Jeremy Vine exploded with rage over a video featuring a cyclist colliding with a vehicle, like he had done himself last year. The BBC Radio 2 host reacted to the 27 second clip by exclaiming that anyone who thought the cyclist was at fault should have their “car crushed”.
He really is a piece of work. Obnoxious, arrogant, self-righteous and just plain vile.
The video featured a car abruptly making a turn in front of the biking man, who slammed into it and was thrown to the ground due to the intense impact. A concerned citizen wrote on Twitter of the collision: “A308 Hampton Court Road today. Scary to see the cyclist ahead of me hit this Mini who’d cut across him.
“The driver denied it was his fault. Any thoughts anyone? And please @lbrut make this road safer for cyclists. @metpoliceuk @roadcc @KingstonCycling.” Viewers’ opinions varied – but Jeremy’s was quite clear.
“Everyone in this thread saying ‘it was the cyclist’s fault’ should have their driving licence rescinded and their car crushed into a tiny metal cube that can be sold on Vinted as a coffee table!” he exclaimed. However, someone else responded in kind, telling him: “Jail the cyclist and crush the bike in to a million bits!”
Vile deserved all the opprobrium that came his way, frankly. He represents everything that is wrong with cycling, the BBC and the media in general. Over-paid, over-rated, pompous and noxious. An over promoted popinjay who has inflated his self worth beyond its true value.
However, putting my road safety hat on, having observed the video footage, they are both in the wrong. The car did, indeed, pull across the path of an oncoming bicycle. As there was a cycle lane, an oncoming cyclist approaching was foreseeable. However, the driver’s view was obstructed by traffic, so on observing this, the cyclist should have slowed and allowed for the possibility that the driver couldn’t see clearly. Again, the risk was foreseeable.
But, still, something as nuanced as that is beyond the tiny, bigoted mind of Jeremy Vile. The only thing that needs crushing is his bicycle. He has no place on our roads.
Haven’t seen the footage yet but as you say anticipating others actions is a critical skill, and the more vulnerable you are the more critical that skill is. No sense being ‘in the right’ if you’re also in the back of an ambulance.
I am very grateful for the instruction given to me by a police instructor when I started riding bikes back in the 70’s and credit him with helping me to cover well over a hundred thousand miles on bikes since then without serious injury or incident (plenty off road but that’s another story).
My son also rides and I am pleased to say seems to have developed a healthy approach to riding. That said, he does chuckle when we’re riding together and he hears some strong Anglo Saxon over the intercom as l approach a car that l’m wary of.
Phil
p. s. One piece of advice I remember is everyone makes mistakes, give others the space to make theirs by anticipating the possibilities, maximising your safety margins and be aware of escape routes. Seems Vine doesn’t believe in that principle.
“No sense being ‘in the right’ if you’re also in the back of an ambulance.”
Or a hearse.
Ashley Neal has opined on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0if7UBF7FZs
He says: “It’s pretty obvious, for me, from a legal standpoint, that the driver of the car is going to be held responsible, but the cyclist also had a massive contribution to this collision.”
He goes on to point out how the cyclist was distracted, replacing his water bottle into the holder as he rode into the danger area.
The bottom line is that if either the driver or the cyclist had been paying attention, this collision wouldn’t have happened. As Ashley says, it takes two to tango.
And I forgot to say: Jeremy Vine is an arrogant toss pot. It goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway.
I’ve not seen Ashley’s analysis, but that doesn’t surprise me. We come from the same background of road safety, so unsurprising that we come to a similar conclusion. When Vile had his altercation with an emerging driver some while back, Ashley asked for the unedited footage so that he could comment. Vile declined, which tells you all you need to know about the toxic little man. He has no interest in road safety or learning how he can be a better road user. He is just a nasty little activist blowing his own trumpet. He has the wrong attitude to be using any vehicle on the public highway.
Has Jeremy Vile commented yet on the elderly lady killed by the cyclist do 28 mph in a 20 zone?
The cyclist is clearly not paying full attention to the road ahead. You can actually see the Mini already making the turn as he passes the gap between the white Transit and the red Fiat while he has his water bottle to his mouth, but he either doesn’t twig or just assumes that the driver has seen him. Which, to be fair, he or she may well have, and assumed that the cyclist would slow or stop.
Either way, the absolute worst interpretation from the driver’s point of view is that both are equally to blame. And it’s not inconceivable that the fault lies more on the cyclist’s side.
Vine’s a bigoted twat.
I was knocked off my bike by an oncoming car turning right across my path. I didn’t see him but the problem was the vehicles that were overtaking me including a sprinter type van. After the van had passed me there was a small gap in the traffic and the driver thought that he could quickly nip across, not seeing that there was a cyclist in front of the next car that was approaching. Analysing the accident afterwards, I couldn’t see anything that I could have done to avoid it. After gaining many more years of experience and having taken some advanced motorcycling courses, I now look back and think that maybe more experienced me would have seen what was going to happen, but only maybe.
As for the water bottle, he should wait to take a drink in a spot where there are few hazards, certainly not while approaching a junction, that is much more basic cyclecraft.
Having watched the video, the cyclist was travelling too fast for the conditions. I used to cycle quickly in traffic when it was flowing along and I could mostly keep up. Once the flow slows right down or stops I would either go with the flow or filter slowly and carefully. I’ve always thought that those cycle lanes that are just painted on the road are of little practical use. This one seems to be designed to give a false sense of security to dim cyclists.
I’ve been thinking more about this. Imagine the situation is reversed, and it’s a car driver bombing up the inside lane, fiddling with his phone or something, with a static line of traffic to his right, while an oncoming cyclist is making a right turn. Who’s to blame then, Jeremy? Cut and dried, isn’t it?
The cycle lane had ended, and the cyclist was fiddling about with a water bottle or something, riding furiously and not paying attention as he under-took three cars.
Had he not been bending down, he could easily have noticed the Mini over the top of the blue car. The cars he was undertaking were all stationary, the cyclist should have asked himself, ‘Why’, and ridden accordingly.
Luckily I have no need to watch or listen to Vine, so cannot comment except to say that his continuing ‘crusade’ against motorists doesn’t actually deal with the problem of irresponsible cyclists.
I wonder if he’ll be covering the Auriol Grey case on his BBC Radio Two show today?