This won’t make things any better between drivers and cyclists: one cyclist from London has made it his mission to turn as many texting drivers over to the police, “ratting” them out and shaming them online.
Texting and driving is dangerous and, of course, illegal. In the UK, at the very least, it will mean 6 points off your license even if you’re doing it while the car is stationary in traffic. If you must text when you’re at the wheel, you have to pull over and shut off the engine before you can do it – legally.
With the number of victims in accidents caused by distracted drivers on the rise, Mike van Erp has taken it upon himself to try and do the right thing. Since he rides with a Go Pro camera mounted on his helmet, like most cyclists, whenever he sees a driver on his phone he steps off the bike, goes over and documents it, before confronting the driver and taking down the license plate. He then uses the police online form to upload the video, reporting the offense.
According to the Daily Mail, Mike’s biggest “catch” to date remains movie director Guy Ritchie, who’s had his license suspended for six months just this week. In addition to reporting the drivers, Mike also makes sure to shame them online, posting the respective videos and a note in which he mentions the kind of punishment the driver got.
Asked why he’s doing it, tells the tab that his father was killed by a distracted driver, so this is his way of making sure something similar doesn’t happen again. Road safety is not something that should be blatantly ignored, like these people do when they use their phones.
“I definitely think what I am doing is keeping the roads safe. The points system is designed to get people to drive better. I have had quite a lot of anonymous death threats through what I do,” he says. “But I am just one of many camera cyclists. I think there are thousands of them in London. Some of them are even more active than me.”
He doesn’t have a bone to pick with drivers, he says, because he also films and turns in cyclists who text. However, cases are disproportionate. “Last year I think I caught 358 drivers and two cyclists,” he says.
With the number of victims in accidents caused by distracted drivers on the rise, Mike van Erp has taken it upon himself to try and do the right thing. Since he rides with a Go Pro camera mounted on his helmet, like most cyclists, whenever he sees a driver on his phone he steps off the bike, goes over and documents it, before confronting the driver and taking down the license plate. He then uses the police online form to upload the video, reporting the offense.
According to the Daily Mail, Mike’s biggest “catch” to date remains movie director Guy Ritchie, who’s had his license suspended for six months just this week. In addition to reporting the drivers, Mike also makes sure to shame them online, posting the respective videos and a note in which he mentions the kind of punishment the driver got.
Asked why he’s doing it, tells the tab that his father was killed by a distracted driver, so this is his way of making sure something similar doesn’t happen again. Road safety is not something that should be blatantly ignored, like these people do when they use their phones.
“I definitely think what I am doing is keeping the roads safe. The points system is designed to get people to drive better. I have had quite a lot of anonymous death threats through what I do,” he says. “But I am just one of many camera cyclists. I think there are thousands of them in London. Some of them are even more active than me.”
He doesn’t have a bone to pick with drivers, he says, because he also films and turns in cyclists who text. However, cases are disproportionate. “Last year I think I caught 358 drivers and two cyclists,” he says.