Over my 36 years of semi-professional bike running a blog I’ve amassed tens if not dozens of loyal followers from all walks of life, from sports activities heroes:
To scoundrels:
Then there’s Jeremy Vine:
Frankly, I’m extra fearful about Jeremy than any of my different followers. I strive not to take a look at Twitter, however sometimes I do, and with out fail the very first thing I see is Jeremy Vine driving proper into some simply avoidable scenario after which spinning it as some kind of grave social injustice–it’s like “Jackass” for bike advocates. Most lately, he posted this encounter, which generated like a bazillion views, however since Twitter doesn’t appear to wish to let me embed it right here’s a model from YouTube as a substitute:
Mainly, he’s driving alongside when he sees a truck driver turning into a motorbike lane. Right here’s the place he’s when he begins shouting, “no, NO, NO!!!“
It’s unclear whether or not the driving force is confused, or silly, or heedless, or maybe some mixture of all three. Regardless, as a substitute of assessing the scenario continuing with warning within the presence of what seems to be a harmful (or not less than clueless) driver, Vine continues driving straight at him, and he’s about right here when he begins to deploy what seems like an airhorn:
In New York whenever you honk at anyone they ignore you, or maybe provide the finger. However apparently in London they really right their errant habits, as a result of the driving force then stops, at which level Vine cunningly locations himself behind the truck simply as the driving force begins to reverse course:
Hey, the signal does say “oncoming cycles.” It doesn’t say something about cycles straight behind.
As the driving force begins to again over his bicycle, Vine’s self-preservation instincts lastly override his intense self-righteousness, and he strikes himself out of the addled driver’s path:
No, I’m kidding, he really stands his floor and begins pounding on the truck:
Begin to end, all the encounter is like watching a person get run over by a steamroller:
Lastly the driving force stops, and one other Brompton rider arrives on the scene, as a result of, you recognize, it’s London they usually all journey Bromptons:
I used to be unable to scan the QR code on the truck, however I wouldn’t be shocked if it was additionally carrying a load of Bromptons.
Fortuitously, Vine’s Brompton is unhurt, and one may cynically conclude that having gotten what he needed (extra sufferer footage for his Twitter) he components on good phrases with the driving force:
The tip:
Scenes like this one play fairly properly on social media, as a result of everybody will get to be outraged at one thing. “Drivers are horrible!” “Cyclists are entitled!” “Part 87151949885574412-B of the visitors code explicitly states {that a} fop on a Brompton on a virtually empty London road shall have the suitable of approach always!” And so forth. You’ve acquired to select one aspect or the opposite, and you’ll’t cede an inch; the very nature of social media discourse requires you to face your floor like Jeremy Vine behind that truck and die together with your metaphorical Brompton of Righteousness fairly than acknowledge that somebody with an opposing view could very properly have a legitimate level.
Nevertheless, we’re all cyclists right here, so we are able to dispense with the formalities. Actually every one in all us may have a unique evaluation of this video, however I wish to assume that if one in all us occurs to assume it makes Jeremy Vine appear to be an entire fool *[raises hand sheepishly]*, we are able to nonetheless take it as learn that the driving force was flawed and that typically motordom exacts a steep toll on our cities–together with in fact the steepest toll of all of them, that being dying. I additionally assume we are able to every acknowledge that it’s concurrently doable the imagine that everybody ought to be at liberty and welcome to journey a bicycle and that cities have a duty to make it protected for them to take action, whereas additionally believing that somebody who can’t appear to journey two toes in any course with out having yet one more battle or near-miss may wish to think about folding up their Brompton completely and simply taking the fucking subway.
I think that the majority of us have seen a driver doing one thing flawed that posed a possible hazard to us but stored driving proper into it anyway; I’ve definitely finished it greater than I’d wish to admit. We do it to show some extent: the street is ours. You should yield to me. Actually the style by which we do it on a motorbike is much extra benign than, say, the driving force who topics you to an in depth cross. Nonetheless, it comes from the identical obstinate, thick-headed impulse. If Jeremy Vine weren’t driving round with a digital camera on his head he wouldn’t have so many Twitter followers, however I’m keen to guess he additionally wouldn’t have almost as many irritating interactions, and he’d in all probability get pleasure from driving his bike much more. Alas, for individuals like that, having fun with the journey doesn’t appear to be the purpose. And that’s lacking it utterly.
