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Jeremy Clarkson destroys BBC presenter’s cycling ‘road rage’ video

Jeremy Clarkson has launched an angry tirade against Jeremy Vine after his former BBC colleague posted a video showing him being confronted by a motorist. Clarkson accused the journalist of acting in a “sanctimonious” manner by slowing down while riding on a London street and filming an altercation with a driver.

The former Top Gear host suggested it was “selfish” of Vine to cycle in the middle of the narrow road – something the Radio 2 host and keen cyclist said he had to do to avoid being hit by motorists opening car doors. Clarkson’s comments come days after Mr Vine uploaded a video of a row with a “dangerous” driver which happened in Kensington last Friday.

In the footage, Vine is seen cycling through the prosperous area before slowing to a halt in the middle of the road when a driver beeps her horn from behind him. The video then shows the driver flying into a rage, with a brief tussle ensuing before the woman allegedly telling Vine: “I’ll knock you out”.

But writing in his column in The Sun, Clarkson criticised his former BBC co-worker for the altercation.

Last weekend, while driving through the Cotswolds, I found myself stuck behind two cyclists who were riding alongside one another. Of course they were.

Elevated these days to godlike status by modern environmental thinking, cyclists are propelled from place to place on a wave of self-righteousness and a pious belief that they’re the new knights of the road.

Five days later, near the South Coast, the same thing happened again, only this time it was a lone cyclist, his gnarled and nut-brown thighs beating out a Victorian rhythm as he crawled slowly up the hill, proud that behind his wizened, Lycra- clad buttocks there was a queue of cars stretching half way to Dover.

Then in London, we have hundreds of them, ignoring the new multi-million pound cycle lane on the Embankment so they can make a nuisance of themselves on the main carriageway.

There was a time when you could take these morons to task. You could shake your fist and shout and point out that it’s absurd for a fully grown adult to be playing in public on what is a kids’ toy. But not any more…

Today they all wear helmet cameras to record your rage. Then, when they get home, they upload it to YouTube and you’re made to look like a short-tempered fool. Which brings me to the BBC radio ­presenter, and keen cyclist, Jeremy Vine, who this week uploaded some footage of a woman who’d become frustrated with his slow progress through Kensington, West London.

In it, he can be seen cycling down the middle of the road, deliberately blocking the cars in his wake, and when one gets too close he stops — still in the middle of the road — so he can record the woman driver’s foul-mouthed tirade. The message is clear. He’s been verbally assaulted while on a noble quest to save the polar bear.

But hang on a minute, Vine. How did you know that the woman in the car behind wasn’t rushing to see her injured child in hospital? How did you know there wasn’t a pregnant girl on the back seat who was about to give birth? Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to be stuck behind a sanctimonious cyclist when you really are in a genuine, tearing hurry? Vine says he was cycling in the middle of the road because that way he’s unlikely to be hit by people opening their car doors without looking.

Really? Because if safety is your number one priority, why are you wearing a helmet festooned with GoPros? Are you not aware that it was, in all probability, a camera attached to Michael Schumacher’s helmet that caused his terrible head injuries? In fact, if safety is your number one priority, why are you on a bicycle in the first place?

Of course, it is not illegal to cycle slowly down the middle of a narrow street. But it is selfish and annoying for everyone else. How would he like it, I wonder, if I followed him around for a month, blowing gently on the back of his ears? That’s not illegal either, but after a few days I’m sure he’d turn round and have a strong word.

I may try it.

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15 comments

Kian September 9, 2016 at 1:51 pm

We have heard about road rage. Have you ever heard of cycling rage? I mean in a street that is like 50 feet long, how much faster she could have really got to her destination if there weren’t a cyclist in front of her? 3 second? 5 seconds?

Is she a formula 1 driver that needs to fight teeth and nails for a 0.02 of a second?

People are crazy.

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Kian September 9, 2016 at 1:46 pm

Clarkson is sure funny as a presenter. But there is no doubt that he is a bumbling buffoon. Has he ever been in a real debate?

