Cycling Mikey and third party reporting

[GilesM]

Think a lot of the helmet camera folk do on occasion forget themselves a touch but IMO Mikey is the most grounded of the very few I would follow.

Some however are a complete liability, rhymes with draffic troid

I hope I never meet one you think is less grounded than Van-Erp

 

[matticus]

he needs help, no other conclusion is possible.

Yes it is. 👍

 

[Milkfloat]

He gets results, if he simply filmed and reported drivers for their illegal actions nothing would be done. The conflicts drive traffic to his videos which means he is 'known' and the Police usually react. I am fully in favour of what he does, every driver prosecuted and every single one of the millions of hits on his videos remind drivers that they won't always get away with their dangerous actions.

 

[DaveReading]

From the video I don't think it is possible to come to that conclusion, the guy certainly stopped quick enough to prevent any serious injury to Mr Van-Erp

The Merc driver stopped quickly enough to avoid colliding with a stationary object. A car coming round the corner in the opposite direction, expecting there not to be an idiot approaching on the wrong side of the road, might well have resulted in a different outcome.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I'd never heard of this strange Dutchmen until I read the stuff about Lampard, and this video is the first time I've seen any of his vigilante work, he is definitely an odd character, it's the very concerning way he seems to be sitting there waiting for somebody to do what the Merc driver in the video has just done, and once the Merc driver had made his some what dumb manoeuvre, it would have been safer to let him go right rather than trying to force him back, film the guy breaking the law and report it if he thinks that would help, but behaving like a jumped up wee parking attendant is totally wrong. If I remember rightly the highway code requires everyone to take action to prevent possible accidents, this seems to be trying to force somebody to do something dangerous, and if he'd been in the road to start with the Merc driver would not (I accept I am speculating now, but chances are I'm right) have gone the wrong side of the traffic island, yes what the Merc driver did was wrong, but who hasn't done something technically wrong when they are able to accurately assess the risks. Obvious conclusion is that those who have mentioned that Mr Van-Erp needs help are correct.

Why is it concerning to anyone, possibly other than Mikey wrt to his own safety? I am sure he did not randomly choose that spot but chose it because there was a history of people doing similarly in the past.

Is it concerning that speeding camera vans (or fixed cameras) just sit there waiting for somebody to do what speeding motorists often do?

The comments about his personality traits are totally irrelevant to the benefits or otherwise of his actions, and are predicated on very little knowledge of the bloke.

 

[GilesM]

Why is it concerning to anyone, possibly other than Mikey wrt to his own safety? I am sure he did not randomly choose that spot but chose it because there was a history of people doing similarly in the past.

Is it concerning that speeding camera vans (or fixed cameras) just sit there waiting for somebody to do what speeding motorists often do?

The comments about his personality traits are totally irrelevant to the benefits or otherwise of his actions, and are predicated on very little knowledge of the bloke.

It is very concerning that somebody who isn't a cop behaves like a (overly aggressive) cop.

 

[mustang1]

I'd never heard of this strange Dutchmen until I read the stuff about Lampard, and this video is the first time I've seen any of his vigilante work, he is definitely an odd character, it's the very concerning way he seems to be sitting there waiting for somebody to do what the Merc driver in the video has just done, and once the Merc driver had made his some what dumb manoeuvre, it would have been safer to let him go right rather than trying to force him back, film the guy breaking the law and report it if he thinks that would help, but behaving like a jumped up wee parking attendant is totally wrong. If I remember rightly the highway code requires everyone to take action to prevent possible accidents, this seems to be trying to force somebody to do something dangerous, and if he'd been in the road to start with the Merc driver would not (I accept I am speculating now, but chances are I'm right) have gone the wrong side of the traffic island, yes what the Merc driver did was wrong, but who hasn't done something technically wrong when they are able to accurately assess the risks. Obvious conclusion is that those who have mentioned that Mr Van-Erp needs help are correct.

