A ‘close pass,’ a furious pursuit and then an angry, sweary exchange with the driver replete with lashings of righteous indignation – as helmet cam parody videos go, this one knows its subject matter.
It was produced by the Broken Toaster comedy collective, but maybe they didn’t go far enough. A number of Facebook users seem to think it’s genuine.
You should watch until the end, but surely that shouldn’t be necessary to identify that this is a spoof…
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Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
@Rendel Harris Hmm.... I stand corrected. I still think Obree had a /lot/ more talent. And Jan-Willem today clearly has dropped in levels, relative to those he's racing against.
I cycled a lot on the continent and have done fir many years. I've never been close passed, and only once had a scary overtake by an oncoming vehicle. Im close passed almost daily in the UK and dangerous overtakes are common. Some serious driver education is needed here, not to mention presumed liability legislation.
@TrainWalkWheel at least one person on here seems to have better understanding of these than I do but AFAICS the model is even less likely to lead to good outcomes than happened with eg. a certain UK bus company. The one notorious for moving into an area, putting the existing providers out of business by running more services for pence and losing money, then - having captured the market - jacking up the price and dropping services. At least in that case the intention was presumably to deliver a self-sustaining service in the end (albeit perhaps a worse, overpriced one). But AFAIK mass bike share itself has never made money directly. So one wonders what the end plan is if any one of these market-share-capture firms actually won? (Presumably that isn't important and it's all about trading / financial shenanigans in some way. I doubt they could hold the local authority to ransom for the extra cash...)
Alas it's another part of "because cars / 'change', we can't just copy a well-proven design eg. from NL" On top of this is the UK "not invented here" making it up / no expertise or standard designs AND a "we must fit cyclists in around existing road space" causing strange contorted layouts. So what happens is we get things like bi-directional cycle *lanes* (not separated cycle paths) because cheapest / easiest to patch in. So that means that pedestrians don't have a space to wait *after* crossing the cycle space and *before* they have to deal with the road. (It also puts another block in the way of cycling convenience at traffic lights - say at a T-junction - because unlike NL the lights then apply to cyclists going straight on, whereas in NL that would be an informal cycle path crossing for pedestrians with no lights applying to the cycle path part - so cyclists just keep rolling).
In 2019, Shanghai and other Chinese major cities implemented strict regulations and clean-up operations tp remove millopns of abondoned dockless bicycles that had created public nuisances and blocked pavements. One can't blame local authorities for taking actions in order to stop a messy situation triggered by unruly users.
@Jakrayan Criticising people for not riding primary is like criticising a victim of domestic abuse for cringing when their partner threatens them with their fist. People don't ride in the gutter because they want to, they do it because if they don't they know there's a better than even chance that in any given ride at least one driver will be so affronted by the ENTITLED BIKE NONCE TAKIN' UP THE WHOLE ROAD!!!11 they'll do a deliberate punishment pass that could kill you or leave you maimed for life. Getting over in the gutter isn't a great solution, but multiple uncomfortable but not life-threatening passes is better than one potentially catastrophic one. It shouldn't be a cyclist's responsibility to put their life at risk just to remind drivers to obey the rules of the road they should be doing regardless. And as for "just getting off and walking", putting aside the reality that a ridden bike takes up *less* space than one with the rider walking alongside and so I'd argue the most considerate way to use that inadequate infrastructure(presumably there are no safe alternatives within a reasonable distance or why would anyone on a bike be using it at all) would be to proceed across on the bike at walking pace and then stop and put your foot down if someone needs to get by you; plenty of people use bikes as mobility aids and so "just get off" isn't as simple as it's made out to be. A couple of years back I had the worst sprain of my life, I could barely even hobble for two weeks and had a huge honking brace on my foot, had to sleep on the sofa downstairs because climbing them was a no go. I could still ride my bike though, do my shopping, see my mates - plenty of people have impairments that aren't temporary, to them "just get off" is tantamount to saying "just stay home". Let's keep it a benjamin as the kids say: "shared responsibility" and "keeping everyone safe" are, literally, copouts. They've framed the entire campaign so they can justify only taking actions that don't piss off drivers, and don't require them to actually do any work except harassing a few cyclists as they do a lunch run to the local Greggs, because that's the level of seriousness police in this country - in an institutional sense - believe road crime deserves.
