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Taxi driver warns CyclingMikey he will "end up needing the dentist" (CyclingMikey/YouTube)Taxi driver warns CyclingMikey he will "end up needing the dentist" after challenging phone use
CyclingMikey's latest video shows a London taxi driver telling him he will "end up needing the dentist" after he challenged the professional driver's mobile phone use behind the wheel.
The cab driver was reported to the Metropolitan Police by the road safety campaigner and YouTuber, real name Mike van Erp, but avoided police prosecution due to staff dealing with an IT system change, Mikey saying they had been left understaffed and the report ran out of time.
Filmed in Hyde Park in July of last year, the footage shows the taxi driver moving forward while holding a mobile device in his hand for several metres before Mikey asks: "What's that you're holding in your left hand?"
"Mate, I'm doing two miles an hour, I'm not in a very good mood, I suggest you just jog on," the man replied. "I'm really not very happy. You can film me all you like, mate, but you're going to end up needing the dentist, now piss off."
In response to being told the footage will be going to the police, the taxi driver replied: "You can do what you like."
Sharing the video on YouTube to his 94,000 subscribers, Mikey said the driver is "supposedly professional" but "you don't seem like London's Finest to me with your phone use and rude and unprofessional threatening behaviour. I suggest you pull your socks up."
And while he reported that the Metropolitan Police had begun prosecuting, they apparently ran out of time, Mikey suggesting that "the Allegations Team at Marlowe House were coping with an IT system change and were understaffed and overworked".
> Tired of road crime": CyclingMikey on episode 16 of the road.cc Podcast
After sharing the video on social media, TfL's Taxi & Private Hire department replied thanking the cyclist for the report, adding that it has been "passed on for investigation".
"He did at least get to feel the pain of the initial prosecution process, and probably would have been worried about the consequences and possible loss of his green badge for the entire six months," Mikey said.
CyclingMikey has reported thousands of law-breaking drivers over the years, with 800 successful prosecutions in the last five years and 383 reports last year.
He attracted attention for particularly high-profile cases, such as catching Guy Ritchie and Chris Eubank, the film director being banned from driving for six months as a result, while the retired boxer was given three penalty points and told to pay £280 in fines, court costs and fees.
In January, speaking to road.cc, Mikey said "people need to see justice being done" and any abuse he receives is simply because some motorists "feel they have the right to drive how they want".
"In the beginning of my camera work, almost 17 years ago, I took a lot of strain at the abuse thrown my way," he said. "I'd answer each comment seriously. Nowadays, there has been such a torrent of abuse and lies about me that I just let most of it wash off me.
"In the UK cyclists are considered by society to be 'cockroaches of the road', unworthy scum who freeload on the public highway and are terrible lawbreakers. For such a person to challenge a driver for lawbreaking is a massive affront to the social order, and people don't like this.
"Many of those throwing abuse also feel that they have the right to drive how they want, and that nobody can tell them what to do. They see the prosecutions, and they are afraid of the consequences, and they are angry that someone dares to do this to them."
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.
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107 comments
That's a stretch!
Van Erp shouldn't be confronting motorists.. it's not his 'job' to catch people breaking the law; by all means pass on incriminating evidence to police but don't play at being the police..
You don't understand the basic principles behind policing, do you?
Thank you Prime Minister Chamberlain. One wouldn't want to enrage any potential killers.
Likening having a moan at a dangerous driver to the allied offensive against fascism is hilarious. Comedy gold. We will fight them in the YouTube Comments section. We will fight them on Road.cc!
What I don't understand is how his submissions come to something but lots of other folks say theirs go straight on the bin.
Is it because the Met don't want even more bad publicity and they know that CM has a large media profile?
He doesn't have a 100% success rate, I think it's about 80%, but bear in mind that he is almost exclusively reporting phone drivers which, with the sort of evidence he submits, generally comes with unequivocal proof and is easy to prosecute. I'm sure if he was reporting close passes and other dangerous driving he wouldn't be nearly as successful.
His vigilante behaviour does nothing at all to increase cycling safety.
You don't understand the meaning of "vigilante", do you?
Submitting to the police will result in.... Nothing
Posting it online will and has affect the national conversation surrounding road use and eventually effect permanent change to the laws.
Did you read the article? he did submit it to the police and - because reasons - they muffed it - now the video gets shared with all of us.
As for the threats, he will do nothing, as they all will do - "all fart and no poo" as Mikey sometimes puts it.
Nice how threats of violence - however empty - are what's reached for as soon as there's a problem.
He's extremely passionate about road safety and that's the main reason that he confronts drivers in an attempt to educate them. Personally, I don't bother confronting drivers nowadays as they very rarely respond in a helpful manner, so I just send the footage to A&S whereas previously I wouldn't bother if they'd apologised sincerely.
He gets worse on twitter. Some bloke is going to harass him on Twitter until cm kills himself!
In addition to his dad, a sixth form friend was injured by a driver going round a roundabout the wrong way.
The videos serve to show drivers that there is an increased chance of being caught. A required deterrent given policing levels.
The reason it's getting a bit much, is there are still too many bad drivers on the roads. There is a balance to be struck, but unless the problem is publicised, nothing will change.
Yes - drivers are very quick to whinge if any official or citizen evidence capturing is overt.
The problem you have is assuming he's sane to begin with..
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