cyclist films abuse and wins prosecution against white van man
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12330181
The audacity of the van man. Id have decked him - but then I probably couldnt have used the footage to press charges. Amazing.
Nice chap in the van!
anyone who doesnt use a camera on 2 wheels maybe should start, and that includes me… 
A cyclist that rides properly and obey’s the highway code, now there’s a rare breed.
Maybe they could use some of these films to educate cyclist as to keeping themselves out of harms way,and if we all adhere to the rules of the road surely it would make the roads safer for everyone.
Having said that, in this particular instance i think you should take into account that the van driver might have had some “personal issues”.
I’ve thought about getting a helmet cam.
Any recommendations for a decent one?
The only worry with a cam is that if the police got hold of the footage you might incriminate yourself . . . if you get in an accident and made even the slightest infraction of the law by going slightly too fast etc the evidence on the cam could be used against you and muddy the waters in your case - even if the accident was largely the other persons fault.
Fair point. The flip side is if some chump takes you out and then tries to deny it (which we all know happens) you have strong evidence.
Another way of looking at it, is that if you know you have a camera on, you might ride a bit more sensibly…not that I don’t ride pretty sensibly anyway.
I do know there have been occassions when d1ckheads have driven to endanger me and I have wished I had a camera to capture it and drop them right in it.
Yeah totally - I guess it boils down to how much you think your own riding falls between the parameters of the law - in this sense it could be dodgy - as to make sufficient progress in central London rush hour can require a creative style of riding which might be viewed askance by non-biking people but which we know is par for the course.
On my commute my riding is pretty sensible. To be honest there are too many factors that can conspire to have you off to be riding like a loon.
I see some pretty lairy riding sometimes and people do things I wouldn’t consider doing given the environment, but that is up to them and ultimately I want to make sure I get home safe to my wife and kids.
Yeah totally agree - my riding is a lot more sensible and mature than it used to be! Particularly after I got hit by a car and ended up on crutches (not my fault) and realised just how vulnerable we are on bikes - as you say, life is too precious to just chuck it away riding like a loon.
i know someone this happened to.
he actually got knocked of the bike by a police car, but after examining his camera they realised hed been popping wheelies etc, and i think he got banged up for 3 mths.
he got compensation from the police, but nowhere near as much as if he didnt have the cam!
Yeah, you could so easily get hoist by your own petard.
I think one of his issues, if you listen carefully to the soundtrack, is the cyclist hammering on the side of his van with his fist. Immediatly after he thumps the van the van stops urgently and he gets out to remonstrate with the cyclist.
The van driver was clearly a knob BTW! 
If the van comes within arms length of the cyclist then he’s too close.I personally use leg length to determine if drivers are too close.
I didn’t think the cyclist hit the van with his fist? I thought it was his handlebars scraping down the side as the van merged into him.
The cyclist did very well to get out of that unharmed. I feel for him, and I worry about all the other cyclists I see every day who run through red-lights and don’t look before merging out into lanes…
But then I see the same dick-heads on bicycles every morning around Old Street who take their lives into their own hands and who piss me off by trying to block me at junctions and the like.
The camera’s a good thing. I’d be interested in using one for the daily commute!
Old street R/A perchance Jay?
The attitude and road safety practices of cyclists around here seem to decrease as their numbers increase…maybe a safety/power in numbers thing??
And I know generalising is a bad thing but I see a lot more poor behaviour from the fixed wheel brigade, maybe it’s just me tho
I thought the sound was the van hitting the bike too, it sounded too sharp to be a soft hand.
I also wonder what we can realistically report. I was cut up by a 5-series silver BMW older shape yesterday after being in front of him for a while, on the A12 just past bow approaching the retail park. He came out into the fast lane, overtook and cut across me and took the exit. Bit too close for comfort. If I could report that with video evidence it’d be worth it - but I don’t know if its enough for dangerous driving or without due care though…
Dangerous driving is just that. My view is the penalties should be much harsher and involve timed bans and/or force a retest. Its just way too easy for something potentially very very dangerous.
It could be the bars, but in that case the bike would be on the ground in an instant and the driver would have been off like a shot.
To me it sounded like a thump with a fist on the side of a van.
Of course he was too close. That’s why I said the van driver was a knob.
Hang on has he not got a brake on the bike?
Granted the van driver should of given him room but cyclists seem to think that they always have right of way and never plan.
It could be me having a rough week, but I’m sick of cyclists being all over the road, never looking where they are going and generally being dicks.
what a f*cking bully, stupid fat prick, he’d be more usefull when dead being served as a dinner for homeless people .