There were two road-ragers in that vid, just sayin’ 
Indeed! The car wasn’t that close, and the bicyclist was being a bit of a twat for not leaving room, and then he chases the guy down? I’m not saying car guy handled it well either, but geez… (Feel sorry for the kid.)
Yeah, it was kinda hard to tell from the video (rear view video?) just how close the car is, since the bike itself is not visible (on the other hand, the driver seems to have a hard time staying in a straight line). Having experienced many close calls myself, I can understand the feeling, but it does seem that angry confrontation is not often productive.
On the other hand, I’m sitting here with one less tooth because another cyclist passed me too close on the right.
The bicyclist was being an idiot for (a) leaving enough room for the driver to pass unsafely and (b) then deliberately provoking him instead of just reporting him to the police. There was no scenario on that side road where it made sense for the car to pass, and bicylists generally aren’t obliged to stop and get out of the way for motorists, nor should they be. The driver was being an idiot for passing unsafely, and then getting angry when an idiot on a bicycle followed him.
It’s actually a bit difficult to resist getting pissed off and following an idiot who puts your life at risk in situations like this, unfortunately, because they generate a lot of adrenaline, and sometimes that triggers “fight” instead of “flight.” But the bicyclist hadn’t ought to have continued once the adrenaline died down. Riding that way is a great way to wind up in a bad crash.
The driver actually fell pretty well when he took the fall–that could have hurt him a lot more. But honestly, this whole video is just an example of the human animal taking control over reason, and it’s a sad thing, not something to celebrate.
Fun fact: the etymology of “idiot” is a person who thinks only of themself. Seems relevant here.
Why’d he have his camera pointed at this car before the apparent incident? Was the driver being a twat before then?
No way. I’m showing my biases as a cyclist here, to be sure but the law does not put the convenience of a driver who wants to pass a cyclist above the safety of that cyclist. Hugging the curb or parked cars can encourage drivers to pass you when there isn’t space to share a single lane safely, so a common strategy to forestall this is to move leftward (or, as in TFV, filmed in the UK, rightward) to make a passing motorist really have to leave the lane to execute the pass, and really wait for a safe moment to do so. It’s for safety, not to be “infuriating”.
Great graphic on this here: http://bikinginla.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/4-How-wide-he-thinks-his-car-is.jpg
I can’t tell from the video how close the pass really was, but I’d tend to trust a cyclist who was rattled enough by it to comment after catching up over that of a motorist with an obvious empathy gap.
As for going from 0-100 with the anger, this is weirdly common. Or at least 0-90. Maybe it varies a little bit by culture, but IME people really don’t like strangers correcting their behavior, even relatively mildly and diplomatically. Especially so on the roads, for some reason.
Indeed: stepping aside before the inevitable argument about who was in the wrong in this instance, it’s a great opportunity to highlight to lesson to those who don’t bike in cities much: you should never leave JUST ENOUGH room for a car to pass.
If there isn’t enough room for a car to pass safely, you should take up the whole lane if it’s only a short while until a safer area (and ignore their mounting anger), or pull over completely.
This is even the case when you have two lanes on your side: being right up against the gutter will enable cars to try and squeeze by you, possibly forcing you off the road. Demanding your share of the of the road will force a car to recognize your existence and overtake you in the passing lane, like they ought to.
It looks like he had two fixed camera, one facing forward and one backward.
Lol, beat me to it! 
I’m guessing that maybe the wide-angle of the lens distorted it a bit?
I’m firmly on record as being pro bike. cars? I view as an unfortunate necessity for now. most folks take them as a given and use them as a crutch to their and our detriment, though. anyway, they should be phased out where possible but I recognize the futility of even suggesting it.
so, with that in mind, my reaction to this video is hard to say. was the car intentionally buzzing him? if so, fuck that guy. if he had more room on the other side to pass, he should’ve used it.
BUT as a cyclist, if you share the road with cars and you are not comfortable with getting passed at any distance shy of being hit by a car, then you do not belong on the road. you can’t take it personal because you have no way of knowing if it’s personal. I get that taking the lane is a safety issue as noted upthread, but if you get sketched-out by proximity, then the bottom line is you are not in control of your vehicle. I recommend learning to skate at your local skatepark before any further car/bike interaction you may partake in.
NO HARM, NO FOUL. this is one of the best guidelines regarding human interaction that there is and should be applied liberally in a variety of situations, including this one.
as noted, the superman was gorgeous, though.
As for a) I think there was enough room, the video is really choppy on my box (uugh flash) but it doesn’t look like the car made any effort to move to the side or slow down during the pass.
As for the cyclist I think he was riding an appropriate line, if he goes further to the left he’s liable to get clipped by a car door.
As for b) the cyclist didn’t start the confrontation with the objective of escalating or even reporting to the cops, it sounds like he just wanted to let the driver know that he was freaked out because it was a really dangerous pass. It’s the driver who immediately started flipping out and at that point I think the cyclist mostly held his ground but didn’t really escalate.
Once the confrontee mouths off after being confronted, there’s no point in continuing. They either think they are right, or they are going to get angry and dangerous. I have been that confrontee twice in my younger and dumber days (i.e. last winter) and was lucky bystanders stepped in to calm the dude down.
Edit: doesn’t matter how right think you are, or how right you are according to law, etc. People do not do well when confronted, and if confrontee seems angry back off. You can’t be right and dead.
Nope. That - and the chronic inaction of the police when it comes to dangerous driving - just encourages more dangerous driving.
No. If, as a driver you can not pass other road users at a safe distance - and this wasn’t one - then YOU don’t belong on the road.
And if you respond to mild criticism by trying to hit people, you should be seeking treatment, not driving dangerous machinery in crowded places.
“Too close mate. You passed me way too close.” Reviewing the video I don’t see the anger or provocation in that statement. If you don’t let people know what behaviour is out-of-bounds, then its all ok, isn’t it? (Is that provocative in the UK? Honest question, I’ve never been there.)
The driver, on the other hand, missed a good opportunity to apologize and avoided all the charges.
Wide angle lenses make it very hard to tell if this pass was too close or not.
Also, how common is it to have a front and rear mounted gopro on your bicycle?
That probably depends on how you feel about past incidents.
The Law might be a little more civilized wherever you hail from, but here in Albuquerque us bicyclists are invisible to police. If we get hit, APD refuses to make a report w/o eye witnesses. If we complain about another driver breaking the law, APD claims “It’s your word against theirs.”
By the same token, bicyclists have picked up some bad habits, such as running reds or ignoring right-of-way. But considering motorists have 2-ton deathcages protecting them, and we have Sweet FA, I think drivers should probably cut us cyclists a little slack.
Okay? Okay.
Pure poetry.
And with over 5 million views this tit has gone viral.
Some cyclists ride with cameras facing both directions to record their rides. They’re very handy when something happens and the driver fibs to the police.
