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news
Video: London cyclist pulled over by police officer – who needs to re-read the Highway Code
A London cyclist has posted footage online showing a police officer overtaking him too closely in his vehicle then, after telling him to pull over, provides him with advice on how to cycle on the road that is at odds with rules contained in the Highway Code.
Helmet camera user Evo Lucas posted footage yesterday to YouTube and other social media sites of the incident, which happened in Walworth, South London.
At the start of the clip, he turns left from Wells Way into Albany Road, then passes the police car at traffic lights before tuning right into Portland Street, which subsequently leads into Brandon Street.
Around 1 minutes 30 seconds into the video, the police officer makes a close overtake on the rider, who says, “Excuse me,” then as he pulls alongside the police vehicle asks, “Are you in a hurry, sir?”
The officer asks Mr Lucas, “Wanna pull over?” then puts his flashing blue lights on and passes the rider, who comes to a halt behind him.
He asks him: “Do you want to explain why you are cycling in the middle of the road, making it difficult for vehicles to pass you?”
But Mr Lucas pointed out that he was allowed to use the width of the carriageway and suggested the officer may have broken the speed limit when he overtook him, saying: “No sir, I am entitled to use the whole road and you are entitled to do 20 mph on a 20 mph road.”
“Which I was doing,” the police officer replied. “Now you are getting to a fine line of obstructing vehicles.
“You are getting very close to the way you are cycling to obstructing vehicles from passing you,” he added, saying that Mr Lucas should “take on board” his advice.
Mr Lucas responded: “You take on board you were driving too closely, sir”
As he rode away, the cyclist said: “Well you should have waited then, sir. Are you detaining me, sir? I'm going to work. No, you need to get on board with how the Highway Code works, you are a police officer.”
The Highway Code allows cyclists to ride in primary position, including on narrow roads, and also instructs motorists “'Not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake. Give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car.”
A number of police forces across the UK have adopted the initiative launched by West Midlands Polcie last year that targets drivers passing cyclists too closely.
However, one commenter to Mr Lucas’s video on Twitter pointed out, “How are the general public meant to be educated on how to pass cyclists safely, when officers like this get it so wrong?”
In a reply to a question on the London Cycling Facebook group regarding whether he had reported the incident, Mr Lucas said: “I'm hoping he will call me and I'll get an apology. If so I'll leave it at that.”
Should Mr Lucas receive an apology the police officer won't be the first London driver to apologise to Mr Lucas as the result of one of his helmetcam videos - back in 2014 a white van man who close passed Mr Lucas in Covent Garden lost his job and was convicted of assault on the video evidence of the footage. At his trial the van driver changed his plea from innocent to guilty after learning of the existence of helmetcam footage of the incident and offered Mr Lucas a "profuse apology".
Last year one of Mr Lucas's videos also provoked some intense debate around the subject of red light jumping in the capital when his video of an incident in which Guardian journalist, Jack Shenker being ticketed for riding through a red light went viral. Mr Shenker maintained that he rode through the light because it was safer to do so.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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139 comments
That's fine, I'm happy to agree to disagree on this. I am however giving my experience and what works for me personally. Not mouthing off at motorists and not blocking lanes works well for me. If you like getting shouted at and having punishment passes, that's ok.
The troll is strong with this one
Blank+_03a10e07a9251580ab7d9cc26de01dc1.jpg
Ah, so you think you're here as some sort of public service. Nurse! I think that's all the delusion boxes ticked.
Really, though, your life in Nordicland must be better than to warrant spending time lecturing a load of angry British cyclists with actual UK commute experience. Surely there are some tall blonde twins about to invite you into a sauna with some expensive lager as you finish your 3-hour workday?*
*sarcasm note: this is purely taking the piss out of Applecart's stereotyping. I work for an actual Swedish company from the actual country of Sweden and know two actual Swedish cities and a load of actual Swedes very well, and only refer to 'Scandinavia' when I'm ripping the piss out of them, wag that I am.
19 posts by the same user in this one thread-so desperate is he to keep making the same tedious point over and over again when nobody actually agrees with him.
He is crying because he can see that no-one actually cares how cool and level-headed and even tempered he is with all the psychos he meets on his weekly 3 mile full team kit clad ride around a f*cking fjord.
Only one wanker on this thread actually.
As voted for unamimously by everyone else.
Nooo, he travels back to the UK at weekends so he can go riding with other MAMILs, or something. So his experience of three cows and an old spinster on her way back from church in a 2CV in the Cotswolds, and being overtaken by blond kids who speak better English than him on his daily commutes, makes him uniquely qualified to lecture about dealing with school-running, facebooking drivers on a wet Tuesday evening in Stoke.
That's a pretty funny picture of my life you've got there. . if it makes you feel better good for you.
