Driver caught using mobile phone launches foul-mouthed tirade at CyclingMikey — and accuses him of supporting Chelsea

A driver who didn’t like being called out for using the phone while in active moving traffic, retaliated at CyclingMikey with an animated and expletive-laden tirade, which included labelling the cyclist as a ‘virgin’, and then accusing him of supporting Chelsea.

*Warning: contains extremely strong language*

The cycling and road safety campaigner from Netherlands, real name Mike van Erp, often films drivers in London using their mobile phones, and committing other traffic offences, and reports the footage to the police, and also uploads to his YouTube channel.

In his latest video, which has received a fine dose of captioning and editing by none other than Jeremy Vine, Van Erp approaches the driver in his Fiat 500 who appears to be trying to make a call.

The driver on noticing Van Erp, rolls down his window and tries justifying his action saying that there’s a car stopped in front of him, pointing at the red bus. As soon as he says this, the car, ie. the bus starts moving, after which he changes stance, suddenly asking: “What are you f****** worried about it anyway?”

When Van Erp answers that he’ll be reporting it to the police, the driver says: “Well go and do what you f****** want. I’ve got cancer you c*** and I’m going to the hospital. F*** off before I get out, go on, f*** off. You f****** little stupid skinny little c***”.

Van Erp says: “That’ll sound good in front of the magistrate.” But the driver said that he “didn’t give a f***”.

> Top TV comedy producer who “flipped the bird” and told CyclingMikey to “go f*** yourself” fined over £2,000 and handed six points for phone use while driving

The driver moves a little ahead before coming to another halt behind the car, ie. the bus. Noticing Van Erp in his mirrors, he couldn’t help but resume his tirade. “Well report me you soppy c***.”

Van Erp says that he has reported about a thousand such drivers in the last five years. According to his Twitter, the exact number is 1,369 since 2019.

The driver, then pops his head out of the window and says: “Do you know what a f****** nob you are. Go and get fingered by your bum-boy you soppy c***. No way — never had a bird, have ya? I bet you are a virgin, 100 per cent you’re a virgin.”

These do get a chuckle out of Cycling Mikey, until he gets accused of being a fan of Chelsea football club, and then getting invited inside the car.

“I bet you support Chelsea don’t you? Get that to your magistrate you c***,” says the driver. “If you’re going to be useful, come in the car and f****** w*** me off or something.”

That last 45 seconds or so got fairly unexpected.

— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) July 6, 2023

> Taxi driver warns CyclingMikey he will "end up needing the dentist" after challenging phone use

This isn’t the first time that Van Erp has had to face swear-ridden rants by drivers who he’s caught on film using the phone or committing other traffic offences. Recently, a taxi driver warned him that he will “end up needing the dentist” after he challenged the professional driver's mobile phone use behind the wheel.

The cab driver was reported to the Metropolitan Police by the road safety campaigner and YouTuber and is now being investigated by TfL Taxi & Private Hire, but avoided prosecution as the Metropolitan Police “ran out of time”.

I’m not a vigilante, I’m the exact opposite. If you don’t touch your phone when you’re driving, you won’t risk prosecution.

— CyclingMikey (@MikeyCycling) July 6, 2023

Regarding this incident, Van Erp said: “In my experience it’s common for phone drivers to start claiming things such as cancer, relative with cancer, death in the family, etc. I’ve no idea if this instance is true, but I'm sceptical.

“I got offered a whole lot more than I was expecting from this driver. Going by his obsession with reproduction,  I reckon it's him who is short on partners LOL,” he wrote under the YouTube video titled “The Most Eye-Opening Conversation Yet”.

BBC presenter and Channel 5 presenter Jeremy Vine, who edited the footage for Van Erp, also shared it on Twitter, writing: “I have never seen a cyclist-driver confrontation like this before. And towards the end it seems to jump the shark completely.”

But to answer the all-important question, Van Erp has confirmed that he in fact, does not support Chelsea. As for the driver, people on Twitter speculated of him being a West Ham fan, but Vine quickly shut them down saying that there's no evidence of that yet. One person did guess he might be an Arsenal fan though...