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news
Near Miss of the Day 554: Cyclist “surprised” after police officer who pulled out in front of him does u-turn to lecture him (includes swearing)
A London cyclist says he was “surprised” after a police officer who had pulled out in front of him in a van then executed a u-turn to follow the rider and give him a lecture about his use of the road.
The bizarre episode happened on Constitution Hill as the cyclist headed from Hyde Park Corner towards Buckingham Palace on the route of Cycleway 3 – keeping to the main carriageway, as he’s allowed to do, rather than the adjacent cycle path on the south side of Green Park.
It was filmed by road.cc user lukei1, who told us: “While certainly not a particularly ‘near’ miss, I was surprised at the Officer's reaction to this whole incident.
“Coming down Constitution Hill in the rain, I could see the Met Police van slowly coming towards the road from the park and took the slow speed he was creeping behind the arches as recognition that he would stop for any traffic before pulling onto the road, especially when he nosed out into the road and came to an almost complete stop. Sadly this was incorrect.
“While using some blue language, I would describe it more as a lament, rather than directed at the driver with any sort of vitriol.
“So to say I was surprised when I turned around to see he was right behind me, having pulled a u-turn to chase me down would be an understatement.
“What followed was not a very fruitful chat, where a worrying amount of cyclist bingo items were ticked off. My personal favourites are:
– He is of course a cyclist as well (2x)
– Accelerating deliberately (downhill after an intersection on an empty road, what a surprise)
– Accusing me of going 30mph (on a steel framed Decathlon with Marathon Plus tyres ...)
– Being belligerent (having turned around to chase me for half a mile ...)
“All in all a strange experience,” he reflected.
“Here's a clip on a slightly lighter note,” he added – sending us a link to this video taken last summer a few hundred yards further east along The Mall … if you’re going to ride through a red traffic light, it’s not the best idea to shoot past a stopped police car …
> Near Miss of the Day turns 100 - Why do we do the feature and what have we learnt from it?
Over the years road.cc has reported on literally hundreds of close passes and near misses involving badly driven vehicles from every corner of the country – so many, in fact, that we’ve decided to turn the phenomenon into a regular feature on the site. One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on.
If you’ve caught on camera a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with another road user that you’d like to share with the wider cycling community please send it to us at info [at] road.cc or send us a message via the road.cc Facebook page.
If the video is on YouTube, please send us a link, if not we can add any footage you supply to our YouTube channel as an unlisted video (so it won't show up on searches).
Please also let us know whether you contacted the police and if so what their reaction was, as well as the reaction of the vehicle operator if it was a bus, lorry or van with company markings etc.
> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling
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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It turned up eventually, Peter!
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70 comments
That was poor driving and poor policing.
Has the footage been sent to the Standards & Complaints team? They ought to review both the officer's driving (okay, I've seen worse - but I've shouted at less too), and the officer's attitude. He was clearly up for arguing with the cyclist, despite being in the wrong.
Does that 20mph limit apply to cyclists at all? The vast majority of posted speed limits do not; it would be a pity if the police officer was wrong both in fact (as to the cyclist's actual speed - although pulling out in front of a bike travelling at 30mph in the wet makes his actions even more questionable) AND in law (the 20mph limit not applying to bikes).
"Would you like to charge me with wanton & furious cycling, officer? Because I'll bring a private prosection for driving without due care and attention, show the court the video from my cameras (didn't you notice them?), and await the result with interest."
No. It's a standard public road.
Its another police clickbait video from roadcc .
Admittedly the PC could get over himself but the roadcc video judges have decided that this represents everything about how this officer in his career and the entire metropolitan police operate.
So far what we can learn from these videos is that our roads are virtually constant anti cyclist warfare and police forces all ver the country are out of control hooligans (at least thats what the commenters tell me).
So you're happy with that policeman's behaviour?
You don't think behaviour like that ought to be shown up because "Its another police clickbait video from roadcc"?
Well alrighty then...
I'm saying the whoe series is clickbait. It tells you nothing and gives a distorted sense of our roads. The fact this one us about police gives a distorted sense of policing.
Maybe you should file it under just another '..ism' that should be swept under the carpet as it disturbs your world view.
