A taxi driver has apparently been fined £700 and received six license points after deliberately knocking a helmet cam cyclist over with his wing mirror.
The cyclist, who posts online as Traffic Droid and Son of the Winds, was riding along with several prominent cameras on his helmet and bike, when a taxi driver approached from behind sounding his horn, before making two close overtakes before hitting the breaks, the second manoeuvre knocking the cyclist to the ground with the off-side wing mirror.
Son of the Winds’ multiple cameras record the collision, which took place last year, from several viewpoints including from a GoPro mounted on a long arm to the front of his bike facing backwards.
In captions towards the end of the video, Son of the Winds says the incident occurred about a year ago.
“I waited 3 months after the attempted assault [for] a decision to prosecute,” he said.
“it was decided that it would be best for the driver to undergo [a] Driver Safety course offered by
the police.
“The taxi driver refused to attend. The police called to advise they will now press charges of driving without due care.
“A hearing followed where the driver pleaded not guilty.
“9 months later I attended court for trial as a witness.
“The driver foolishly defended himself – and the verdict?
“Guilty.
“He received 6 points on his licence and £700 in fines and court costs.”
52 thoughts on “Video: taxi driver deliberately runs cyclist off the road”
Does it really take that long
Does it really take that long to make a decission? Traffic droid had camera all around him as evidence and still it took 9 months to get the verdict. I understand it is a light punishment, but after 9 months of waitting and going to court(wasting your own time) I would be dissapointed. 6 points will not stop him from driving and 700 pounds is his fish and chips money for those 9 months…
Door mirror and BRAKES, not
Door mirror and BRAKES, not breaks.
swldxer wrote:
Gosh! You’re young, but agree on the breaks/brakes; that’s a proper error.
OK, firstly
OK, firstly
Why would you do that unless you were a professional or semi-professiona film maker?
and
How on earth were the actions of that taxi driver simply “without due care”? Watching the video (admittedly with the sound off) it looks like a premeditated and intentional act. That’s not “without due care” any more than me whacking someone on the head with a bottle is “drinking without due care”!
brooksby wrote:
You’ll be surprised what other details it can pick up, for example on a different video his pole mounted backwards facing camera was the only one, out of what seemed like ten cameras, that captured a driver hitting a moped because he was looking at his phone. The other cameras only picked up the collision, not what the driver was doing.
webster wrote:
Fair enough, but its not exactly everyday cycling, is it?
brooksby wrote:
I live in Newcastle, but I know who Traffic Droid is. I have seen him on one of those “When people get angry” channel 5 type shows where he recorded an incident. So I would hazzard a guess that the cabbies down there in the big smoke know who he is. I have no idea why the cabbie did what he did, i.e. pull in front of him and stop, and then pull up next to him and attempt to stop him. Putting 2 and 2 together, and possibly getting 5, I wonder if he saw the cameras, figured it was traffic droid, and decided to stop him to have a word. Attempt 1 failed, so attempt 2 was more final.
It does come across that what traffic droid does is extreme, but the way I see it, he is a guy out on the road every day and has probably had his share of near misses. Rathre than sitting back and taking it, he strapped a camera to his head. He had some success with this, so now that has escalated to several cameras. But fair play to him. He is hopefully doing some good bringing to light these sort of incidents, and maybe eventually this will have a positive impact for us all.
I don’t think he goes out looking for trouble (unlike that video a couple of weeks back of the fella having a go at the lady in an Aldi car park), but he probably has to overcome that stigma every time he does record/capture an incident.
I would just love to know what was going through the cabbies head when he did this, what the hell was he trying to achieve. And was there a fella there defending the cabbie? Would his defence have been different if traffic droid was more seriously injured, or do people take the stance that “well, he seems ok, it wasn’t that bad”?
Completely separate issue to
Completely separate issue to person being hit by driver:
This guy seems the sort you’d pay a *lot* of money not to have to sit next to at the work crimbo do. Narcissist doesn’t seem to begin to cover it.
KiwiMike wrote:
Narcissist? I don’t think so.
Somebody on a serious crusade against misbehaving road users maybe.
Good for him.
flobble wrote:
Narcissist? I don’t think so.
Somebody on a serious crusade against misbehaving road users maybe.
