# Policeman pulls cyclist over with flashing blue lights and tells him give a bit more space



## Accy cyclist (12 Apr 2017)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4402718/Policeman-pulls-cyclist-flashing-blue-lights.html

I don't know it it's been posted before. Obviously plod hadn't heard of cyclists riding in a primary position to stop idiots like himself from attempting a dangerous overtake.


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## Drago (12 Apr 2017)

Of course, the rider whipped out his smartphone and showed the plod the DoTs guidance to cyclists and road positioning?


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## Accy cyclist (12 Apr 2017)

AND the copper parks on one of those raised bumps to confront the cyclist! I thought you weren't supposed to park on those?


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## Accy cyclist (12 Apr 2017)

20 minutes and only one reply! Maybe it HAS been posted before?


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## Jody (12 Apr 2017)

Hate articles like this as it just hypes the morons into believing they are right. 

There is a poll regarding who is right out of the cyclist and the police. The results are 70% (6250 people) believe the police are right even though the article states "The Highway Code stipulates cyclists can ride in the middle of the road and encourages them to stick to the centre on narrow lanes."


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## KneesUp (12 Apr 2017)

It's a Mail link - maybe that puts people off 

I was shown this yesterday (not on here) It's so depressing one doesn't know where to start - and that's before you read the comments on the Mail.


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## mjr (12 Apr 2017)

Don't link the daily mail. Here's the original. It's been on Twitter but no reply from the met yet.


View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2Gkk9J0ItZ0


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## Accy cyclist (12 Apr 2017)

No wonder the idiots think it's ok to threaten and abuse cyclists,when they see or hear of the police acting like this!


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## mjr (12 Apr 2017)

Drago said:


> Of course, the rider whipped out his smartphone and showed the plod the DoTs guidance to cyclists and road positioning?


Yeah, as police officers love a smartphone wielding smarty pants, don't they?

I would have been onto the local police inspector or the commissioner's office representative that chairs the casualty reduction vulnerable road users group about that harassment, but I can understand why people would feel it's a waste of time, that the police are untouchable.


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Apr 2017)

Evening Standard was stirring the pot about it y'day.


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## MontyVeda (12 Apr 2017)

"You need to get on board with how the highway code works sir. You're a police officer."

Well said that man!


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## rugby bloke (12 Apr 2017)

Blue lights to pull over a cyclist - really ? Must have been a quite day out on the mean streets.


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## MontyVeda (12 Apr 2017)

rugby bloke said:


> Blue lights to pull over a cyclist - really ? Must have been a quiet day out on the mean streets.


My thoughts too... but the cyclist said he was doing 20 which is ample on a street like that. Why did the police officer with nothing better to do display the usual _Must Get In Front_ mentality?


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## Falco Frank (12 Apr 2017)

I think I need to take my recumbent tricycle down those roads for a few hours riding!

Perhaps the problem with PC Plod, starts right at the beginning of the video, with the cyclist making progress at the right turn and filtering past the police car?

Hard to imagine any reasonable police response to the video.

(Speed limit for the area was shown on the road as 20 mph)


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## RoubaixCube (12 Apr 2017)

Officer must of got out on the wrong side of bed that morning 

Ludicrous. Though the MET being silent about it is like an admission of guilt that they were in the wrong. Maybe they think if they ignore it, it'll go away


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## burndust (12 Apr 2017)

seen the full version of this yesterday, cyclist did nothing wrong, i think the cop was quite surprised that the cyclist stood his ground, lots of comments on the twitter saying the way the cyclist spoke to the cop was out of order, I saw nothing wrong with it TBH, he spoke like he was been spoken to, if cops are going to lecture people incorrectly then people shouldn't be surprised when they are corrected IMO


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## Jody (12 Apr 2017)

Having watched the video and knowing the whole thing is being filmed I would have been inclined to keep going.


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## jefmcg (12 Apr 2017)

Jody said:


> Having watched the video and knowing the whole thing is being filmed I would have been inclined to keep going.


That would be an offence, and the cop was looking for an excuse.


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## mjr (12 Apr 2017)

jefmcg said:


> That would be an offence, and the cop was looking for an excuse.


