We don’t need riding vigilantes – cyclists already own the roads

Last week, Jeremy Vine shared a video of a motorist being abusive to a cyclist. Nothing new there, I hear you say. After all, the light-footed BBC presenter is famous for cruising around London with a sophisticated camera rig on his head. But on this occasion, it was very much the cyclist who was at fault.

The cyclist in question, Michael van Erp – who likewise records his journeys on a body camera and uploads them regularly to his CyclingMikey YouTube channel – had spotted a driver using his phone while stuck in traffic.

What’s the big deal, you might ask? The cars weren’t going anywhere. But this wasn’t enough for van Erp, who informed the poor driver that he was breaking the letter of the law, just like those Covid busybodies who used to remind you that it was still illegal to sit on a bench in the middle of a deserted park, even if you were eating a scotch egg large enough to count as a substantial meal.