[/quote]
I'm saying the whoe series is clickbait. It tells you nothing and gives a distorted sense of our roads. The fact this one us about police gives a distorted sense of policing.
[/quote]
Actually, it is you that is distorted.
And,.so. If it is "clickbait" why did you click on it and read?
And you can't deny that you didn't because you responded.
No one has made a claim about the met.
alexls summed up the problem with the officer - do you disagree with any of the 5 points made ?
I dont need to .
You don't need to what?
Although you are not keen on answering questions about posts and claims you have made.
I dont need to agree or disagree with any point made by someone else.
Erm - but you already have, by diving in and claiming NMOTD is mere clickbait.
(It is, technically, but IMO it's more than that...).
Then why are you here? To troll?
As much as I don't agree with some of his opinions, I don't consider him a troll. Although he uses terms like 'dog whistle', 'clickbait' and 'group think' incorrectly, his opinions do seem to be genuine and consistent.
He's always taken a minority stand and sometimes I have agreed with his view. When it comes to the police, I can only assume he has a vested interest.
Yeah, the way I see it, the only thing that we should all be 100% agreed on is that cycling is great.
One presumes you are/were a police officer, given your continual and rather desperate attempts to defend poor police behaviour in these pages?
We all know the police have a difficult and often thankless task to perform, but that doesn't excuse the fact that far too many behave in the way shown in this video, wasting their time and that of others acting like school prefects drunk on power and abusing their authority to lord it over others. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the driver/cyclist behaviour (and I think any fair-minded person would agree the police driver was in the wrong), to chase and pull over the cyclist, using emergency lights, for no other reason than that the officer's ego was bruised by being shouted at for his poor driving, is an abuse of public office and the powers invested in the police by the public. That's rather a serious issue and should rightly be drawn to public attention, however much you might like to characterise it as "clickbait."
Can you explain what you mean by 'clickbait' in this context?
Generally I see that term as applying to headlines or links - stories misleadingly described to seem more exciting than they are, so as to encourage someone to click on them. In this case you are applying it to actual content, which doesn't make any sense to me, other than meaning "something people want to read/watch".
Also, this doesn't seem to be the best moment to start defending the behaviour of Metropolitan police officers.
Hey, you're back, Fluffy! Welcome back
What an arrogant piece of shit! Doesn't deserve to wear that uniform. I wonder how many times he's done that.
Reminds me of a similar cockwomble in uniform that overstepped his authority just to flex his ego on me while I was out walking.. unfortunately for him, I was a motorcycle cop off duty and the look on his face when I showed him my ID and asked for his Sergeants name, quite made my day.
Complete tosspot. Another reason why I have zero respect for the police now, (and I used to be a police volunteer). I wouldnt give them the steam from my shit these days. Lazy, overpaid bullies.
Complete tosspot. Another reason why I have zero respect for the police now, (and I used to be a police volunteer). I wouldnt give them the steam from my shit these days. Lazy, overpaid bullies
That's the problem with biker phil- he's too mealy mouthed! I mention this because I have just replied to a criticism of me for spouting bile about Lancashire Constabulary. Hint: bp sports a Red Rose.
Disclaimer: I haven't been bullied by LC, just ignored.
Again, as an American, I'm confused here. Are English road rules different than those in the rest of the world where a vehicle going straight in the traffic lane has the right-of-way over a vehicle pulling into the lane at an uncontrolled intersection?
Doesn't English law dictate the police vehicle in this case is obligated to yield to the oncoming traffic whether it is "accelerating'' or not?
And I thought that Americans didn't do irony...
or sarcasm..
Indeed, but at least this copper on an ego trip didn't have a gun to back up his ridiculous posturing.
"I am the law!"
It's high risk but next time you get the 'I'm a cyclist too' from a police officer you could try the 'What if I told you I was a police officer too?' line. Note you aren't claiming to be a police officer just asking what would happen if you were. I bet the tone of the conversation would change rather rapidly...
I wonder what would have happened if the cyclist had simply remained schtum throughout. Let the copper vent until he ran out of air, and then cycle off. I don't suppose there would be anything the copper could do beyond deciding when to stop making a pratt of himself.
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