Attempted overtake

[sparge2]

wat a fuking stupid idea pull the handle,oh yes officer he died while i reversed or went under my bus lorry think first will you before you put silly comments i mean really someone will prob do this and cause an accident whats the world coming to the state on driving these days really sucks

[zxmig]

Concentrate on riding, not waving your wanky little camera about you pathetic little moaner.

[lsmike]

@zxmig I'm quite disappointed to see that pondscum like you actually managed to reproduce.

There are thousands of us helmet camera cyclists out there now, you better drive well or you'll get the consequences. They've included disciplinary action and warning of dismissal for any repeat for company drivers who misbehaved badly, points and fine for red light jumping drivers, etc.

[parnol]

you say its a public highway for everyone to use, however everyone in a car pays car tax to use it, you pay nothing. in my book thats wrong.

[lsmike]

@parnol Wrong - everybody pays for the roads, mostly via both council and income tax, to the extent that private motorists are subsidized by the non-motorists to some degree.

Besides, Churchill abolished the road fund licence back in the 1930s precisely to stop horrible little oiks trying to claim that the public highways are for cars, and that no-one else should be allowed to use them. You're a fail.

[ian8354]

@parnol Another 'no all'.... More like you know 'fuck all' . Zero emission cars pay no VED so have a go at them you moron.....PEOPLE LIKE YOU MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL.

[utbigpapa]

You could cause an accident with that camera in your hand!

[lsmike]

@utbigpapa It's not normally in my hand, it's on the handlebars. Whilst I'd normally agree with you, in this specific situation the camera significantly increased my safety. That's because the driver stopped his aggression towards me immediately he noticed the camera. Big win for safety. Nowadays I run two cameras, one facing rearwards and one to the front, so this is no longer an issue.

[inlineschool]

I have ridern with LSMike and most of the time that bike is doing between 20mph and 30mph..

In London you are only moving between lights so you should give bikes space, it only means you will reach the next set of lights a little later!

[arrow35pit]

slower moving vehicles what like a car in traffic crawling along at 10mph making sure hes wobbling all over road so you cant pass ....up fuel tax on cars lower it on lorries they have more use than a bloody car carrying fatass a 5min walks worth to the shops a car is a privilege not a right

[jjintheuk]

Get off the fucking road

[lsmike]

It's the public highway, for everyone to use. You get on the motorway and stay there.

[sail760]

why could you not let him past and be considerate? Your're holding up all the traffic on ur bike, cars have enough accleration to overtake but not lorries, and i bet you were wobbling around whilst trying to get a good view on ur camera, show consideration for other road users, being on a bike does not give u the right to hold up everyone else just because ur vulnerable, other slow moving vehicles give way so should you!

[lsmike]

It's a good question - in this situation I couldn't let him past because it was far too narrow and dangerous to me to do so. I'm all for letting faster vehicles through, but never if it compromises my safety.

There are a couple of sections on my commute where it's difficult for vehicles to pass me safely, and if a vehicle is likely to have to wait more than a little bit, I usually pull in and wave them past. Coexistance and tolerance for each other is the name of the game, right?

[dr1141tube]

Tip of the day when cut up by older coaches. Most have a handle poking out of the rear to cut the engine. Just give that a tug next time you catch up with the coach that has cut you up and off goes the engine.

Even more fun is that the driver then has to get out and reset the switch. Did that a few months ago to a coach that severely cut me up in the City of London - so entertaining to hear all the horns starting up as this coach was marooned in the middle of the road - hee hee.

[antipike]

More cyclist should have cams on , they will be safer if the other road users see the cam , but it is a good tool to use for evidence gathering ,take no notice of the ant-cyclists on here

[lsmike]

Thanks, yes, cameras are great for moderating bad behaviour by drivers.  They pretty much prevent any further escalation, which is the best possible result.

[Derekblow]

If you occupied the middle of the road in front of me and were gesiticulating, weaving an turning around around in front of me that would certainly enrage me! Zealots are never going to calm a situation no matter how right they believe they are.

[lsmike]

I'm not a zealot, and I understand that everybody makes mistakes, including myself.

If the above makes you angry, then I suggest you shouldn't be driving in that state of mind.

[lsmike]

Oops, sorry, I unintentionally hit the remove button on your last post.

To answer your point, no, I did complain to the company, and since this bad driving occurred in public, it's entirely appropriate to post it on youtube. Part of my reasoning is that the company didn't respond, and part is that it'll make other drivers out there aware that many cyclists have cameras nowadays, and thus more careful around cyclists. It's not so easy to hide from the consequences of poor driving any more.

[Derekblow]

I don't believe my behaviour on or off the road is in question - yours certainly is? How can you conduct yourself in this manner and believe that you are entirely innocent? You go on the road armed! The speed of your response to my post would suggest your are indeed a zealot! 2o years a driver (30 years a cyclist) by the way and not a single claim against me despite the aggressive and illegal behavoiur of drivers and cyclists encountered every day!

[lsmike]

Your behaviour and driving is in question to me when you suggest that me simply riding along the road is sufficient cause for you to "get angry". That is not the approach of a normal and rational driver.

Why would you say I'm "armed"? I'm not armed with anything and I present no threat to anybody, I'm just a squishy cyclist. As for the speed of my response, it's not as fast as yours was, due no doubt to me checking my email less often.

[Derekblow]

Is riding in the middle of the road not just about antagonism? It is not at all clear that the driver is attempting to pass you? I would imagine he thought you were deliberately obstructing any possiblity of passing? Is not your aggressive way of dealing with road traffic contributing to the problem?

[lsmike]

There was no space to overtake me, so moving out is exactly the right place to be, as advised in cycle training and relevant govt. published cyclecraft. It was very clear that the driver was attempting to overtake, both from his engine note and his road positioning.

