 23 resulted in no action being taken, while two motorists received warning letters and nine were given driver awareness courses.
But 11 received fixed penalty notices and 20 went to court, which Gaz said resulted in a total of 151 points being issued on driving licences, fines adding up to £11,834 and one driver being banned for six months.
Running to more than half an hour, the compilation video reveals the regular danger from motorists that someone simply trying to get to and from work on two wheels faces on London's roads.
“A lot of my reports in 2018 was me testing the waters to see what they would and what they wouldn’t take action on,” Gaz said.
“It certainly isn’t clear from some of them where this boundary is.
“Similar offences aren’t always treated the same, and in the cases where near identical incidences have had action taken, they won’t use that as a reason to take action.”
Gaz added that more than 10,000 reports were submitted to the Met through its system in 2018, meaning that his accounted for less than 1 per cent of the total.
“If my reports are generating 151 points issued and more than £11,000 in fines, then what else is being achieved at the moment by the other reports?” he asked.
“Hopefully with each successful report, a person learns that they need to drive safely on our roads.”
We’re aware through what many readers who submit videos to our Near Miss of the Day feature tell us that one reason cyclists decide to start recording their journeys is to provide evidence of poor or dangerous driving, especially if they get knocked off their bike, and Gaz is no exception.
“I started filming in late 2009, I was hit off my bike on the way home from work one evening in 2009,” he explained. “The police attended, as did an ambulance.
“However, it was my word against the driver, so no action was taken. Only a handful of people were filming back then.”
In his post, Gaz recounts how the method of reporting videos to the Met has evolved – at one point, the process became so cumbersome, he stopped doing it for a while – but the current process gets a thumbs-up from him.
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.
Latest Comments
- open_roads 11 min 3 sec ago
It is a big deal when the other media reported facts* are taken into account:...
- Paul J 17 min 44 sec ago
" Pogačar even dismissing the practice as a “pretty simple test” "...
- rogerwb 31 min 57 sec ago
I came here after reading that, could not believe it.
- NotNigel 39 min 31 sec ago
My word, the comments don't get any better the further back in time the articles are.
- bikes 52 min 17 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.
- hawkinspeter 3 hours 55 min ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd7n1l72j9wo
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30 comments
26:00 no front tyre - wtf?
And the best part. They had just gone past a Quickfit!
Alarming number of 'failed to nominate, 6 points, £826 fine'. At last the law comes down hard on those that think they can just ignore it.
There's you go plod, watch and learn - granted its not quite as easy as bleating about resources whilst watching porn and eating donuts.
Continuing to watch this now, and am amazed at the number of times the cyclist interacts with the driver or the motorcyclist/scooterist. Even sometimes hitting the side of the vehicle.
On every single occasion except one, the mere fact that I exclaimed aloud, has resulted in the police refusing to take action, because I 'responded aggressively'. And on the one time they did follow up, they only did so because after I'd asked the driver if he'd mind not killing me, he proceeded to do another punishment pass, and that's the one he got the driver awareness course for. The first one? Well, the Met couldn't have given a shit.
British police really are appalling.
(yes, yes ... 'budget cuts' etc. But the police in this country are supposed to be independent, and within reason, they get to spend their money how they like. If many of them are spending it on policing social media and not targeting dangerous drivers, it's a choice on their part)
Yeah.
But you did respond aggressively. I'm amazed some of them didn't remonstrate with you (or worse). That may be why the police don't prosecute ~ you're techically committing a public order offence.
I do worry that the prevailing advice of taking the lane (if you're in the middle of the lane you've taken ALL the lane) isn't lulling cyclists into a false sense of security.
If I'm in London I expect vehicles to get get close and try and intimidate me.
Just old fashioned I suppose with too much time spent on chain gangs & racing.
If you think this is close try two wheels in SE Asia. Proper close and I didn't see anything approaching an accident. That said horns are used ALL the time. That way everybody knows where everyone else is ~ loved it.
Thanks for reading - I'll await the abuse.
Take care y'all....
I submitted 110 videos last year, of which around sixty were classed as 'no further action'.
Ouch! I submitted 124 last year, 34 where no further action
Hi Gaz. I've been watching your videos for years. Thanks for posting them.
You need to give yourself (and drivers) more of a chance though - get a MIRROR. Preferable a helmet one that moves with your head. You can then see what the vehicles behind you are doing, claim the lane etc or use your arms to direct them away from you etc. I've had mirrors on my helmets for over 20 years and would never ride without one (+ my FLY6 now). All the best, Paul
I commuted regularly in London 30 years ago, with few problems - from the video, I'm glad I'm not doing it now.
Makes me glad that my 18 mile commute is generally on non-urban roads in Hampshire. I rarely have anything to complain about!
@cyclegaz - how often do you see driving which is worth reporting? I'm expecting the answer 'every day'...