I've seen it suggested that the close pass was an attempt to make the cyclist rant and rave, thereby committing a public order offence.


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## Jody (12 Apr 2017)

jefmcg said:


> That would be an offence, and the cop was looking for an excuse.



So was driving to close in the first place


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## LCpl Boiled Egg (12 Apr 2017)

jefmcg said:


> That would be an offence, and the cop was looking for an excuse.



The cyclist knew this which is why he asked if he was being detained before cycling away from PC Plum. Good on him for not reacting to the policeman's blatant attempt to wind him up.


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## mjr (12 Apr 2017)

Don't worry - that policeman is being sent on a cycling refresher course with these guys... https://mobile.twitter.com/Hoopsterdell/status/851523763124436993/video/1


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## jefmcg (12 Apr 2017)

Jody said:


> So was driving to close in the first place


I'm not sure your point. Just because you think a police officer has broken a law (one that is very hard to get a conviction for, in this case) does not mean you don't have to obey their lawful instructions.


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## Jody (12 Apr 2017)

Part of it was said in jest but the officer had gone past then put his lights on. You could easily claim not to have heard his request having shouted it through the side window and take the next left.


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## Milkfloat (12 Apr 2017)

The cyclist only did one thing wrong, that was calling the Police Officer 'Sir'.


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## Gixxerman (12 Apr 2017)

Terriblle and ignorant policing. I had a quick look at the comments on the Daily Fail site. I tried to tell myself not to as I expected the usual anti-cyclist bile and road tax nonsense, and I wasn't dissapointed. However, I am angry and disillusioned. I blame myself for subjecting myself to it. I won't do it again. I am also in discussion with a anti-cyclist idiot / troll called sean sean on Evo Lucas's youtube channel. Again it is something that I wish I hadn't got myself involved in as it futile and annoying. But, alas now that I have started I feel I have to finish.


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## Dogtrousers (12 Apr 2017)

Gixxerman said:


> it futile and annoying. But, alas now that I have started I feel I have to finish.


What's that thing about an argument with an idiot ending with him dragging you down to his level and beating you with experience ...


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## RoubaixCube (12 Apr 2017)

Gixxerman said:


> Terriblle and ignorant policing. I had a quick look at the comments on the Daily Fail site. I tried to tell myself not to as I expected the usual anti-cyclist bile and road tax nonsense, and I wasn't dissapointed. However, I am angry and disillusioned. I blame myself for subjecting myself to it. I won't do it again. I am also in discussion with a anti-cyclist idiot / troll called sean sean on Evo Lucas's youtube channel. Again it is something that I wish I hadn't got myself involved in as it futile and annoying. But, alas now that I have started I feel I have to finish.



you forgot to add the amount of trolls telling him he could of avoided the whole debacle if he had been wearing a hi-viz and a helmet.


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## r04DiE (12 Apr 2017)

Yes, I saw this on Twitter - I follow the guy on there, he has some interesting videos and enjoyable observations. The day before, I was cycling through Whitechapel when an Ambulance passed me and I thought the passenger shouted something. When I caught up with them, I took a look at the passenger, expecting nothing - I was half expecting that I had misheard or imagined it but sure enough, the paramedic asked me: "Do you know what that blue strip that we all paid for is for?", pointing at the cycle lane. I said, "We? What as in you and I? Yes, I know what its there for, why?" She told me that it was there to stop them having to scrape me off the road after I get mown down by a lorry.

Of course, I pointed out what the Highway Code says and asked her how much cycling she's done in London; she said "None". I told her I've been cycling in London for 23 years, so I knew a bit more about the risks of my being mown down than she did. I also told her that her lack of cycling knowledge was exceeded only by her lack of rudimentary HC knowledge and that she should be utterly ashamed of herself.

Very sad day for me when the caliber of emergency services people are revealed to be as per that particular individual. The next day I find that we have Met Police at the same level of ignorance.


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## Supersuperleeds (12 Apr 2017)

Milkfloat said:


> The cyclist only did one thing wrong, that was calling the Police Officer 'Sir'.



he might have been calling him "Cur"


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## RedRider (13 Apr 2017)

Excellent work by the cyclist. Police officer owned


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## Drago (13 Apr 2017)

To think I'd email the forces PSD to report the officers obvious lack of training.


