Jeremy Vine has shared footage of a terrifying and shocking incident in London this morning which left him desperately banging on the back of a van as the driver reversed over his bike having turned onto a stretch of cycling infrastructure.
The presenter and broadcaster, who works for the BBC and Channel 5 and documents his cycling travels around London through videos posted to his Twitter account, appeared to be unharmed in the incident, which happened near Euston.
This morning. About an hour ago.
Illegal right turn, then watch.
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/FRBqXiazgY— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) September 13, 2023
Calling it “unbelievable”, he shared the footage with his 788,000 followers, captioning the post: “This morning. About an hour ago. Illegal right turn, then watch. Unbelievable.”
In the video, Vine can be seen cycling towards the Tavistock Square junction with Bedford Way when a van driver turns across his path onto the latter street.
However, the driver makes the turn too soon and turns onto a strip of segregated cycling infrastructure approaching the traffic lights.
As Vine calls out and honks his horn to the driver, the van stops, before the driver reverses back out of the infrastructure hitting Vine whose Brompton goes under the vehicle as he shouts out and bangs on the back door.
A passer by can be heard shouting ‘stop’ while another vehicle blares its horn at the driver in attempt to catch their attention.
At the end of the clip, the van driver moves forward, releasing Vine’s bike from under it, as the scene unfolds next to a ‘give way to oncoming cycles’ sign. When the driver exits the vehicle he asks Vine: “Are you okay, sir” and wheels the bike to the side of the road.
For those wondering, I’m unhurt, and so (incredibly) is my Brompton.
I somehow lost the numbers of the two kind witnesses so, if you’re reading this, please DM me.
Here you can see my concluding conversation with the van driver.
Thanks to @insta360 for always covering me. pic.twitter.com/4krJJEC0B6— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) September 13, 2023
Some have accused Vine of going through a red light at the start of the junction, however it appears to just be the effect of his 360-degree camera making the traffic light for drivers coming from the right of shot look like it is facing a different direction.
Looking at the wrong light pal pic.twitter.com/ugIt1mYL1Q
— Lewis Brad ?? (@Life_of_Lewiss) September 13, 2023
Responding to one person saying it was red, Vine replied: “It’s green, Monica. Don’t drive. Please.”
As recently as Friday, Vine took to X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, to appeal to motorists to stop making right turns across the path of cyclists, a manoeuvre he said was “making it dangerous to use a bicycle”.
Last month, he made the case for drivers being told not to overtake cyclists in major cities, adding that he would like to see motorists pull over if they see him behind them “because they know I’m faster”.
125 thoughts on “Jeremy Vine’s lucky escape as bike run over by reversing driver who turned onto cycle lane”
Started to count the reply
Started to count the reply ratio on Twitter, gave up after the first 50 comments had roughly 80% blaming Vine. The joint favourites are that he ran a red light and that he deliberately waited in the lorry’s blindspot to make sure that the poor innocent driver would hit him.
Best thing X did was stop non
Best thing X did was stop non-users from being able to read its Xcretions.
A horrible corner of the internet.
Rendel Harris wrote:
The mental gymnastics that so
memany loons will go to so that they can always blame the cyclist.ChrisB200SX wrote:
I genuinely believe most cyclists would have been given alot of sympathy.
I genuinely believe its because its Vine he’s very marmite.
I am pretty sure JV does not
I am pretty sure JV does not taste good on toast. He’s just another seeker after 15 minutes of fame.
Rendel Harris wrote:
ENTER MR REENNNNNDDDEEEELLL HARRRIIIIIIIISSS
JEREMY VINES NO 1 FAN AND GENERAL RUBBISH SPLUTTERER
JV is indefensible. Just an action man seeking controversy.
I remember general rubbish
I remember general rubbish splutterer. They were quite a good band but never really capitalised on their early success.
perce wrote:
I think some of the GPS band members re-formed as Creepy Obsession, didn’t they? They were mainly famous for following other bands around, trying to disrupt their gigs, getting thrown out and then claiming it was the other bands who were obsessed with them.