Good for him.— KiwiMike
“Crusade” is the right word for Lewis
Some of you may know him from ”The Complainers”
The arrogance of far too many
The arrogance of far too many cabbies. Just about anyone who rides in zone 1 will have experienced their attempts at educating cyclists. I have no doubt the cabbie genuinely believed he had done nothing wrong.
The whole green badge licensing system needs reform. The principle of a regulated taxi service makes obvious sense, the current implementation is ridiculous.
Oh, and obviously someone
Oh, and obviously someone should make sure Mr Sugar sees this next time he’s twattering on about “situational awareness”.
Something very wrong about
Something very wrong about people with that many cameras on their bike. Even though the evidence seems to speak for itself, the lack of sound on the video is suspicious. As a fairly fast everyday commuter with no cameras who encounters almost nothing but very good behaviour from motorists, I am concerned that there is a body of cyclinsts that go out looking for trouble. I’ve seen countless videos posted by commuters (not this one) seeming to assume that everybody will obviously agree that the motorist is at fault, when to my eyes it is clearly the cyclist that is at fault. Sorry, and I’m a full-on rider, not a timid kerb crawler.
MarkiMark wrote:
Really? You encounter almost nothing but good behaviour from motorists? Where do you ride? I wish I rode there! I’ve commuted for years, on and off – and I’m genuinely surprised if I don’t see at least three minor incidents per day that could cause an accident, and probably one or two per week that are extremely close, or actually DO result in accidents.
Some riders don’t help themselves, for sure – red light jumping, dangerous filtering and stupid undertakes being the prime examples – but I’ve yet to see a cyclist endanger anyone else’s life on the road other than their own.
Although I do agree there’s something a little bit ‘different’ about TrafficDroid – I’ve seen his videos before and plenty of them have left me scratching my head thinking ‘what was I supposed to have seen there?’ – the fact remains his array of cameras is his business, and all he’s doing is highlighting some frankly piss-poor driving (like the pillock in this video). You could say it’s a bit trainspotterish, but I don’t automatically assume there’s something ‘wrong’ about blokes standing at the end of platforms with notebooks just because the way they get their kicks doesn’t appeal to me
MarkiMark wrote:
How exactly does anyone “go out looking for trouble”?
I’ve been riding with cameras for a couple of years, as do thousands of commuters. It doesn’t make a blind bit of difference to my riding style, nor do I feel the need to upload the few incidents I’ve had to report for anyones entertainment.
Using cameras does attract the odd stupid comment…
bikebot wrote:
How does he “look for trouble” ? Easily. Having watched some of his videos he’s been known to take out a meter stick and MEASURE the exact distance between himself and another stopped vehicle (showing them a yellow card if HE feels they are too close) . . there’s also the sheer number of cameras he has mounted, no one NEEDS that number of cameras unless he is funding them throuugh advertising off youtube etc.
As for his “Pole camera” I’ve sommented several times on his youtube channel that it’s actually been dangerous at times, where he wobbles a bit and it has almost knocked into pedestrians. Not tomention that Rolls Royce, Mercedes etc have had to remove their bonnet emblems under “safety regulations” in case those small ornaments hit someone. ( I’m pretty sure a Gopro up the a$$ on an unsuspecting pedestrian is likely to attract an amount otf attention from the safety bridage)
That’s not to say the taxi driver is justified in running him down . . . that’s still wrong regardless of how much of a pratt the cyclist makes himself seem.
Quote:
He did what?! He got out a meter stick and showed motorists a yellow card? What a danger, the poor motorists must have felt so vulnerable with nothing but a carcass of metal and glass between them and the yellow piece of cardboard. Why do you not say that the motorists breaking the law are looking for trouble?
And then you go on to profile cyclists as the same danger as Rolls Royce and Mercedes large vehicles?
Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?
StuInNorway wrote:
Thansk for clarifying that, I’ll be careful not to MEASURE anything. Using a moderate amount of cameras is fine, using an excessive number of cameras or measuring anything means you are looking for trouble.
I thought it might have something to do with riding, but I stand corrected.