There's no aggression from me at all. Perhaps you feel that filming someone's bad behaviour is somehow aggressive and unfair.

[Derekblow]

I am not irrational in anyway but I am irritated, as most normal individuals are, when somebody behaves irrationally, aggressively or stupidly and it impacts on me! I believe your behaviour ticks at least two of those boxes. And most certainly you are going out armed. Your weapon happens to be a camera but it say's an awful lot about your frame of mind when you set out! Perhaps you will at least consider the possibilty that you are contributing to your own problems? No loss to me.

[lsmike]

You can't fairly apply any of that to me, and I think you're a cyclist-hater.

I was simply riding along, when a lorry tries to overtake me through a section of road that's only just wide enough for his vehicle, whilst I'm correctly positioned well out from the kerb in the lane. I motion to stop, and then to protect myself I take the camera off the bars and film his face and numberplate.

He notices this, and apparently it worries him because he now holds well back in fear under the bridge.

[lsmike]

I stop at the lights, and let him pass for my own safety. Here the camera paid for itself. IMO it prevented a bully from further intimidating driving, and stopped a relatively minor incident from any further escalation. Bear in mind that before he realised I was pointing a camera at him, the vehicle was being driven close behind me with aggressive engine revving. That's very far from irrational, angry, or stupid behavior on my part.

[lsmike]

I love how you ignore the bad driving and stupid overtake IMO, and just focus on my riding and try to blame me for that. My riding there was sensible, cautious, and my road position was correct according to a book called Cyclecraft by John Franklin, published by the govt. stationary office.

A camera isn't a weapon and can't threaten anyone. The embarrassment comes from bad behaviour, not the camera itself. The lesson is don't behave badly, and other people won't get to see it.

[downfader2]

How can you assertain an individuals behavour from 44 seconds of footage? Funny how people like yourself never upload videos to the contrary and only seem intent on writing rubbish - or am I assertaining that from your 150 words above ;-) Impatience and distraction are the two biggest killers of cyclists in the uk, with 290+ dying in 2006 as a result of this (check out RoSPA). Lets help encourage safe road usage by all rather than picking holes in someones videos ;-)

[lsmike]

Thanks for the support, downfader2!

[downfader2]

No problem! Its handy when you have the figures on your desk ;-)

[insaneinthemind9]

You deserve to get knocked off your bike mate. Bloody cyclists think they own the road, no taxes, no training or licence. You are all a bloody nuisance and I have no tolerance or patience for any of you. I suppose you ride on the pavement as well and ignore red lights. PRICK!

[lsmike]

Just because many drivers speed, jump red lights, and overtake badly, does that mean I hate all drivers? No, because that would be stupid as your bigotry is. (An RAC study found that 1 in 10 car drivers, and 1 in 5 bus drivers jump lights in London).

I now take the whole lane down this hill, because it helps to prevent idiotic overtakes like this one. There are still some idiot drivers who overtake when I'm doing 40mph here though.

[Pimpimma]

Having watched several videos of you and other cyclists moaning about overtaking when you're holding people up in the middle of the road, I have concluded that ALL roadies are utter cunts.

Now get a life, and some gripy tyres and go off road where bikes belong.

[lsmike]

LOL, don't be silly! There isn't enough room to overtake here, no matter what my road positioning is. Go read the highway code, particularly rule 163, because you clearly haven't passed your test.

[Pimpimma]

Whats rule 163? Lycra is for girlie men? Thought so.

[lsmike]

This is why you're not qualified to comment on overtakes or road positioning.

LOL on the lycra comment. :)

[kmepll]

maybe if you concentrated on what you were doing instead of arsing about changing the angle of your camera you would realise you were in the middle of the road

[lsmike]

That's exactly where I should be in this situation. This is not a suitable place to overtake, so I'm taking the decision away from the following driver by riding in the middle of the lane.

I'll bet you didn't know this is correct cycling practice. There was no delay to the truck driver, as we were all held up by the red traffic lights, inc. the vehicle in front of us.

It's obv. the truck driver knew he was in the wrong, else he wouldn't have held back when he saw the video camera.

[kmepll]

It may be your practice,you were still putting yourself at risk by messing with the angle of the camera,cyclist myslf and i know it can be annoying but to add risk to myself by fiddling with a camera is not my idea of safety as we are the vunerable ones on the bikes.

[lsmike]

No different from changing gear in a car or a bike with downtube shifters. I think the camera adds safety, because once it's noticed, they are unwilling to behave badly on camera, and any road rage is over.

I see you've dropped the main thrust of your argument about me riding in the middle of the road, so I'm chuffed you accept that was incorrect. Seriously, get Cyclecraft by John Franklin, and you'll learn a lot. I certainly did, and I hope it helps you and others.

[stanno34]

I often wonder how some people ever get their lorry ticket. Most of the drivers I know, including myself always give cyclists and those little put-put motorbikes tons of room. It's a shame that this guy ruins all of the good driving we do and makes us all out to be tossers.

[lsmike]

I totally agree, most HGV drivers are of superlative quality. I regularly experience super courtesy from them, and see them driving well and taking good account of mistakes by other road users, particularly dodgy cycling.

I apologise for filming this incident and thus unfairly weighting opinion against HGV drivers when in fact they are far better than Mr Average Driver.

[stanno34]

No, don't apologise. People need to realise that the road is for everyone to use. This driver is an example to all to improve their own driving. I hope you reported him.

The problem I find is the roads we use are now almost lawless. I rarely see police patrolling and I'm on the road alot. We've got to stop policing the aftermath and concentrate on prevention just as much.