Yep, it’s a sad story really
Yep, it’s a sad story really – they all changed their names so much they forgot who each other were and faded into obscurity, apart from one member (probably the drummer) who still hangs around like some ghostly figure yearning for the past.
perce wrote:
You’re poking the bears today! It’s GENERAL RUBBISH SPLUTTERER. Just like MF DOOM one of their quirks was demanding people adhere to their chosen capitalisation.
Unfortunately this was unpopular with journalists (who felt they were seeking controversy*) and meant that people thought they were shouting all the time. This further worked against them as they were noted exponents of mumblecore and punk audiences (and Boris Johnson fans) felt let down.
* As opposed to Action Man Seeking Controversy – who were actually named after a personal ad they saw in the back of the Henley Gazette.
perce wrote:
Didn’t they split up into Plastic Recyclers and General Waste? They tried to go in very different directions, but ended up on the same bill, IIRC…
I may be getting confused
I may be getting confused here but though Plastic Recyclers and General Waste were dancehall act? Noted for producing all of their “versions” from a single record – “Rub-a-dub-ish Argument”. Now commonly found in the bargin bin in charity shops.
Driver has made an major
Driver has made an major error, which can happen from time to time.
But once again, JV had got invoved when didn’t need to……His roadcraft is appalling.
Velophaart_95 wrote:
That’s staggeringly absurd, did you actually look at what happened? The driver made an illegal turn into the cycle lane, forcing Vine to slow almost to a standstill. With the van at a standstill, Vine went to pull round it when the driver went into reverse and drove into him. In which way is this Vine “getting involved when he didn’t need to”?
Velophaart_95 wrote:
You mean – he was riding a bike? Yeah – totally unnecessary. He could buy a car, hire a taxi or simply take the bus / tube like a normal person…
Personally I think I might have just jumped off the bike and then not stood behind the van afterwards (they might just keep trying to reverse)… but in the moment, who knows?
chrisonatrike wrote:
I guess he was hoping that he would be able to stop the driver wrecking his bike, probably not the safest decision in retrospect but as you say, understandable in the heat of the moment.
Regarding your first comment, I saw this a little while ago on his Twitter feed, word for word: “You earn plenty of money and could easily afford a car, so it’s obvious that you only drive [sic] a bike so that you can annoy other people so you deserve everything you get.”
The key difference is that
The key difference is that the driver’s error put other people in danger, whereas Vine’s error (stopping in the truck’s blind spot) only endangered himself. He learnt his lesson, with the damage to his bike, but the driver probably won’t unless banned from the road, at least temporarily.
ubercurmudgeon wrote:
As I noted above, I don’t think that’s quite what happened: Vine was pulling round the back of the stopped truck when it started reversing, he only stopped moving and jumped off the bike when the truck hit him.
Velophaart_95 wrote:
Correct both poor , Vine awful
Vine might be awful (I’m not
Vine might be awful (I’m not a fan) … but what does that have to do with a) a driver failing to observe the road properly and driving somewhere they shouldn’t and b) making a manoeuver which has known hazards (reversing in an area with people on foot / bike – where they’ve already realised they’re not supposed to be) without checking properly?
Still, on the bright side – it’s allowed some people to get “bloody cyclists!” off their chests. Oh – and no-one got injured and someone took some responsibility for their actions after a crash.
I do sometimes wonder about
I do sometimes wonder about JV and his urge to keep going in the face of drivers that he has already deemed to be incompetent. I would be giving them a lot more space!
However, in this case he is not the one that has driven into a cycle lane, ignored a keep left sign, ignored a give way to on coming cycles sign and then reversed without satisfactorily assessing his surroundings striking a vulnerable road user and damaging their cycle in the process.
I think you may have defined false equivalence for us.
I understand JV (more than
I understand JV (more than the talk on the phone guy), but in his (and phone guy) quest to get a good camera shot he compromises his own safety. Had he not slowed down this wouldn’t have happened. In his defense though, I don’t have a camera, but it is hard not to slow down give some weird looks at extreme violations like this.