MarkiMark wrote:
Ok, so how is the rider at fault in this situation? Driver pulls alongside, then moves over into the cyclist. Court seemingly agreed, although imposed what feels like an unduly lenient punishment. I’d just like to understand the reasoning behind your statement
MarkiMark wrote:
I can’t believe I am reading this! You don’t sound like a full on rider, and I would love to ride where you ride , I encounter bad driving at least every hour, maybe more frequently than that. I don’t have any cameras.
It is a reflection of our society that the cabbie thinks he can get away with it. It also reflects badly that some people who ride bikes feel they have to have not just one camera but an elaborate multi-camera set up to catch these utter scumbags.
It is an outrage that he hasn’t been prevented from driving, what have you got to do to be considered not fit to be a professional driver?
The bastard should NEVER drive again. The video should be made compulsory viewing for anyone in charge of a vehicle so they can see what is not acceptable.
MarkiMark wrote:
It’s not really his fault if you forgot to turn the sound on.
MarkiMark wrote:
I have two cameras mounted on my commute bike (I don’t bother for weekend rides), because a few months back just pulling away from some traffic lights the car behind me drove into me throwing me across the road. the driver stopped briefly, but didn’t leave any details and I didn’t have the numberplate. Had I had my rear camera then I would have shown what happened, the nuumberplate, and probably that the driver was on the phone at the time.
The standard of driving in the UK is bad, but London is worse still. The Police will fob you off if you don’t have evidence (I doubt they would have done anything in this case without the video).
thereverent wrote:
They tried not to do anything even with the video, driver awareness? It’s a sad indictment of the quality of driving accepted on out roads that drivers need to be .axe aware that hitting someone with your vehicle is wrong.
MarkiMark wrote:
I wasn’t going to respond at all, but…
Today had to endure a nasty fast road with cars illegally parked on double yellows at regular intervals all along it, then had a huge lorry cross the dividing line to drive straight at me head on on the wrong side of the road while taking up the entire lane (in order, it turned out, to illegally park on my side of the road, completely blocking the lane right in front of me as if I wasn’t there, and obliging me to screech to a halt and get off and walk past on the pavement).
Are you seriously telling me you never encounter illegally parked cars, forcing you into the flow of traffic on very fast roads, for example? Never come head-to-head with cars going the wrong way on one-way roads?
Where is this nirvana in which you live?
Brilliant – so a taxi driver
Brilliant – so a taxi driver deliberately knocks a cyclist over, and the main topic of debate on here is how odd the cyclist is…
Amazing that the guy didnt go and do his course – that would have saved him a lot of money.
But given how unrepentant he is, and how he chose to take out a guy clearly festooned with cameras that would show the world his actions – is he really a fit person to hold a taxi licence ?
I can’t see that any cyclist is safe with him around. He should lose his licence. HGV drivers have been fired for less haven’t they ?
fenix wrote:
That struck me too. When I’m feeling charitable I suspect that it is because those following this line of thought want to believe that there is something within their control, some behaviour, or attitude which they don’t manifest, but which the injured/assaulted/dead cyclist does.
If they’re right, then they can avoid that fate.
If they’re not, then they have to accept that it could happen to them.
So… maybe it keeps them cycling.
Or, they’re just motoring trolls.
Come on Laura, it’s brakes
Come on Laura, it’s brakes not breaks. And it was the nearside mirror, not offside!
Whilst the Taxi driver
Whilst the Taxi driver deserves all he got, the cyclist was featured on a recent episode of Oxford Street revealed on BBC, where he did come across as a bit of a vigilante, provoking situations for his you tube channel.
As for the pole on the front of his bike, as a taxi driver righfully pointed out in the show, it is a danger to other road users in iteself, particularly pedestrians.
There are good and bad cyclist and drivers.
This video showed bad examples of each.
Cumisky wrote:
Let me help you to understand your own stupidity:
Things that have killed/KSI pedestrians this year:
-Cars
-Lorries
-Taxis
-Buses
-Vans
Things that haven’t killed/KSI pedestrians this year:
-Go Pro poles
danthomascyclist wrote:
This is a difficult one to be clearly on either side:
The taxi driver is an idiot that needs to truly repent and understand that he could kill the next rider he pulls that stunt on (even at 10mph a kerb could kill).
This particular rider is at best a ‘character’, at worst a maker of rods for his own back. I have seen many of his vids, and while they are amusing, he is looking for trouble in some of them, if not in this instance.
