Perhaps the driver of the Toyota Prius wasn’t paying attention; perhaps they were following a sat nav that didn’t realise they were driving along the newest part of London’s kerb-protected East-West Cycle Superhighway.
Either way, some people on bikes, and one taxi driver, were surprised and perhaps outraged to see the vehicle rolling along slowly amid the cyclists, hemmed in by the concrete kerb designed, ironically, to protect riders from errant traffic.
A taxi driver, recording on what appears to be a handheld mobile phone, films the driver of the white Prius proceeding along the newly-built section of London’s East-West Cycle Superhighway in Hyde Park, before re-joining the correct part of the road at a pedestrian crossing.
Families flock to London’s Cycle Superhighways
The taxi driver, whom the Evening Standard names as 38-year-old David Clark, can be heard in the footage delivering his judgment on the situation.
“Prius in the bike lane, Hyde Park Corner, right by the boating lake, hasn’t got a clue.”
Clark, who has been a taxi driver for six years, told the Standard: “The cyclists and the people on the sidewalk were just staring in disbelief. They couldn’t believe what they saw but sadly I wasn’t surprised.
“I do not know how they did it because sat navs are so sophisticated now but maybe they thought they could take a chance.”
Meanwhile, some are questioning whether the taxi driver is using a handheld mobile phone at the wheel.
.@standardnews what’s more dangerous, a minicab being slowly driven along a cycle lane or a taxi driver using his mobile phone at the wheel?
— CS7 Cyclist (@cs7cyclist) August 24, 2016
The newest section of London’s East-West Cycle Superhighway, on West Carriage Drive in Hyde Park, opened on Friday, adding roughly 500 yards to what will become an 18 mile cycle route across London.
The route will run past Buckingham Palace, before joining up with the kerb-protected cycle track, which now runs from Parliament Square to Tower Bridge, via Victoria Embankment. The completed sections of protected cycle superhighway have proved hugely popular with Londoners from their opening, with 1,200 cyclists per hour pouring through at peak hours.
14 thoughts on “Taxi driver films driver using new London Cycle Superhighway”
I wish they would hurry up
I wish they would hurry up and finish the section of this Cycle Superhighway in Great George Street by the junction with Storey’s Gate, where it just stops and has temporary lights (that rarely seem to work properly).
I saw this a few times with
I saw this a few times with North-South when it was first built/opened, but haven’t seen it happen for months now, so I think it’s fair to put it down to people misunderstanding the new road layouts.
Mr. Sheep wrote:
I was riding on the North-South a couple of weeks back close to Fleet Street and it happened. A group of us stood our ground and forced the driver to back into the side road he’d emerged from and join the actual road rather than the bike lane. He didn’t seem too happy.
they used the wrong colour
they used the wrong colour for the lanes… also should have had bollards to prevent rat-runners… easy to put in bollards that can be removed for access by authorised users such as sweepers
Paul_C wrote:
I felt that way after seeing cars using North-South, but they haven’t made any changes and, as I say, the problem seems to have gone now. The risk of bollards would be, particularly if it was a busy as the rest of E-W and N-S, a rider not seeing the bollard and wiping out on it. That would be a huge problem on N-S now with it being so very busy.
I’d argue that they’d be best wait and see if there is any problem, then look to add bollards / signage / whatever if the a problem persists.
Easy fix. just issue a big
Easy fix. just issue a big fine and make sure it is caught on CCTV.
I’m sure that once the Daily
I’m sure that once the Daily Mail picks up on it, this sort of thing will stop overnight. I can see the look of humiliation on the driver’s face once the Daily Mail has unleashed its wrath on such poor driving.
Shit happens.
Shit happens.
I bet they knew exactly what
I bet they knew exactly what they were doing- people will do what is more convenient for them and especially if they think they can get away with it. Just seen a car drive the wrong way up a steep single lane road un the city centre (Lodge Street, Bristol) to get to a car park entrance that was more convenient for them (rather than the one they’d just driven past, or following a diversion to get to the one they used).
I am more concerned about the
I am more concerned about the taxi driver’s attitude “I am always right and know the law I will always tut or shout abuse at anyone who I deem to be in the wrong (ie my way) and I will definitely use my phone illegaly whilst driving to show the whole world what a self centered little pillock I am”
Luckely nobody crossed the road in front of the cab whilst the driver had his eyes and concentration elsewhere.
fatbeggaronabike wrote:
I think learning that attitude is part of passing The Knowledge, right? It seems fairly universal amongst the black cab drivers 🙂
I jest, of course, there are plenty of decent ones out there – I try and always be nice and let taxis (and buses, for that matter) pull out and in and generally most of them are actually pretty nice to me too. But there’s always the odd one letting the side down, giving all taxi drivers a bad name 😉
Is it me? I don’t see a Taxi
Is it me? I don’t see a Taxi
davidtcycle wrote:
I think that – on the video – the camera is on the dashboard of a taxi or in the hand of its driver.
Bollards in the middle of a
Bollards in the middle of a bike lane? No thank you! Likely to cause injury.