I understand that he wants to show that we live in a jungle, but in order to give us many jungle stories, he must first survive to film them.
cyclisto wrote:
If he hadn’t slowed down he would have ridden straight into the truck that had just turned across him illegally. He then attempted to ride round/past it and it reversed into him.
Anyone who doesn’t slow down
Anyone who doesn’t slow down to go round the back of a truck, in a situation where there might be cyclists coming the other way that you can’t see, is a grade A idiot.
Slowing down to go round an obstruction is not a contributory factor to what happened here. Imagine if Vine were driving and the lorry was obstructing a motor traffic lane. If he had slowed down to go around safely, and the lorry had reversed into his car, would have been saying that his slowing down instead of cannoning round into the oncoming lane of traffic was a contributory factor to the collision?
Of course not.
Another factor is that the
Another factor is that the halfwit driving isn’t just reversing across a cycle lane, but also a pedestrian crossing. It’s seriously lucky he’s hasn’t killed someone today, and the Met should throw the book at him.
Can add in ignoring the keep left sign, and even if it wasn’t a bike lane, entering what would be the wrong side of a street. Not fit to be on the roads.
He has a 360 camera so there
He has a 360 camera so there is no need to get a good shot.
Had he not slowed down, he would have hit the van.
Did you understand the video ?
As I see the video, there was
As I see the video, there was enough space to go on, at the same speed. You and others may have differerent perception but that is how I understand it, we cannot all aggree.
That means your first
That means your first instinct when confronted with a hazard turning across you is not to brake.
That there was enough room is an after the fact statement.
CyclingMikey’s favourite
CyclingMikey’s favourite corner there, isn’t it?
Paul J wrote:
No, this is in Tavistock Square: the infamous Gandalf Corner is further west, in Regent’s Park.
Vine’s law: in any video of
Vine’s law: in any video of an incident between a cyclist and driver which has been posted on the internet, there will always been a large fraction of commentators who will blame the cyclist, no matter what the actual video shows
the little onion wrote:
Any other cyclist id have great sympathy with them.why does Vine make me support the vehicle driver regardless?
That’s a question you should
That’s a question you should ask yourself really. Given that by definition the driver is not going to be innocent “regardless” of the facts of the situation, you are clearly allowing some sort of prejudice to cloud your judgement. Perhaps you’re happy with that – but there’s no point pretending once you’ve accepted that you’re making prejudicial judgements, that your view is of any consequence in determining the actual rights and wrongs of a situation.
I think most of the police
I think most of the police forces I submit to ask you not to put footage on social media. I assume that JV does not report incidents? It’s a shame in this case, that’s surely worth some points.
IanMK wrote:
It varies between forces. A&S didn’t have any problem with me uploading videos onto here when I asked them.
He does report incidents.
He does report incidents. There’s no law about not putting footage on social media. The request is ostensibly on the basis that a defendent’s lawyer might possibly argue that they couldn’t get a fair trial if the footage were widely viewed before the matter went to court.
In this case it’s hard to see the scenario in which, if it went to court, the defendent’s lawyer would not advise them to just plead guilty.
The difference between JV and
The difference between JV and the rest of us, is that JV can afford to let his bike get crushed, and can afford to spend the time faffing around pretending he’s a policeman.
In the meantime, the ordinary soul would just cycle around the truck, make allowances for it and move on. Whereas JV just pretty much stops, chucks his bike under the truck, and bangs on the back.
One reality for uber-rich attention seeking presenters, another reality for the rest of us.
Feels like you’re perhaps a
Feels like you’re perhaps a little blinded by your Vine-ophobia. He does “cycle around the truck” – which is when it reverses into him.
I did have to watch it a couple of times before I realised that truck had actually driven into a cycle lane. In that context, I get why he would be trying to reverse out – but he did not do so safely, most likely due to panic having realised his previous error.
Not sure that you are really in a place to judge from your sofa someone’s actions when they’ve just been driven into by a 7.5 ton vehicle, and literally nearly killed. Perhaps you’ve not heard of “adrenalin”? Or “fight or flight” responses? The “ordinary soul” is very likely indeed to bang on a truck in that situation, especially if it is giving every indication that it may continue to reverse and further crush your bike.