And, if we are going to quote statistics, you need to point out that the odds of being skewered by a GoPro pole in London are small to none as I’ve not seen anyone else use one there, ever. IMO it’s a dangerous thing and should not be allowed.
Cumisky wrote:
is the pole more or less of a danger than a 10 ton HGV with dreadful visibility and a driver that’s more interesting in what going on with his phone ?
Anyway, I hope the taxi drivers life and livelihood is ruined by UBA. That would be some round about justice for using his vehicle as a weapon
While agreeing that ‘Gone
While agreeing that ‘Gone with the Wind Droid’ or what ever he calls himself is a bit of a ‘special’ case, I don’t see that running people off the road is compatible with being a professional driver. I don’t imagine that deliberately driving into another car would have been treated in a similarly lenient manner either. A short driving ban would have been more appropriate in my view as higher standards should be demonstrated by those who drive for a living.
I didn’t see any bad cycling in the video but then video can be editted…
Totally failed by the justice
Totally failed by the justice system. Driver education? Driving without due care? This is minimum dangerous driving and possibly assault. Why wasn’t it tried as such? Sentence may be lenient or may be at the upper limit for the petty charge.
We’ve established that the
We’ve established that the taxi driver was wrong but you must admit Traffic Droid is a bit odd and not your average cyclist. Why did he call for an ambulance? He seemed perfectly capable to walk about and phone for it himself. I think his comment was “get an ambulance just in case”.
Narcissist is a good descritption of him. I wonder what his day job is, or does he get paid to make videos of bad driving?
I took the train and walked
I took the train and walked to work today rather than riding in (works Crimbo do).
It’s beyond shocking the number of drivers on phones in traffic. Almost 50% at most sets of lights and probably about 10% talking in moving traffic.
Of course hardly any of them can see what the driver in front or behind is actually up to. As a pedestrian you realise that an astonishing number of delya are due to drivers not realising that the lights have changed or the driver in front has just opened a massive gap etc…
I don’t use cameras on my bike, but if I did, I suspect the temptation to start documenting drivers’ behaviour would drive me mad.
I can’t understand why people
I can’t understand why people are commenting so much on the cyclist and his number of cameras. Also, commenting that he’s not an “average cyclist” seems facetious when cyclists are an incredibly varied group and I don’t think I could describe an “average cyclist”. Anyone who rides a bike is a “cyclist” and we should all be able to ride safely on the public roads (providing we abide by the various laws).
I’m shocked but not surprised by the lenient sentence. How is that not assault?
Traffic Droid may be odd but
Traffic Droid may be odd but the taxi driver was found guilty. I would describe the taxi drivers behaviour as psychopathic, he should lose his licence for a couple of years and as part of a re-test have to prove he is pschologically fit to be on the road.
Let me first say that the cab
Let me first say that the cab drivers conduct was absoluetly disgsuting and he should have got a custodial sentence and driving ban for using his vehice as a weapon. But, and it’s a big but. The whole situation could have been avoided.
Any London cyclist has had a close pass by a black cab and, to be honest, this one wasn’t that close. Call him a wanker under your breath and move on. Son of the wind / Cycling droid decides to blow his loud air horn to escalate the situation and got more than he bargined for. At least he got some excellent footage and lots of youtube views.
Him and his ilk (I’m looking at you Megatron) do simply go out of their way to turn a mole hill into a mountain. I have no problem with people filming their ride in case something unfortunate does happen, personally I don’t. But there is no need to have more cameras attached to your bike than the BBC covering the Olympics.
MikeOnABike wrote:
The whole situation could have been avoided had the taxi driver not tried to run him off the road. Or not made the close pass in the first place.
I would say his use of the horn was justified. The driver’s actions were the escalation (assuming there was no provocation before this video began).
MikeOnABike wrote:
Its not so much that I agree or disagree with your last two paragraphs (I couldn’t be bothered to decide on a view) but more that I continue to be puzzled why people think that irrelevant stuff (even if it were true) always has to be appended to any discussion like this.
Your first paragraph says all that matters about the incident. I just don’t see why the rest is necessary to even think about.