Erm I do 80-120km rides Sat and Sun, and my kit is below my ability in all sports.. What you've done is an ad hominem attack btw - you disagree with the statement so you attack the person. It's pretty amateur.
Erm I do 80-120km rides Sat and Sun, and my kit is below my ability in all sports.. What you've done is an ad hominem attack btw - you disagree with the statement so you attack the person. It's pretty amateur.
You've scored 9 internet points by calling someone a wanker. I can mail you a commemorative certificate of your achievement if you like?
No, that isn't really a 'circle'. There's no equivalence between finding yourself in a minority in a less powerful position, without consciously choosing it, and choosing to go and pick fights with those in that minority position, for fun, safe in the knowledge that you have social and political power on your side. Not the same thing, really.
Anyway, as I said, far from saying all cyclists are 'noble' I think a proportion of actual existing cyclists are tiresome types for whom cycling is purely an exercise in showing off their technical prowess and so feeling elite. For them its ultimately all about their ego, rather than actually making anything better for anyone else.
Edit - and another proportion are annoying pavement-racing youths who if not actually delivering drugs, aspire to look as if they might be.
That's quite sweet, I appreciate the sentiment. I don't intend to bully anyone in a genuinely weaker position and I wouldn't say anything if I didn't think a person both fully deserved it and could handle it.
Unfortunately at the time we are praising the bravery of PC Keith Palmer up pops a numpty who goes and spoils everything.
There's a way of speaking to people and that's not one of them.
From DfT...
http://road.cc/content/news/144699-think-cycling-campaign-extended-seven...
I think everyone is reading this wrong. The way I see it happening:
1. Small-brain police thug is in a rush to get to his morning Greggs and Daily Mail down the nick
2. He drives like a twat past the cyclist
3. He notices that there are cameras all over the bicycle
4. He works out that unless he comes up with a post-hoc rationalization of his shit driving that he could become a media star
5. Proffers his piss poor, pretend explanation which he knows is untrue and hopes that the resulting smoke will distract from his illegal overtake.
I admire EvoLucas' sang froid. You sir, are a gentleman, unlike the knuckle dragger you had to interact with.
Classic :). Copper makes close pass cause he can't wait a few seconds. He then gets ripped to shreds by someone with a basic knowledge of the highway code.
This is not a difficult problem to fix.
It could be put to rest with a few cheaply made public information films, distributed on old and new media.
It doesnt happen because the majority of people (like this copper and the troll above) are ignorant bigots who dont want you on the road.
That's a pretty dim view of humanity you've got therethe. Internet comments however are 100% guaranteed to make you depressed and lose faith in humanity. Join a cycling club maybe
Like this perhaps?
Seemed to me he was riding a smartly safe distance from the door-zone. When it's unsafe to overtake, it's a cyclists right to take the lane. Not that most of us want to be jerks about it - we just want to arrive alive.
If only the public was truly properly educated about what it's like to be a vulnerable road user. If only they knew what it's like to need a little room on a bike to waver from your line in case a stiff breeze or a pothole or even crack; or what it would be like to plow into a car door at 20 mph.
It's incredibly bad advice to ride as close to the left hand side as you can. It encourages close passes in places where it's unsafe to overtake, which can result in upsetting the Applecart.
places like the setting for this scene perhaps?
Institutionally anti-cyclist.
Considering the road has a 20mph limit and the cyclist was easily riding at 20 mph the officer should have just wound his neck in and kept going. At 20mph.
What disappoints me the most is that a police officer has treated a vulnerable road user like many other bad drivers do; as a nuisance on the road instead of a... wait for it.... vulnerable road user.
I also think there's some validity to Applecarts conviction that *some* cyclists with helmet cams seem to ride in a manner where they are baiting poor driving so they can publish it on the www and complain.
christ, what a non event - next time when asked if you want to pull over, just say no!
He did. And then the blues went on and the horn sounded.
Being ignorant of the highway code is poor. Should complain to police standards about his behaviour, use of the blues and so on as the rest of it is below the standard required and he should at least get a written warning for it.
Gotta dream -but I hope the video make or roadcc at least try and get the police standards to take it up
This is why people with mini-dicks shouldn't be allowed on the force.
Write to your MPs.
No, register a complaint with the police and escalate to IPCC if you don't get a good response.
Normal for police. The ones that are not are a rare and beautiful thing, not often seen in the UK
And then sit back and watch the IPCC ignore you, because the IPCC is staffed mainly by ex-cops, who are still institutionally anti-cyclist, and other motorists, who are just "ordinary" anti-cyclist.
There should be a simple acid test, would you fail a driving test by driving like that. If the answer is yes then it should be considered as a driving offence. As someone who has passed a driving test and a course to drive a Police Vehicle, they should understand the basics of the Highway Code & set an example to other road users. Situations like these just erode the law abiding publics trust and support for the Police with stupid incidents like this.
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