A cyclist who was filmed being struck by a motorist making a right-turn into a no-entry road – allegedly to attempt a U-turn to avoid traffic – should be prosecuted for cycling without due care and attention, according to Nick Freeman, the lawyer famous for obtaining not guilty verdicts for celebrities charged with driving offences and often known by his Mr Loophole nickname.
However, the clip – which has so far been viewed over eight million times of X, formerly Twitter – has divided opinion on social media, with pioneering close pass police officer Mark Hodson describing the incident as a “straightforward” case of driving without due care and attention on the part of the motorist, who Hodson said should have been “expecting and looking” as they crossed the lane to turn right.
Meanwhile, broadcaster and cycling campaigner Jeremy Vine added that anyone who believes the collision was caused by the cyclist “should have their driving licence rescinded”, while the cyclist who filmed the incident – and narrowly avoided crashing, too – has used the debate to call for safer cycling infrastructure on a road he described as a “dog’s dinner” and “clearly dangerous”.
A308 Hampton Court Road today. Scary to see the cyclist ahead of me hit this Mini who’d cut across him. The driver denied it was his fault. Any thoughts anyone? And please @lbrut make this road safer for cyclists. @metpoliceuk@roadcc@KingstonCyclingpic.twitter.com/u0JkoOvhPX
— Piggy Stardust (@EnemyCoastAhead) May 5, 2024
The crash took place on Sunday morning, at around 11am, on London’s A308 Hampton Court Road, between Hampton Court and Bushy Park.
The clip, which was posted later that evening on X by the Piggy Stardust account (who captured the incident on their bike camera), shows the cyclist riding on the road’s painted cycle lane, before taking a brief drink from their water bottle as the lane suddenly ends, to be replaced by a solitary painted bike symbol on the road.
As the cyclist puts their bottle back in its cage, however, the driver of a Mini – after another motorist left a gap – makes a right turn, cutting across the path of the cyclist, who collides with the back of the car, suffering bruises in the process (the car, meanwhile, escaped with a dented rear panel).
Describing the shocking collision, the cyclist behind the Piggy Stardust account, who wishes to remain anonymous, told road.cc: “I’d been out in the Surrey Hills and was coming back to Kingston. I found myself behind this guy at around Hampton Court.
“There’s a small section of cycle lane, that includes a floating bus stop, and a floating parking space, and then the road. So, you’re actually cycling up the inside of parked cars. We exited that little section of cycle lane – and we were in exactly the right place. There were cycle motifs painted on the road.”
He continued: “And I’ve seen people on social media suggesting that we were cycling too fast, but we really weren’t. He was off the pedals, he reached down to drink from his bottle, we were doing between 10 and 15mph.
“Then this Mini just pulled across in front of him. And the driver was pulling into a road, Campbell Road, that’s no entry for cars or motorcycles – it’s exit only, and there’s no access apart from for residents.
“I think the driver was basically doing a U-turn, to get out of heavy traffic. And certainly after the incident the driver turned around the way he had come.
“Doing a U-turn – for me, that’s driving without due care and attention. And I very nearly came down myself. The cyclist in front came down quite badly, and I only just unclipped in time, otherwise I’d have been on top of him. He was dazed and bruised, but he was able to stand up afterwards.
“The driver blamed us for riding too fast, and I blamed him for driving without due care and attention. There was no kind of nastiness, just a difference of opinion really. But the driver didn’t leave his details with the cyclist.”
In email correspondence following the collision, the rider involved told the camera cyclist that the Mini driver “gave me little space to brake” and that “I need to get one of those cameras”.
“I gave the cyclist the video and my details, but I haven’t heard from him since that first email,” Piggy adds. “If he doesn’t decide to pursue it, I certainly will.”
“The cyclist should now be prosecuted”
However, as Piggy Stardust noted while chatting to road.cc, not everyone on social media responding to the now-viral video agreed with his assessment that the Mini driver was “clearly” guilty of driving without due care and attention, causing the crash.
“Cyclist fault. Clear markings showing end of cycle lane. Cyclist continues undertaking without slowing despite stopped vehicle,” X user Layer 1 Hunter tweeted under the video.