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## Roadhump (13 Apr 2017)

It would be a good idea for driver training and the driving test to include some theory and practical content to raise awareness of cyclists and the fact that they have just as much right to be on the road as any motorist, pedestrian, or stray cat or dog, and how mutual consideration and understanding between road users would help improve safety.

There is some inclusion of such in CPC training for HGV drivers nowadays (personally I find them amongst the most considerate drivers on the road, if a car is a potential lethal weapon, a lorry is a potential ballistic missile in comparison, and most HGV drivers seem to take their responsibilities very seriously in my experience), but why not car drivers, taxi drivers, police drivers, etc?


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## KnackeredBike (13 Apr 2017)

Roadhump said:


> but why not car drivers, taxi drivers, police drivers, etc?


Because it isn't taught sufficiently in driving lessons and there are almost no police on the roads to educate drivers. I am quite certain that the vast majority of my close passes aren't malicious but drivers who genuinely don't think they are doing anything wrong, don't understand cyclist road positioning or have such poor observation they don't see you until the last minute or misjudge the gap between you and oncoming traffic.


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## mjr (13 Apr 2017)

[QUOTE 4760495, member: 9609"]When the police car is overtaking the cyclist the other side of the road is marked as "keep Clear" does anyone know what the purpose of this is for ? may be a school ? I'm just wondering if it was a wsie place to be overtaking.
Anyone got a streetview of the road?[/QUOTE]
Michael Faraday Primary School - http://www.instantstreetview.com/@51.484927,-0.088966,43.16h,-3.7p,0.85z


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## rugby bloke (13 Apr 2017)

That is all very tight. To avoid the door zone of the parked cars you have to take the centre of the lane.


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## jefmcg (13 Apr 2017)

And like almost every MGIF driver, even though he was in too much of a hurry to wait until it was safe to pass, he magically found time to remonstrate with the rider afterwards.


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## DaveReading (14 Apr 2017)

[QUOTE 4761494, member: 9609"]a little toot on the horn is saying 'common mate lets past'[/QUOTE]

I won't let anyone past who thinks I'm common or I'm their mate.


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## Markymark (14 Apr 2017)

[QUOTE 4761514, member: 9609"]absolutely - but in some circumstances I see nothing wrong in saying, 'excuse me could you let me past I need to get on' in any other situation no offence would be taken. All I'm saying is, even if a blast on the horn is rude and bad mannered, no one gets hurt, but just barging past a cyclist in a car or a truck is always completely unacceptable.[/QUOTE]
*Need to get past*. There is no need. The cyclist would have put himself in danger to do so. The driver would have broken the (speeding) law to do so. The driver was being delayed by up to a whole 40 seconds. There was absolutely no _need_ at all other than yet another important driver wanting to barge through as they feel their 40s is more important than the person in front of them. No different than a quick beep of the horn to the slow person in the checkout queue in front of me as I am in a rush and I _need_ to get past.


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## Tin Pot (14 Apr 2017)

Two minutes on the roads of Provence before a guy drove straight at me while overtaking coming the other way, then numerous horns and wild gesticulations at bike paths I wasn't using.

Here in Spain I'm on winding mountain roads where overtaking is prohibited most of the time, no bike lanes, and yet no trouble from cars or HGVs, not even a single close pass.

Go figure.


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## briantrumpet (14 Apr 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> Two minutes on the roads of Provence before a guy drove straight at me while overtaking coming the other way, then numerous horns and wild gesticulations at bike paths I wasn't using.


The 'good attitude of French drivers to cyclists' is a bit of a myth the further south you go - I had exactly the same manoeuvre pulled on me last September a bit further north on the D93 - driver (French) showed me the finger when I suggested he shouldn't be driving at me at 60mph leaving me just a metre or so not to die. Though most of the idiocy is not through malice, just French normal (southern) French driving practice.


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## gavgav (15 Apr 2017)

Clueless police officer. I hope the cyclist has reported him to the relevant police force.


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