Extending your idea of allowing the Mercedes driver to go through, what Mikey should do in that case is stop the legal traffic turning left from the side road. "Can you guys stop here please while this Merc driver makes an illegal turn - that'll be great thanks."

Doing it Mikey's way, not only is he stopping traffic turning left from the side road thus increasing safety, but he's stopping a muppet from driving illegally too.

* Ps: I only refer to the driver as Mercedes driver to clarify who I'm talking about, and not referring to the make of his car. I dislike calling out car brand names.

 

[mustang1]

With Mikey standing there blocking the road, that [increased the chances of an accident, and certainly significantly increased the chances of other, legitimate road users being blocked.

It is perfectly possible he could be both.

As I've said before, I think videoing and reporting these drivers is entirely laudable. Taking vigilante action isn't so laudable IMO.

Standing there, stationery, would not increase the risk of accident. But a car moving at "5mph" (according to the Merc driver, but probably more like 20mph) in the opposite direction to someone pulling out of the junction at, say 10mph, would increase the risk of an accident.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I do think some of the people watching could help more - there was one driver who was very uncertain about the idea of backing up
OK - that does rather suggest they shouldn;t be driving anyway
but if someone had offered to guide them back and ask drivers in the queu to let them in then that would have at least been a nice thing to do - and would have defused the situation and cleared the problem up quicker

 

[GilesM]

Extending your idea of allowing the Mercedes driver to go through, what Mikey should do in that case is stop the legal traffic turning left from the side road. "Can you guys stop here please while this Merc driver makes an illegal turn - that'll be great thanks."

Doing it Mikey's way, not only is he stopping traffic turning left from the side road thus increasing safety, but he's stopping a muppet from driving illegally too.

* Ps: I only refer to the driver as Mercedes driver to clarify who I'm talking about, and not referring to the make of his car. I dislike calling out car brand names.

What Van-Erp should do is not stop drivers and tell them they are wrong, that's for Police officers to do, and Coppers tend to find a safe place to ask the drivers to stop.

 

[KnittyNorah]

What Van-Erp should do is not stop drivers and tell them they are wrong, that's for Police officers to do, and Coppers tend to find a safe place to ask the drivers to stop.

So are you saying that if a normal citizen sees another person blatantly, openly, breaking the law to an extent that they are causing imminent danger to those around them - the Gandalf Corner wrong-lane jumpers being a prime example - they should merely do ... nothing? Not even say 'stop it'? Sit and wait for a copper to come, by which time the perpetrator is far, far away ...?

They'll be sitting and waiting for ever in that case, while the bodies pile up.

That is not the concept on which policing in this country was founded, surely.

 

[Rusty Nails]

It is very concerning that somebody who isn't a cop behaves like a (overly aggressive) cop.

He is not behaving like a police officer (and certainly not an overly aggressive one) any more than anyone who sees a traffic crime and reports it. He is not pretending to be a police officer, not giving them an official warning, not taking their personal details, not giving them a breathaliser test, not touching anyone, nor arresting anyone for the (alleged) offence. I see a possibly overbearing approach, compared to what most people might adopt, but nothing aggressive.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

He is not behaving like a police officer (and certainly not an overly aggressive one) any more than anyone who sees a traffic crime and reports it. He is not pretending to be a police officer, not giving them an official warning, not taking their personal details, not giving them a breathaliser test, not touching anyone, nor arresting anyone for the (alleged) offence. I see a possibly overbearing approach, compared to what most people might adopt, but nothing aggressive.

Agreed - not aggressive - any aggressions comes from the driver
He is being stuborn and refuses to be intimidated - but that is not the same by a long way

 

[classic33]

Isn't there a pedestrian refuge* in the centre of the road where he stands?


*Tactile pink paving slabs.

 

[Alex321]

Extending your idea of allowing the Mercedes driver to go through, what Mikey should do in that case is stop the legal traffic turning left from the side road. "Can you guys stop here please while this Merc driver makes an illegal turn - that'll be great thanks."

No, he shouldn't do anything but video and report.

We shouldn't be taking the law into our own hands.