“Cyclist’s fault, he wasn’t paying attention because he was drinking a drink and trying to put it back in its holder. He also should have been aware a car had stopped and left a gap for another driver to turn. Totally his fault,” added KingPin Giveaway.
“Mini driver turns across bicycle lane, missing obscured cyclist. Cyclist was focused on replacing his water bottle while knowingly speeding past stopped traffic (foolish in any vehicle). Fault 50/50,” wrote the marginally more diplomatic RQD.
Sorry cyclist was hurt but wasn`t concentrating on what was happening around him.Was going too quickly, swerving as drinking, putting head down & so unaware car to his right had stopped to let Mini pass. Cyclist should now be prosecuted for cycling without due care and attention. https://t.co/HVK4y3fDxA
— Nick Freeman (@TheMrLoophole) May 6, 2024
Aside from Blue Check Twitter, the clip has also attracted the attention of notable names on both sides of the road safety debate.
According to lawyer Nick Freeman – whose archive of cycling-related comments in recent years includes making calls for compulsory high-visibility clothing, helmet use, and number plates, arguing cyclists should be forced to use cycle lanes, that lockdown created a “toxic culture of cycling”, and that the Highway Code changes introduced to protect vulnerable road users and pedestrians would cause carnage and more danger– the cyclist was at fault for failing to concentrate prior to the collision.
Freeman, who earned his Mr Loophole nickname by getting celebrities off the hook for driving offences on technicalities, tweeted: “Sorry cyclist was hurt, but [he] wasn’t concentrating on what was happening around him.
“Was going too quickly, swerving as drinking, putting head down, and so unaware car to his right had stopped to let Mini pass. Cyclist should now be prosecuted for cycling without due care and attention.”
However, Freeman’s conclusion was contradicted by Mark Hodson, the now-retired police officer who pioneered close pass operations in the force while advocating for third-party reporting from cyclists, who described the incident as a “straightforward” case of the motorist driving without due care and attention.
“The driver has a view of the cyclists at the start of the video, [and] crosses a lane without knowing if anything is coming anyway,” Hodson tweeted. “Actually, as the cyclists are higher than the vehicles, they would have been in sight throughout.
“If you were competent and looking for them, it’s not like they appeared from behind a large high sided vehicle – and even then if that were the case, the driver is duty bound to check/give way.
“Any competent driver would be expecting and looking. People defend the driving as they are also part of the incompetent problem group.”
That criticism of the widespread social media defence of the driver’s actions was echoed by broadcaster, journalist, and camera-using cyclist Jeremy Vine, who colourfully wrote: “Everyone in this thread saying ‘it was the cyclist’s fault’ should have their driving licence rescinded and their car crushed into a tiny metal cube that can be sold on Vinted as a coffee table.”
Responding to the social media reaction, Piggy Stardust told road.cc: “It was a predictable reaction from Mr Loophole – what else do you expect him to say? But I disagree completely. That was clear driving without due care. And at least, beyond the typical rubbish, the clip has started a healthy debate about safe driving around cyclists.”
That healthy debate, the cyclist says, should be centred on the need for safe, connected, well-designed infrastructure for people on bikes.
“The road is an absolute dog’s dinner of different and inadequate cycling infrastructure,” he points out.
“There are floating bus stops, parked cars, and a cycle lane beside parked cars, before a section of road with just cycle motifs – so you’re encouraged to ride up the inside of traffic on that bend that we were approaching.
“And then further down to Bushy Park, you have a painted cycle lane that at the weekends is littered with parked cars. Further down towards Kingston, there’s a combined pedestrian and cycle lane, which most of us don’t use because you don’t want to ride with pedestrians walking towards you.
“So it’s really up to the London Borough of Richmond to sort out their cycling infrastructure, it’s a dog’s dinner. A friend of mine also nearly crashed on that road.
“Riding down the inside of parked cars, you’re at the mercy of drivers like this one, who was doing a U-turn to get out of traffic. It’s rubbish, and clearly dangerous.”