No-one wants their bike crushed, whether they can afford it or not. But most of all, no-one wants to be in a position where they could have been killed by a driver’s lack of care or attention.
JV stops when the truck
JV stops when the truck starts reversing – he essentially “mocks” going round the truck, then stops and puts his bike under the truck – if anything, he was more the cause of the accident rather than the truck driver. Not to mention being perfectly in the blind spot doesn’t help his case either.
I would back myself 99 times from 100 to not get in that situation.
I haven’t heard of adrenalin but I have heard of adrenaline. If he wanted to play it safe, he didn’t have to bother even going round the truck.
It’s noones fault but his own.
Left_is_for_Losers wrote:
Nothing funnier than stupid people trying to act smart.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Lol no there isn’t
https://whichiscorrect.com/adrenaline-or-adrenalin/
I stand corrected, there is
I stand corrected, there is something funnier than stupid people trying to act smart, it’s stupid people who try to act smart, get proved wrong and then desperately try and double down on their stupidity.
Left_is_for_Losers wrote:
https://whichiscorrect.com/noone-or-no-one/
I don’t think you could blame
I don’t think you could blame noone for this, he lives in America now. I quite like ” I’m into something good”. A Goffin/King classic in my opinion. He was in Coronation Strreet as well, as was Davy Jones.
I thought he used to play for
I thought he used to play for Harlequins RL. Either way, I’ve no idea why he’s been dragged in to this either, seems a trifle unfair.
It’s probably the same guy,
It’s probably the same guy, it’s quite an unusual name.
I’m proud to be a Woke,
I’m proud to be a Woke, Snowflake, Lefty loser…
Me too.
Me too.
Oh very good.
I agree.
Oh very good.
I agree.
MattieKempy wrote:
I’m glad I don’t know you in person then
Left_is_for_Losers wrote:
Not as much we are!
stomec wrote:
The beauty of the internet and the world we live in eh?
Right back at you!
Right back at you!
Honestly: More JV related
Honestly: More JV related drama pron
Yes the van driver is an idiot. However, whereas most of us like to assume all drivers are and make allowances accordingly, JV doesn’t.
It is good for likes on Twitter but not much else.
JV bears some responsibility
JV bears some responsibility for the bike going under the truck.
Yes the truck driver made a big mistake then a bad mistake but…….
I spent a couple of years back in the distant past as a Cycle courier in central London, riding daily, all day, all week.
Amongst the community of couriers we lost several guys, killed by exactly this sort of situation, and always because the rider put themselves in the way of danger.
NEVER EVER put yourself in the way of danger when faced with a driver who is stressed or panicked or angry, whatever the cause for that.
as a courier back then a lot of riders took dodgy risks and partook in silly, crazy riding. You learnt very quickly not to underestimate what a vehicle will do. Getting it wrong would likely injure you or kill you.
JV SHOULD NOT have ridden behind that truck. He should have stopped short and waited to see what the driver was likely to do. That would have taken seconds out of his day at best, and not resulted in his bike under the truck.
Nah, the truck turned, Jeremy
Nah, the truck turned, Jeremy was continuing on his merry way with a clear lane, then without thought, the driver reversed. It’s a big hoop to leap through to expect another road user to consider that driver doing that.
IanMSpencer wrote:
What else was the driver going to do other than continue going the wrong way into a 2 way street?
He had to reverse, that was obvious. Placing yourself into the blind spot of a lorry that has to reverse is pretty dim on any scale. However , that doesn’t detract from the drivers responsibilities to ensure it was safe to do so. At least give a few seconds warning after putting into reverse before actually moving.
JV is a serial sensationalist
JV is a serial sensationalist who goes looking for fuss and trouble with drivers.
IIRC I saw both of those on
IIRC I saw both of those on the same billing once. Made for a rather odd evening, what with Fuss and Trouble’s rabble-rousing vibe being followed by the angular New Wave and cynical lyrics of Serial Sensationalist.