"Scott says that it ‘redefines cable routing in the mountain bike industry’. While we’re yet to see if that claim rings true" I have a Spark RC Pro (2022) with mechanically controlled components. Because we use the front brake lever on the drive (right) side in the UK I have the rear brake hose and two cable housings (dropper and shock) on the NDS entering the headset. On my current bike I use 3.0mm Jagwire housing with no problems. I can install them by just pushing them through the headset without dismantling it. The new 2027 Spark has two openings either side of the headset so it is set up for a rear brake to be on the DS (right). Maybe they are dismissing countries that have the UK's brake lever configuration.
The first link is to one of their cycling computers.
To be fair when I'm out on the roads, car or bike, I see very many instances of people cycling who could be doing better. Ignoring the delivery riders, most of whom we know aren't actually riding bicycles / Ebikes, the most common issue I see is people riding too close to the edge of the road. Yes, drivers absolutely should do better, however this type of riding does little to discourage drivers from overtaking, and they will still pass too closely leaving the rider with FA room to the left either. So educating riders as to how to ride more safely isn't a bad idea IMHO. As for that narrow bridge, if it's popular with pedestrians I don't see how getting off and walking a few yards is a massive issue. And I'm normally in SPD-SL road cleats!
Indeed. Some lanes are so narrow, and with overgrown vegetation, that the driver may not be able to see anything behind in his wing (door) mirrors, and vans usually don't have a rear window so no rear-view mirror either. Much easier in this situation to just turn around and head back to the nearest farm gate, it won't be far. After all, 'share the road' works both ways. And before someone comments to say if you drive where you can't clearly see what's behind you, that driver may have no choice - deliveries, tradespeople etc.
29 thoughts on “Video: Helmet cam parody of van driver attacking ‘innocent’ cyclist”
This is how I think many of
This is how I think many of those video cyclists react….I hope they watch this and learn that they are actually the cocks. Yes, sometimes you are going to get an idiot driver, but chasing them, shouting abuse (like that magnatom guy) then you are going to get whats coming to you and I will laugh when it happens, because two wrongs don’t make a right
“You are going to get what’s
“You are going to get what’s coming to you.” Nice. Any criticism of dangerous driving will eventually result in assault, and it’s fully deserved.
( of course this video is exaggerated).
Gkam84 wrote:This is how I
To be honest I’d always thought that Magnatom is one of the more reasonable helmet camera activists out there. I shout abuse at psycho motorists from time to time but have no helmet cam so nobody knows except me. If a cyclist calls a motorist “C**t” but it doesn’t go onto YouTube, did it really happen?
brooksby wrote:If a cyclist
=))
The joke is that the cyclist
The joke is that the cyclist is angry even though the van driver left lots of room. I get it. Then there’s another small joke at the end.
The film-makers seem to be making a point: people on bikes are too sensitive. I don’t agree with that – you don’t have to go looking for a bad overtake, you’ll get lots of them.
Or maybe they’re just jumping on a bandwagon, and trying to get some views, in which case they’re on their way.
I thought a parody was
I thought a parody was supposed to be funny? That’s 2 minutes of my life I won’t get back 🙁
ChrisB200SX wrote:I thought a
It was a joke that could have played out in less than 30 seconds but is padded out more than the first commentors panty liner.
It’s hard to call it
It’s hard to call it overreaction when your life is left up to motorists. Camera filming cyclists may get hostile and aggressive, but if you nearly kill them, you should expect them to be livid.
