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MCR cyclistVideo: Some drivers "genuinely apologetic" says Manchester helmet cam rider
A Manchester cyclist who uses helmet cam footage to try and shame drivers into improving their behaviour has spoken of his successes in getting apologies from some drivers — but is still remaining anonymous because of abuse from others.
The 24-year-old from Rusholme rides 500 miles a month through the meanstreets of Manchester and posts his videos on his YouTube channel MCR CYclist.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “Drivers who were abusive on the roadside when incidents have happened then view the footage and get in touch to say they are now seeing it from a whole new perspective and are genuinely apologetic. On those occasions, I take down the video because it’s done its job and the drivers seem genuinely aware that what they did was wrong.”
“If I get just one driver to change their ways - and potentially save a cyclist or pedestrian from harm - then what I’m doing is worth it.”
Here's his compilation of his greatest hits - literally in a few cases.
He says uploads only videos where a driver's action has caused serious risk. “If I’m in danger or if I had to take some form of action to prevent myself or others being harmed I upload it.”
Nevertheless, he's asked that his identity be kept hidden so he doesn't get targeted while riding.
“The police have seen my videos and they have spoken to some drivers and considered taking action so I get quite a lot of abuse," he said.
“I don’t want to be vulnerable if people recognise me on my way to work for my own safety.”
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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51 comments
For those criticising him being in the inside of buses, that road is reportedly the busiest bus route in Europe.
To not end up on the left hand side of a bus on that stretch would take some sort of sorcery or the use of technology not yet invented by humans.
Or for bus drivers to drive with some respect for the lives and safety of cyclists.
The first clip of him filtering between two busses into a junction is just silly, there's no way the driver turning right could spot him. I've done this once before, never again.
While in a few clips he's undoubtedly being cut up by busses and cars, he seems to follow this up with some slightly aggressive acceleration into the left hand rear quarter of the vehicle. I can only assume this makes it appear more dangerous than it really was.
Surely helmet cams are only really useful for the (rare) occasions when someone does something more intentionally dangerous or violent rather than just dumb. Otherwise I'd find myself uploading stuff after every commute.
Dumb=dangerous and is by far the greater risk to road users. It's also no defence in law, should it come to that - the (two in twenty years) people who've knocked me off my bike were stupid, not bad. But they were still dangerous and legally liable.
I stopped watching after number 2, as nobody's doing anything wrong. The cyclist slows down to filter inside the bus, then brakes when he encounters a car turning into a side street. The driver of that car wouldn't have been able to see the cyclist.
I don't know why road.cc give sanctimonious riders like this guy, plus others ("Traffic Droid" springs to mind) the oxygen of publicity.
I also cycle in Manchester, 100 miles a week commuting and another 50 with the club.
Those incident shown are but the tip of the iceberg, it doesn't show the physical assault and threats from drivers that I've experienced. In no cases have GMP taken this further than recording it on their licence, not even a single point has been issued. In one case a motorist pubched me on the helmet when I objected to his driving, he admitted fault when approached by an officer who subsequently informed me no further action would be taken. The conclusion being that each one of us has a quota of at least once punching someone before it's considered an offence.
My truck in not with the drivers, who in plenty of cases are simply too poorly trained to control a large piece of fast moving machinery, but with the GMP.
It is the responsibility of GMP to police the streets, identify poor driving/parking and take the appropriate action. Yet I commonly see them (GMP) parking on the ASL and even on Zig-Zags at crossings. In contrast I did not see the same level of flagrant rule breaking on my travels in London. How can drivers be expected to obey rules when the GMP themselves break them?
Further to that since the penalty is a very small fine the principle remains that this penalises the poor more than the rich, surely applying points for bad parking/driving would be a better system.
some terrible riding on there.
Reckless driver number 2....you are going up the inside of a bus, the driver is not to know you are there and you should take care when coming out from behind the bus....
I think he did take care - he wasn't barrelling along at 20mph. This one seemed quite tame - poor driver judgement that *could* lead to a collision but didn't seem likely in this case.
Drivers quite often wrongly *assume* in these circumstances that it's clear (because many don't expect cyclists (safety in numbers?)). It shouldn't be thus - but it is, so we should ride cautiously.
One of the good things to happen in London in recent years is that drivers are much more likely to expect cyclists to "appear from nowhere", and drive more cautiously as a result.
Huh? Looks like the bus started an overtake that (s)he couldn't complete before needing to pull in again.
Looking at the second bus, he was still alongside it when it pulled in. I didn't realise being passed by a bus was considered undertaking, if it is, I must undertake hundreds of cars on my commute as they whizz past at 50mph.
Are you... surely not... are you... http://is.gd/ZTZGWv ?
I ride everyday in Manchester. I think those incidents are pretty tame really. I love tanking along but junctions, pinch points and slow moving traffic means I ride very defensively and accept that most people on the road are very poor drivers. I still get caught out by the people who genuinely want to kill me - I have something like that every 6 months
Didn't have the attention span to watch more than a few, some seemed like arrogant/inconsiderate driving for sure, but I don't know about the ones involving undertaking a bus - that's always going to be risky.
and the music is shit.
A few of those are not reckless at all. The cyclist is in the wrong. On the occasions he/she undertakes the bus he/she is invisible to the car turning and on the second occasion you will note there is a bus stop so the driver has to pull in to stop.
Agreed. There are several occasions in this video where the cyclist is at fault as there's no way the car/ped could have seen him/her. If you 'filter' through traffic you do so at your own risk.
I disagree. It's *more difficult* to see, certainly - but that's why the motorist/pedestrian should take extra care. But many don't imagine there might be a cyclist approaching - so it's incumbent on us to take extra care too and proceed cautiously in these situations.
Everyone using the roads needs to good judgement and caution appropriate to the circumstances. Filtering through high-sided vehicles is a good example - because other users often assume there's nothing coming.
Also (partially) agreed. Criticising others can be a dangerous game when you're not free from blame yourself. If your fault is not relevant, fire away, but undertaking large vehicles at junctions and then blaming others for not seeing you?
Just because filtering is not explicitly illegal doesn't mean you can do it and expect a guarantee of safety.
Not sure which incidents you mean - I don't see that. Of course buses have to stop but the driver has to be clear - either ahead or behind - of other users to the left. There's a few classic 'overtaking-while-pulling-in/turning-left' manoeuvres going on.
the BUS did not have to overtake him and then immediately pull over... it should have hung back behind him and then pulled into the stop...
I don't think you understand either of the situations properly and certainly don't have an appreciation of vulnarable road users need protection or the flipside of that is when you drive a car/bus you have greater responsibilies as you can easily kill someone.
Agreed that the incident of right turn car when he was on the inside of the bus is most likely no one's fault other than everyone in the situation...but the cyclist is not in the wrong as much both the car and the cyclist should be vigilant. Just because it is a blind spot does not take the responsiblity away from the right turning car to drive as if it is a clear road. The fact is that the car is making a turn and yes the bus has stopped to give way, but the car should be more vigilant and should anticipate if there is a cyclist. and the other side is that the cyclist should be a lot more aware in this situation and should have slowed right down to check things out.
in terms of the bus stop incident. the bus could have easily just stayed behind the cylist, but instead it choose to overtake and effectively sandwich the cyclist. That is reckless! Using your vehicle as a road block is reckless and dangerous driving in eye of the law of the land in this country. It may be ok in South Africa where famour people walk scot free after committing murder and admitting to the killing. but not in this country.
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