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gtrgtr September 7, 2016 at 7:34 pm

Only Eco transportation is public transportation, You transport 50-60 people in one bus and it is consuming same amount of fuel as 3-4 cars and taking space as 5 cyclist or even one if he is sociopath like this one in video,
so cars are polluting air and cyclist are space pollution and both is not practical in modern cities , so if pseudo intellectuals like to “save the earth” take a bus

but wait they can’t put video from bus on their Facebook page – it is not fancy for their hypocrite “friends”

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Kevin September 6, 2016 at 7:01 pm

Simple make all cyclist fit an engine by law
Id suggest 250cc 2 or 3 cylinder 2 strokes !
I never got in anyone’s way in the 70s

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Tim September 6, 2016 at 1:32 am

I am keen road cyclist,and like most cyclists, I am also a driver. A keen driver of fast cars in fact. If you do both, it’s pretty obvious which vehicle makes you most vulnerable. Maybe a bike in front of you is inconvenient from time to time. but if you are on a bike and you have an angry or impatient car behind you, it’s a lot worse than inconvenient — it’s dangerous. On this topic, as on several others, Clarkson is an oaf. His encouragement to other drivers not to be patient around bicycles is an encouragement to behave dangerously around them. They have a right to be on the road, some of them are slower than others, but drivers anyway have a responsibility not to put them in danger. And Clarkson, if he was not so self-obsessed, should realize that consideration trumps all others.

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vancouverbill September 9, 2016 at 2:39 pm

‘And Clarkson, if he was not so self-obsessed, should realize that consideration trumps all others.’
excellent advice that applies doubly to cyclists…
the biggest hazard for us who live on 8th ave [ a designated bike route here in Vancouver] is the speeding cyclist coming south on vine street, not signaling [of course] that they will be turning on to 8th ave. taking that turn as if they are in a bike race [there is a speed limit of 20k for obvious reasons: numerous small children going to school and of course the many elderly people in the neighbourhood are also at risk of being run down].
we know them by their strange uniform. invariably the worst are the ones wearing the full bicycle costume.
why is it these people all the time? recently one of the cyclists had a door open up on him.
speed was a factor . as there was an indication that both parties were at fault here one wonders if the cyclist had been going along a bit more carefully , ie slower, he might have avoided the carelessly opened door.their wanton disregard over the rules of the road seems to indicate a license [and insurance] is necessary along with turn signals and head and brake lights. not to mention a stop sign does in fact mean a STOP is required …
if they want to be treated pleasant fashion as a fellow user of the road they should also lose the holier than thou attitude. cyclists are not superior beings saving the planet. you are just a person like the rest of us …and unless your cycle is made from a renewable source [wood for instance ] your in the same boat as the rest of us ‘polluters’ [ I wonder how many of the kayaking protesters [in their beautiful plastic boats made from you know petroleum] own bicycles made in china ,that paragon of human rights and model of environmental soundness ? yeah green RIGHT!
by the way not everyone is fit enough to ride a bicycle [ speaking personally : ankles ,knees and back ruined from aggressive mountainbiking]. the fact that we dont cycle doesnt make us second class citizens

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Dave September 6, 2016 at 12:18 am

Comments like that are easy to say, especially if you don’t bother justifying with any reason . I guess that’s because you don’t have an acceptable reason (good or bad) other than an anti – cycling attitude. Still, you carry on being a big, brave, anonymous troll and advocating violence. I’m sure your mother is really proud of you!

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Dave September 6, 2016 at 12:22 am

Seems to have unattached itself from the original comment. These comments were aimed at the guy with no name!

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the guy with no name September 5, 2016 at 8:20 pm

The prat on the bike was to blame here.

The woman should have run him over. And then she could have told the police that her foot “accidentally” slipped off the clutch. 😛

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Tom September 5, 2016 at 9:37 pm

Murder, LOL!!!!!!!!!

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Christopher Ashley September 5, 2016 at 11:34 pm

What a big man you are.

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Simon September 5, 2016 at 4:46 pm

Ill-mannered feeloaders taking advantage of roads paid for by others.

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Tom September 5, 2016 at 9:37 pm

The ignorance is strong in this one. Roads are paid for from general taxation. Which means that, depending on income, the cyclist could well have paid more for the road than the driver. And for the NHS which cars place immeasurably more strain on than bikes; and for the flood defences needed because of climate change caused partly by car use.

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gtrgtr September 7, 2016 at 6:30 pm

Tom
you are only ignorant here, Vine is presenter in Communist BBC which is funded with tax payer money so he is not giving his money when paying tax, he is just getting some less from working men . And in same time acting like he is on higher moral ground then people who are feeding them and other pseudo intellectuals like him.

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Christopher Ashley September 5, 2016 at 11:32 pm

A friend of mine checked to see if that car was taxed and apparently it wasn’t, shortly after the footage was released. But that doesn’t pay for new roads – they’re paid for out of revenue raised by income tax. I wonder if she was insured.

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