I think that’s why the “Many
I think that’s why the “Many Faces of Attention Seeking” Tour never really took off. Audiences just got confused and angered by the contrarian lyrics and lack of a joined up line up, which often contradicted itself with one band on the bill showing up in another’s slot – who could forget “Serial Sensationalist” showing up on stage instead of “Genuine Foreigner Honest Guv” at the Astoria. That crowd was never going to react well to the free form jazz stylings or GFHG, it was no wonder they set fire to the Gents and left.
Ironically the Gents were the
Ironically the Gents were the best band on the bill.
Yeah, now you mention it, I
Yeah, now you mention it, I think they may have also appeared as “Single Issue Demagogue” and “Names Reversed”. It was always obvious who they were though, even when they affected the manner of some other group for their initial numbers.
“A serviceable impression of a man passing a kidney stone” was one of the kinder reviews of their classic “We’re here in your living room now (why won’t you leave us alone?)”
I only remember their other
I only remember their other hit ” How can we miss you when you won’t go away” ( originally recorded by the late great Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks)
It must be difficult but
It must be difficult but satisfying for Vine to trundle through life thinking he never makes mistakes. Yes the van driver cocked up but having spent my working life as a driver in one form or another I’ve seen many mistakes made and made a few myself. We are all only human after all and it only takes a split second lapse in concentration to make said mistake. As I also spend a lot of time on my bikes the best thing to do in a situation like this is to slow down a little and give it a wide berth. Instead, this idiot rides right up behind it and stops. The driver should have made sure nobody was there but what sane person stops behind a vehicle that is so obviously about to reverse. When I’m on my bikes I realise how squishy I am and do everything I can to stay away from avoidable dangers like this as plenty of unavoidable ones present themselves. I’m not a lover of Vine as I think he attracts negativity to cycling that we can all do without but he would have impressed me is if he’d slowed down and thought about his own vulnerable position. We need to be accountable for our decisions and in this case he made a wrong one. Protesting in such a stupid manner could have easily cost him his life. Nobody is perfect Mr. Vine, you included, and I’m sure when he makes mistake he won’t be posting them on social media. With him, it’s always somebody else’s fault but even if it is it’s best not to put yourself in extra danger.
Jaarn wrote:
I agree with most of this – I reckon that most people would have been able to get out of this situation, and Vine simply created a scenario, rather than getting out of it.
The driver made a mistake,
The driver made a mistake, and maybe could be excused that. But then he made another mistake by reversing without knowing if anybody was behind them. Terrible driving and I’m surprised JV shook his hand at the end.
The incident is definitely
The incident is definitely the fault of the driver, but I 100% would not have stopped behind the van. All that achieved was putting himself in harm’s way.
Either pull up short or carry on around it, but I can’t imagine what was going through his head by stopping there.
AidanR wrote:
Despite the assertions of a certain silly little troll, I’m by no means a JV fanboy, in fact we had a big blowup on Twitter a while back and he blocked me because I said I thought one of his incidents with a bus was actually his fault. However, all I can see in this incident is that when the van stopped he started to ride past it, presumably with a view to going round the side to remonstrate with the driver; he only stops when he realises the driver is reversing into him and he has to jump off and sacrifice his bike or risk going under the wheels with it. There’s definitely an argument that Vine would have been wiser to stop well back and wait, but it’s simply not the case that he had stopped behind the van before it started reversing.
Hmm, maybe you’re right. It’s
Hmm, maybe you’re right. It’s really hard to tell with the 360 degree camera.
AidanR wrote:
That’s very true, but I think if you keep an eye on the dashed white line ahead it keeps moving towards the camera until the van/Vine contact, indicating he’s still in motion.
road.cc wrote:
Not segregated. Had there been a bit more segregation (e.g. just extending this island) that might have been an additional visual cue for the driver.
Yes, I think you are right
Yes, I think you are right there. The break in the solid white line for the pedestrian crossing is too inviting to the inattentive driver. There needs to be an extension of that island to incorporate the crossing, so that the solid white line can remain unbroken all the way up to a keep left bollard.
Another thing that would really help is re-laying the cycle lane in red tarmac.
HoarseMann wrote:
All of this! It’s bizarre to me that we apply a UK “just do what you can. Not for us to interfere” approach to the design of cycle infra. Mostly it’s not well marked but where it is we can’t even agree on a colour! (Can think of at least 3 we use).