Since when is parodying endangering lives ever okay? Parodying a close pass is uncalled for, since it’s just sensualizing extreme danger that can easily result in death.
I think some of you need to
I think some of you need to get a sense of humour – seriously funny stuff.
I think this will feed the
I think this will feed the anti-cycling brigades bias and is not particularly funny or clever.
Can’t help but think that the
Can’t help but think that the only ones who will find this funny are the ones who don’t see a problem with dangerous passes.
If this is supposed to be a parody – then it totally doesn’t understand what it is trying to parody.
Had already posted this in
Had already posted this in the forum under the title Pure class
I thought it was funny 😀 😀
Get the jokes, but not sure
Get the jokes, but not sure if the video has a point. But it does show something that happens quite often: cyclist and car drivers are full of rage and adrenaline, even if they are right. Keeping a cool head is so difficult sometimes, and vigilantly behaviour hardly ever solves something.
Maybe an idea for an article: How to keep a cool head in traffic and racing? (and i don`t mean an article for helmet reviews)
KnightBiker wrote:Maybe an
Perhaps this is worth a read.
I quite enjoyed it. next!
I quite enjoyed it. next!
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Funny that. Laughed so the
Funny that. Laughed so the way through
I found it funny and I’m a
I found it funny and I’m a cyclist who has suffered my fair share of close passes and many more ‘overtakes then left turns’ in and around Edinburgh.
You learn from these and move on rather than staying bitter and engaging in the them and us war that gets nobody anywhere.
It’s a parody and I’ll tell you why I find it funny.. because there are guys out there that do over-recact to situations, I’ve ridden with a few who think every driver is the enemy. I like the fact that the video gets so well edited by the ‘cyclist’, just as many that appear on YouTube do. But most of all, I like the out-of-breath drawn out slow pursuit that I am sure is meant to hint at the riders lack of experience and expertise on a bike.
v.funny
love the grinding up
v.funny 😀
love the grinding up the col de rail bridge and the other guy in the van.
yes we get angry at pricks in car but I try to remember I’m the awesome one on a bike and they are stuck in an expensive box.
Bloody funny.
Let’s see how
Bloody funny. :))
Let’s see how long it takes for the Daily Mail to pick up on it…
Every tribe should laugh at
Every tribe should laugh at itself once in a while and web-cam-heroes are no different.
Loved this video.
Loved this video. B-)
I’ve shat things more clever
I’ve shat things more clever and amusing than this.
Chris Morris probably shits things more clever and amusing than this on a daily basis.
Being more po-faced, a close
Being more po-faced, a close pass is often inches away from this:
http://road.cc/content/news/162286-berkshire-cyclist-killed-a322-named
Hilarious, I’m sure we can all agree.
I’d prefer a video of a head
I’d prefer a video of a head camera wearing driver getting out of his car to complain that the cyclist is on the road in the first place. Then chasing after a woman on a horse to complain again. Jumping up and down asking if she’s paid road tax for the horse.
It’s the drivers that need the piss taking out of them not the cyclists.
I never go out on the bike looking for a confrontation with dangerous drivers – they come to me… 8|
Mildly amusing, and makes the
Mildly amusing, and makes the point that some, very few, cyclists are too aggressive, but in the complete power imbalance that is our road and legal systems, that’s rather understandable. I’ve seen lots more aggressive, arrogant, sweary drivers than I’ve seen cyclists, so I can’t help feeling they’ve got the wrong target.
Mind you, just how would you parody some of the absolute arseholes of drivers that have featured in some cyclists headcams. Beyond parody surely, so perhaps the cyclist was a bit of an easier target.
Nice try, but no coconut.
The self righteous pomposity
The self righteous pomposity of some of these comments are deeply ironic.
Lots of these cyclists in
Lots of these cyclists in here I see.
There’s definitely a strain
There’s definitely a strain of cyclist that likes a bit of an argument and it takes the piss out of them. I think it’s funny! There you go.