Indo: 'outrage' over cyclists not using bike lane

Chuchote

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/britain/video-showing-cyclists-riding-next-to-bike-lane-causes-outrage-35061686.html

A driver’s video of cyclists riding in the road adjacent to an empty bike lane has sparked fury on social media.
The video was shared on Facebook and viewed more than 50,000 times before being deleted, the Evening Standard reported.

Bloggsie

I was of the opinion that cyclists are not compelled to use cycle lanes, (i may be incorrect), I dont tend to use them bar the cycle lane on chesterfield avenue on the way home from work as the traffic on it in the evenings is quite heavy. Mrs Bloggsie is of the opinion that all cyclists should use them " they are there for your safety & must be used" as posted here on many occasions some cycle lanes are so poorly laid out that incidents between cyclists & peds/motorists are inevitable, the quality of the surface of some is going to lead to punctures, IMHO 2 very valid reasons not to use them!

Miklos

Must...not......read....comments......

not yet

Cycle lanes are nearly always filled with glass and debris, plus you can have people doodling along in them. I very rarely use them. Asked a cop a while back was I legally obliged to use them and he said no.

Just on a side note, Taxis are not allowed use bus lanes unless they have a paying passenger...

uck51js9zml2yt

Miklos wrote: »

Must...not......read....comments......

I read them
They don't pay any road tax JOE!

Tenzor07

Ah the comments are pure comedy gold though!! :D:D:D:D:D

here is'nt a Sunday goes by but these idiots are holding up traffic all over the country , they pay no tax ,no insurance ..NOTHING , and yet they feel they have the right to take over our public roads ...well I for one have had enough its time these pests paid for their so called hobby .. go find a cycle track there are plenty of them in the country , indoor and outdoor , pay to use them and GET off our public roads.

Chuchote

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Ah the comments are pure comedy gold though!! :D:D:D:D:D

Comedy gold until some eejit decides to take them as permission to drive dangerously near cyclists.

Presumably the video was hastily taken down after it was pointed out that he'd admitted driving while filming on his mobile phone!

nak

The driver was the one breaking the law using his phone while driving.

Jawgap

Hailee Cold Backpacker wrote: »

I read them
They don't pay any road tax JOE!

yeah, you really have to read the comments in those articles in the style of someone calling into Joe Duffy......or read them with a George Hook voice - hours of endless amusement (actually it's more like minutes!)

robyntmorton

Good thing there's no drinking game around those comments. I'd be plastered already and it's not even 8:30.

magicbastarder

I like that the story is credited to 'independent news service' when it's clear it's a journalist who just read about it in the evening standard.

ThisRegard

I saw this story yesterday and the video was removed by then, I suspect because the moron couldn't handle the abuse he was getting because of his stupidity, backfiring spectacularly on it.

And the Indo, as we know, is bollox, I wonder if they even saw the video, because the take on the video I saw was that the driver filming the cyclist was outraged, but as I said, his own stupidity became the real story.

not yet wrote: »

Just on a side note, Taxis are not allowed use bus lanes unless they have a paying passenger...

They don't need a passenger, they can claim they're on the way to pick up a fare, drop off something etc and are allowed to use them.

Chuchote

The outraged driver is in England, so their laws may be different (about taxis, anyway, if not about mobile phone filming while driving).

The filmer seems to be a regular at cyclist-hating

cython

ThisRegard wrote: »

They don't need a passenger, they can claim they're on the way to pick up a fare, drop off something etc and are allowed to use them.

Or simply "plying for hire", i.e. looking to be flagged down. Though the bolded is not true, they are not allowed to use them when carrying goods only, i.e. basically acting as a courier.

nak

Chuchote wrote: »

The outraged driver is in England, so their laws may be different (about taxis, anyway, if not about mobile phone filming while driving).

It has been illegal to use a mobile phone while driving in the UK since 2003. Also illegal to use a phone while supervising a learner driver.

seamus

nak wrote: »

It has been illegal to use a mobile phone while driving in the UK since 2003. Also illegal to use a phone while supervising a learner driver.

In fact, the UK are looking at introducing a two-strikes law around mobiles - if you're caught twice using your phone while driving, you'll lose your licence.

We should be looking at the same here.

Chuchote

That Twitter account has Cudd's whole film. He's an angry man! And you can see the driving wheel as he apparently uses the phone to film :eek:

Macy0161

not yet wrote: »

Just on a side note, Taxis are not allowed use bus lanes unless they have a paying passenger...

Motorbikes and scooters aren't supposed to be in there either. Hasn't stopped me getting a punishment pass from a motorbike in the bus lane in the past!