(By the way, the 'driving with no front wheel/tyre' was the most gob-smacking ).
The answer is most deffinetly not everyday. Something like every 120 miles on average is when I report something
But he had his hazards on...
Absolutely amazing. Watched the whole thing. The number of people that go through to court is unreal, staggering arrogance.
And what's that about driving through a zebra with people on it only getting an awareness course. Holy hell.
I see mobile phone use behind the wheel every time i go out of the house. Time to make the punishment a real deterrent. 6 months instant ban, £1000 fine and 9 points. No ifs or buts. The message will soon get across. Only thing is, we'll need more police to enforce this. Ah, er......
There was a big dent in the taxi after 5 mins.
The number of people on a phone was worrying. The response from the met was absurd, some people fined and some let off. It is time to make phone use as unacceptable as drink driving.
Just over 1 minute and I am banging on the side of that fiat twat.
Looks like we could pay off the national debt in a few years if all the incidents we see on this site were reported to the police and they took action.
I didn't watch the whole thing, but at least one was his own fault, no 10 I think, where he moves into a left turn lane and is upset when a van turns left in front of him but he goes straight on, but the rest! Keep up the good work and thank you.
The one you are reffering to was annoying. Because when I did my shoulder check he wasn't indicating. The bus lane throws me into the left turn lane, I thought the van was going straight on so stayed in that left turn lane so I could slot in behind him and not hold him up.
However as soon as I finished my shoulder check, he started indicating and then next thing I know he's coming across me.
So I was trying to not get in the drivers way to avoid conflict, and then it put me into conflict. Annoying for me as I try as hard as possible to be a good cyclist and to avoid conflict and this just unfolded in a fashion where shoulder checking a second later would have resulted in a different situation.
OK, I see where you're coming from, but from the driver's point of view, you were in the left turn lane going left, and when he turns his indicators on isn't dependent on whether the cyclist in front of him has seen it. To be fair, if I was driving that van I probably would have slowed down enough so that I didn't overtake before the turn, but I can see why the driver might have thought it was OK to overtake.
However even if I was turning left, they still cut right across me too close.
The number of people caught using their mobiles is shocking, the worrying thing this is the tip of the iceberg
They don't see anythign wrong with it do they?! "oh it was *just* a quick call". "I'm stationary in traffic". "it's just a few seconds". Or of course the standard fall-back of "**** off and mind your own business".
Err, you using your phone IS my business because YOU could kill me!
Not going to lie, I made it all of 2 minutes into that video before my anxiety got too high and I had to stop it. Even though it wasn't me the fight or flight was starting to build. Fair play to the rider in question, he seemed to keep a level head in the bits that I did watch, all things considered.
Time for a cycle force of heavily armed cyclists. I would like to see tigers let loose in the homes of these driver criminals or some kind of " plasma weapon " that makes their eyes explode and they can only see in purple or kill the mums favourite poet and don't forget facial recognition and intimate strip searches .
The police obviously should be properly resourced to do this themselves, with unmarked cyclists, pedestrians etc... It shouldn't be down to members of the public to spend their time doing this. In the real world, we all know that's not going to happen.
There should be a national reporting system, which would avoid each force reinventing the wheel in terms of systems to report and upload incidents.
Such a system could easily self-fund off the back of fines, though obviously politicians would be too afraid to actually implement that...
It would also allow a well trained, dedicated national team to ensure a consistent approach. I'd agree wholeheartedly that there's a fair bit of inconsistency with how the Met has dealt with these.
As it appears that some police forces are anti-cyclist *cough*MET*cough* it makes sense for the cyclists involved to use cameras and ultimately there's a lot more cyclists than there are police. Maybe the much publicised review into road traffic enforcement will address this issue?
So the Met system is being used in around 12 or so of the police forces in the UK, there are around 40 if I recall correctly.
However, it's just the front that is being used, the back room staff that go through the reports and deals with the paperwork doesn't exist in some of the other forces. Resulting in poor action being taken.
Kudos to Gaz, and CyclingMikey is also good at reminding drivers of their responsibilities while on the roads.
Absolutely kudos to them for their efforts,but the only drivers that get reminders about their responsibilities are those that get caught by them.
The rest carry on doing the exact same stuff, just not when theres a cyclist with a camera around willing to report it,so remain blissfully unaware they are even doing anything wrong, and arent about to change their behaviours.
There are almost certainly junctions in London where there are more than 10,000 vehicles passing thru daily, which gives you the impression even 10,000 reports a year is barely scratching the surface or having a measurable impact on the collected driver consciousness to give cyclists space.
The problem is that more and more cyclists are choosing not to mix it with the traffic, so drivers are not educated by their presence just as there are fewer opprotunities to collect evidence. I keep saying this, but cyclists off the road is very much a double edged sword.