Another benefit of properly separated infra (including continuous footway / cycle path at side roads) is it should be much clearer that this is not for motor traffic.
Don’t usually comment on Vine
Don’t usually comment on Vine’s videos, but this one was worth a go.
My own personal take (and I’ll admit that it’s significantly harder to judge distances, speeds and perspective with a 360 camera) is that while the lorry driver made two mistakes (the wrong turn and an incautious reverse – extremely dangerous), a better trained cyclist would have been extremely aware that mistake 1 would very probably lead to mistake 2 and would have stayed well clear of it. This is not to say that Vine was at fault here (he wasn’t), but defensive cycling (as with defensive driving) is all about being able to read the road ahead, predict the behaviour of other road users and ensure that, first and foremost, you keep yourself out of potential danger regardless of who is in the wrong.
In this regard, Jeremy may want to give some thought to whether it’s better to be “right” or “alive”. I know which one I’d pick…
Some good comments here
Some good comments here
Nice to see some of the road.cc members showing some sense for once and some actual sensible comments suggesting Vine was also wrong (or plain stupid in my view)
The usual suspects here can’t bring themselves to publicly agree with me haha
Ah the usual suspects. I
Ah the usual suspects. I think your getting confused, they were a much derided band who no-one took seriously. I think their one memorable gig was at a new Decathlon opening where unfortunately their equipment blew up. I seem to remember the drummer formed a new band, Martins Heartbroken Chucklemonkey. They weren’t very good though, no originality and so, so predictable. I did quite like the film though.
Is that the same band as
Is that the same band as “creepy obsession” that Rendel was talking about previous?
The guys who followed other guys around, making random trolling comments under everything that they posted?
Do you know they were
Do you know they were actually banned from top of the pops? They tried getting back on under another name. Cheeky monkeys.
Oh shocking stuff. What’s
Oh shocking stuff. What’s funny is that apparently a strange fat guy who had another name called Clem should be banned too but the banning panel are corrupt and just stick their heads in the sand.
Strange fat guy? Your
Strange fat guy? Your knowledge of obscure rock bands is pretty impressive I have to say.
perce wrote:
Thank you – my knowledge is all-encompassing.
Which is why I’m always right, and everyone else is wrong.
Yet you STILL seem to believe
Yet you STILL seem to believe that I’m someone else. That really is the joke that keeps on giving.
Strange Fat Guy were quietly removed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by the Woke Police (yes, the Millenial Post-Punk Skiffle/Nu-Metal crossover quartet – they run security there as a side hussle) back in ’21 by the way. Right leaning types everywhere lost their shizz about the cancellation apparently.
Clem Fandango over & out (or something)
I agree.
I agree.
.
.
Lefty, please STOP immitating Rendy. He is the ONLY ONE on this site who is right abour everything.
.
Or are you Rendy in disguise? Playing agent provocateur?
.
We need to be told.
.
Flintshire Boy wrote:
They probably can’t help it; they’ve even confused their username with his on several occasions.
Flintshire Boy wrote:
Oh yes I’m sorry – I didn’t think about that, apologies for encroaching on sacred ground there. Maybe I’m just below him then
Just had a phone call from a
Just had a phone call from a mate. He said ” Hey Clem” (he always calls me that, don’t know why) ”are you coming for a bike ride or what?” So I’m off now.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
I hear you Clem Fandango. Bit
I hear you Clem Fandango. Bit knackered after my bike ride, in fact I suppose you could say I’m toast.
Your mate isn’t Ray bloody
Your mate isn’t Ray bloody Purchase by any chance?
Yes. Yes it is. Do you know
Yes. Yes he is. Do you know him?
I do indeed. Drops by the
I do indeed. Drops by the studio now & again. He keeps calling me Perce for some reason. I haven’t the heart to correct him, it interferes with his performances.
I concur.
I concur.
Clem Fandango wrote:
.
LOL! Like it, Lefty.
.
.
LOL! Like it, Lefty.
.
.
.