Can't see the video now I'm in work, but if it's the one I saw last night, it looks like it's two cyclists out for training spin. Apart from the issues with the quality of the lanes, and where they spit you out, there are cycle lanes that I use if I'm commuting, or out for a spin with the children, that I wouldn't deem appropriate for when I'm training. There's no one size fits all, hence why we don't have to use them (tbc!).

greenspurs

the drivers name was Andrew Topacre on facebook. I paid a visit yesterday when the video first came to light before it was removed
Lots of his buddies congratulating him, one even saying 'we should knock em down' ! (I reported that to facebook, they didn't agree it was hateful/incited violence!!)
He was revelling in his notoriety !
We are becoming the pariahs of the roads due to stupid scumbags like him , we aren't getting sufficient backing from governments, and our fellow cyclists will continue being knocked off or killed, because there is no real deterrent to morons in motor vehicles !!!

Chuchote

Macy0161 wrote: »

Motorbikes and scooters aren't supposed to be in there either. Hasn't stopped me getting a punishment pass from a motorbike in the bus lane in the past!

Can't see the video now I'm in work, but if it's the one I saw last night, it looks like it's two cyclists out for training spin. Apart from the issues with the quality of the lanes, and where they spit you out, there are cycle lanes that I use if I'm commuting, or out for a spin with the children, that I wouldn't deem appropriate for when I'm training. There's no one size fits all, hence why we don't have to use them (tbc!).

Watch it on the Twitter feed quoted above, it's his full film, complete with sneers at cyclists' "lovely pants", obscene language, etc. He passes several cyclists and driversplains all the way. I'll be surprised if he isn't prosecuted for mobile phone use for filming while driving.

greenspurs

Chuchote wrote: »

I'll be surprised if he isn't prosecuted for mobile phone use for filming while driving.

One of his friends on FB said to him " youll be done for using your mobile to film them"
He said it was a gopro that he was using.... Is that a difference?

Chuchote

greenspurs wrote: »

One of his friends on FB said to him " youll be done for using your mobile to film them"
He said it was a gopro that he was using.... Is that a difference?

Does a gopro film in that upright way (not landscape but portrait)? And do you normally hold it in your hand (which he appears to be doing from the way the steering wheel appears intermittently in shot)?

2RockMountain

greenspurs wrote: »

One of his friends on FB said to him " youll be done for using your mobile to film them"
He said it was a gopro that he was using.... Is that a difference?

And yet, when the cyclist approached his car window at the end, he said "Don't touch my phone, don't touch my phone" - poor chap is easily confused it seems.

07Lapierre

greenspurs wrote: »

One of his friends on FB said to him " youll be done for using your mobile to film them"
He said it was a gopro that he was using.... Is that a difference?

yeah..you cant make phone calls with a gopro!

(its still dangerous driving)

Chuchote

Original piece from the Evening Standard

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/row-over-driver-using-his-phone-at-the-wheel-to-film-cyclists-on-road-next-to-empty-cycle-lane-a3348241.html

paddy no 11

There's a desperation in the media to project all sorts of british sh*t onto us, its sad. All this cycling hate comes from there originally, cycle in cork and mostly it couldnt be a more enjoyable experience. Everything is benefits these days, it used to be the dole, no one should indulge or contribute to this absolute cack.

Chuchote

paddy no 11 wrote: »

There's a desperation in the media to project all sorts of british sh*t onto us, its sad. All this cycling hate comes from there originally, cycle in cork and mostly it couldnt be a more enjoyable experience. Everything is benefits these days, it used to be the dole, no one should indulge or contribute to this absolute cack.

There's also a desperation in the media not to hire journalists, which is resulting in the few staff copying other journalists' work.

AlreadyHome

I don't understand - why are the media even bringing a viewpoint to the public's attention when the guy is using slurs like 'gay', 'retarded', making dangerously close passes at cyclists - all while driving using a phone? He's utterly discredited.

It's like printing an interview with a randomly selected inebriated thug outside a chippy at three in the morning...

robyntmorton

AlreadyHome wrote: »

It's like printing an interview with a randomly selected inebriated thug outside a chippy at three in the morning...

I thought this is what the regional papers are for?

biZrb

The road is on the way to/from Richmond Park, its quite narrow, so I understand why he's annoyed as cyclists can 'hold up' cars as its difficult to overtake them. But it doesn't give him an excuse to break the law just cause he wanted a rant. You can see the path and cycle path to the left, the path is covered with leaves and the cycle path is free of leaves, anyone walking along that path will have to use the cycle path, not exactly safe for pedestrians. Most of the cyclists coming to/from Richmond Park are serious cyclists so won't exactly be slow going along Priory Lane. I'm a cyclists and car driver so see if from both sides but side with the cyclists, of course

tomasrojo

I thought the cyclists' amused dismissal of him at the end was a fairly effective response, given that they weren't actually doing anything wrong, while he was breaking several rules or laws as he went along.