I was going to comment but it
I was going to comment but it looks like MikeyMike has had his pants pulled down enough.
they’re making taxi drivers
they’re making taxi drivers retake their driving tests in Gloucester… lots of fuss over it…
http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Taxi-drivers-protest-Gloucester-City-Council-s/story-28326202-detail/story.html
The taxi driver was extremely
The taxi driver was extremely dangerous.
I wonder if this conviction will start a disciplinary hearing or revoke his license.? Does it need a complaint to initiate proceedings. ?
CXR94Di2 wrote:
The consequences for him with the PCO (Public Carriage Office) are almost certainly zero. Unless the complaint is from someone who was a passenger, it’s rare for them to give a damn about complaints from the public.
It’s a major failing, and discredits the claims from the industry that black cabs are better for public safety. If a driver with AddLee or any other major minicab firm had done the same thing, they’d almost certainly lose their job.
That driver is probably still operating, and if he’s an LTDA member they’ll provide legal assistance to help him keep his licence if or when he reaches 12 points.
Hopefully this judgement and
Hopefully this judgement and video will be seen by drivers – taxi, van, bus and others.
Should have been much worse punishment.
eg 33 months – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6532118/Former-international-show-jumper-jailed-for-running-over-elderly-cyclist.html
and watch for sentencing of Gledhill soon – killed an experienced cyclist, trying to ‘give him stick’.
Only thing I would say to Lewis is ‘Don’t wear a cable-lock as a noose !’
“could have been avoided”
taxi1 turns right instead : taxi2 is way behind
“lack of sound is suspicious” turn your sound on ! I hear beeping + swearing OK
“Something very wrong about people with that many cameras”
“not your average cyclist”, “not exactly everyday cycling”
Something is very wrong that we have got to the point where just a run to the shops involves equipping youself like this. Otherwise you get all kind of dismissive comments from police, and no chance of a prosecution. So drivers could kill with impunity – open season on cyclists. We need Lewis and others like him – in part he is the reason that you feel safe ! You should be thankful, rather than criticising him.
Your average cyclist, like the Met Police Chief (Hogan-Howe) and the NPCC top road policing officer (Davenport), will have given up cycling (and hence given up on road safety !), and be driving or in the back of the taxi !
Even a single camera can be seen as only weak corroborating evidence. How do you know whether you will be rammed from front, rear, left, or right ?
Many points of view give a much better sense of space and depth : the ‘bowsprit’ front camera suffers less from the ‘objects may be closer than they appear’ effect, and record the rider’s actions, so that no-one could possibly accuse him of ‘looking for trouble’ ?)
Selfie poles are pretty weak and collapsible.
“video can be editted”
Really, really hard when you have multiple cameras and soundtracks !
“attempts at educating cyclists” “cabbie genuinely believed he had done nothing wrong”
This is why it is the drivers that need educating. eg Primary position. Should have been done when Bikeability training launched (2007?)
Shocking court result. That
Shocking court result. That driver used 2 tons of metal and plastic to deliberately knock a cyclist off his bike at speed, albeit low.
Driver should have had his licence removed for at least 10 years and should have gone to prison for that assault for a few months. In this day and age why oh why is the justice system not fit for purpose?
How can the driver only be
How can the driver only be guilty driving without due care? He deliberately used his vehicle to intimidate the guy on the bike and then knocked him over!
And yes, camera guy may be a little odd but what on earth has that go to do with anything?
ALL I see here is attempted
ALL I see here is attempted murder, the rest is british court system bulshit…
tsarouxaz wrote:
That took longer than ususal…
Oh, come on. It looks like a
Oh, come on. It looks like a clear case of assault and really should have been charged as such, but saying it’s attempted murder is ludicrous.
Cab driver is a complete
Cab driver is a complete prick, hope something more can come of this as he got off far too lightly.
The cyclist being a crusader
The cyclist being a crusader and a bit crazy should have no relevance to the fact that he was dangerously assaulted and that the penalty seems far too lenient. But while think in general it’s a good thing he’s out there fighting for road safety, doing away with a few of those cameras would make him a more relatable victim/witness, which also matters IMHO. YMMV.
Also, this is a comments section of a news site and not a court of law. So outrage brigade notwithsanding, posters can comment on whatever aspect of the story floats their fancifully taken boats.