Nah, you’re thinking of the film. Spacey. Was really good.
.
I think you have summed up
I think you have summed up the problem very well. I am sure most of us on here could easily have avoided the situation and accepted the delay caused by a driver seeing “only a cyclist” and not ceding priority. We could doff our hats at the same time and thank them for not killing us. Unfortunately giving way to bullies rarely ends well and in my opinion the fact that some cyclists stand up to the bullies and insist on their right to be treated properly on the road is a good thing for all cyclists, including inexperienced cyclists who have not yet learned all the situations where they need to watch out for drivers putting them in danger.
As for the being “right or alive”, if you are experienced and weigh up the risks you can be “right and alive”. I could be driven into from the rear at anytime on the road, should I pull into the side and stop every time I hear a car behind me?
In my opinion the risk of giving into bullies and thus reinforcing their behaviour far outweighs the risk of confronting inconsiderate driving, before it progresses to dangerous driving, if you are experienced and know what you are doing. I think JV falls into that category and I for one am very grateful to him. The same goes for Cycling Mikey.
I think this is perhaps
I think this is perhaps different from other videos he’s posted. In this case, it was an honest mistake by the driver at a confusing junction (after all, he didn’t try to keep going once he realised he’d gone wrong), followed be a poorly executed (and dangerous) reversing operation. I don’t think there was any bullying here (although obviously many other examples of it elsewhere) and this doesn’t feel to me to be a “stand your ground” sort of case. The videoed interaction between Jeremy and the driver afterwards (which seemed good natured and a recognition of an honest mistake from a driver who immediately held his hand up to admit it) felt – to me anyway – to reflect a case of a mistake rather than what is more commonly seen in these videos – overt arrogance.
I think this particular video is, oddly, not representative of many of his videos (and others posted elsewhere) which show ignorance and arrogance. This one just looked like a good old fashioned mistake (which, I personally feel, wasn’t all one-sided) which probably could have been avoided by either the cyclist or the driver, even if ultimately the driver was at fault.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t like to be bullied on the road and am a strong advocate (and implementer) of defensive cycling, and feel that I am significantly safer on the road as a result. I just feel that this particular case wasn’t actually representative of the real problems that cyclists experience on the roads, despite, perhaps, it appearing to be so at first glance.
Some interesting (and nuanced) comments here though. I’ve enjoyed reading them.
Please do not excuse
Please do not excuse incompetent and dangerous professional drivers.
There was no was this mistake was anywhere being “honest”
I think it’s the first time I
I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him at real risk.
The other times, I see it as making a point in a controlled manner leaving room to avoid a collision (and I agree his camera makes judging it awkward).
It’s something I do when drivers bully me out of the way. Had this yesterday with some L motorcyclist who thought it was ok to be in the middle of my lane coming towards me. I held the lane long enough to make a point which I hope he will reflect on.
In this one, I think vine made an error and thought he’d just be able to carry on past the van. If I’m honest, I think I may well have made the same error.
Replace JV with, let’s say a
Replace JV with, let’s say a tourist on a hire bike…maybe someone who can cycle, but doesn’t everyday like most of us here. Is it still an error on the part of the cyclist who is merrily riding along as they have right of way? Or the driver of a van that has already broken a couple of rules and is about to break some more?
Bit of a generic comparison –
Bit of a generic comparison – but someone who is just cycling but doesn’t regularly is probably likely to be more risk averse, a more experience cyclist would take this on and get round the truck
The issue here is simply that JV is clearly as thick as two very stubby planks with no risk awareness. Which is probably why he always gets in a pickle
Stubby Planks the renownned
Stubby Planks the renowned blues guitarist was a member of Mensa you know
Oh right, I always thought he
Oh right, I always thought he was an Oxfam trustee
No he never joined The Oxfam
No he never joined The Oxfam Trustees, that was just a rumour put out by the record label. Their guitarist was actually a session musician called “Confused Roger”.
That would make sense,
That would make sense, because the conductor of the band was a guy called Brainless Brian
No your knowledge has let you
No your knowledge has let you down again. Brainless Brian was a misogynistic 70s comedian on the summer season circuit. He appeared on Russ Abbott’s Mad House once but died on his arse after telling the Essex girl joke. He never made it back on TV. I think he’s Jim Davidson’s warm up man now
Bottomless Brunch Billy was the Trustees conductor
Thanks for clarifying. i’ve
Thanks for clarifying. i’ve actually got a t-shirt with the signatures of all of the “trustees conductor” band members. Not worth much now though.
Wow! Imagine having to warm
Wow! Imagine having to warm up Jim Davidson. A dirty job but I suppose someone has to do it.
I agree
I agree
perce wrote:
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Stop it! This is all very clever (and funny) but in danger of getting out of hand!
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Out of Hand once had a top 20
Out of Hand once had a top 20 album in Japan. Ironically, it was called “Health & Safety”
I disagree. The issue here is
I disagree. The issue here is that you just hate JV, and will be contrary irrespective of facts. Also, you seem to contradict yourself…can you decide whether a more “experience” cyclist will get around the truck, or identify the risk and stand off? You seem to think they should do both. Actually, don’t bother answering as IDGAF what you think.
KDee wrote:
uh no…read what I said, I’ll put it below again for you so you don’t have to navigate perce & clems (or is it the same person?!) nonsense
Someone who is inexperienced would be more risk averse – i.e. likely to wait
A more experienced rider may just nip around
Bit of a generic comparison – but someone who is just cycling but doesn’t regularly is probably likely to be more risk averse, a more experience cyclist would take this on and get round the truck
Still a believer in the dual
Still a believer in the dual identity thing huh? Priceless. And somewhat ironic (not like the Alanis Morrisette number).
I don’t know, generally the
I don’t know, generally the people on the hire bikes are clueless about risk, scary to watch and certainly not risk averse.
You need to read my post in
You need to read my post in context of the one I replied to
“better trained cyclist would have been extremely aware that mistake 1 would very probably lead to mistake 2 and would have stayed well clear of it.”
The error being not taking account of mistake 2 and the error being part of good road craft.
To give another example, avoiding being hit when a driver turns right across a cycle lane and through queuing traffic. I’d consider not slowing down and watching out for this to be an error on my part. This is completely different from the driver’s responsibility in law.
Ah, I get you. I think if it
Ah, I get you. I think if it was me in JV’s position, my brain would see a delivery van, and expect it to (do what delivery drivers do) mount the pavement and make a delivery or something, not stop and reverse back the way it came.
I ended up thinking I would
I ended up thinking I would not have been reversed over by virtue of me stopping to have a right go at the driver !
I count 4 mistakes before the
I count 4 mistakes before the reverse.
Failed to keep left.
Illegally drove in cycle lane (note – they drove through a cycle lane as they went past the mandatory blue arrows before they even turned…).
Failed to follow mandatory blue direction sign.
Failed to give way to oncoming traffic.
This incident reminds me a
This incident reminds me a little of the “Reverse up the one way street killed pedestrian” one in Wigton.
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/23414744.carlisle-van-driver-jailed-death-pedestrian-wigton/
Just looked at the video. At
Just looked at the video. At first viewing I thought “Why did Vine put himself in danger by continuing around the rear of the van?”. Then I thought about it a bit harder. His initial stopping point was fairly close to the van, and he couldn’t really have stopped much sooner. That left him two options. Get around the small gap to the rear or stay where he was but either leaves him in danger once the van starts to reverse with a lock on because the front of the reversing van was going to swing toward him with him right in its blind spot down the passenger side.
Personally I might have taken a third option and gone around both the van and the other side of the traffic island, putting that between me and the van but then that puts me on the wrong side of the road and into a different dangerous place. And that’s with the benefit of hindsight and the clarity of thought provided by not being imminently crushed by a large van.
Definitely extremely poor driving by the van driver. Making one mistake is dangerous but we all make them occasionally, making three or four basic errors in quick succession like that leaves me questioning their right to hold a driving licence.
Jeremy does seem to have a
Jeremy does seem to have a lot of bad luck.
neilmck wrote:
No. He just documents what happens to thousands of cyclists every day.