Summary

A YouTuber named CyclingMikey in London endangers himself and others by confronting dangerous drivers on camera.

Abstract

CyclingMikey, a London-based YouTuber, has gained attention for his videos where he confronts drivers who engage in unsafe driving practices, such as driving on the wrong side of "keep left" signs or using their phones while driving. While his intention to report bad driving is commendable, his methods—standing in front of cars and arguing with drivers—are deemed dangerous and potentially life-threatening. The confrontations often escalate, with drivers sometimes becoming aggressive or even driving into him. The articles suggests that Mikey's approach, which prioritizes entertainment value for his YouTube audience, is not an effective or safe way to address dangerous driving behaviors.

Opinions

The author agrees with the YouTuber's principle of highlighting dangerous driving but strongly disagrees with his methods of confrontation.
Standing in front of a car with an angry driver is considered extremely risky and could result in serious injury or death.
Engaging drivers in arguments while they are operating their vehicles is seen as a dangerous distraction that could lead to accidents.
The author believes that Mikey's actions are motivated by the desire to create compelling content for his YouTube channel rather than a genuine concern for road safety.
The author suggests that a safer and more responsible approach would be for Mikey to record evidence of dangerous driving and report it to the police without direct confrontation.

Have You Seen This YouTuber Who Stands in Front of Angry Drivers?

His foolish behaviour puts himself and other road users in serious danger

Cyclist photo created by prostooleh — www.freepik.com

Have you seen the YouTuber called CyclingMikey?

He’s a cyclist in London who likes to report bad drivers. Specifically:

Those driving the wrong side of “keep left” signs.
Anyone looking at their phone while driving.

In principle, I agree with him.

Driving the wrong way down a road is dangerous. Particularly at the spot where he likes to catch them. When drivers cut the corner there, they are at risk of crashing into cyclists coming round the corner.

And he’s right to take issue with distracted drivers, too. Using a phone while driving slows your reaction time and makes you four times more likely to crash your car.

But there are two big problems with Mikey’s approach.

#1: He stands in front of cars

Never stand in front of a car with an angry person in it. If you don’t know them, you cannot be sure they won’t run you over. Even though you’re filming it, they might be a lunatic who is prepared to drive into you.

As you can see from that video, the driver does drive into him. He doesn’t completely run him over, but in such a heated situation it could have happened by accident. One slip of the foot on the pedal and Mikey could have been under the wheels.

But when Mikey still refuses to move out of the way, the driver gets out of the car to confront him. How did Mikey know that he didn’t have a knife?

But anyway, unluckily for the driver, the police then turn up. But what would have happened if they hadn’t?

#2: He distracts drivers

In this next video, he spots a lorry driver on the phone. Rather than simply reporting him, he starts arguing with him.

As you can see, the lorry driver gets out and walks over to him and is very aggressive. When the driver is walking back to his lorry, he walks in front of an oncoming car.

Then, when the driver starts to drive away, he is shouting at Mikey through the side window. There are several seconds where the lorry is moving forwards while the driver is not looking at the road. All because he’s engaged in an argument with Mikey.

Imagine if a child ran across the road at that point.

And I’ve seen this in several of Mikey’s videos. He gets into an argument with the driver while they are still driving their vehicle. Thus distracting them.

This is the wrong way to do it!

I agree with the principle behind what Mikey is doing. But this is not the way to fix their bad driving behaviour.

Yes, driving the wrong way down a street at a busy intersection is dangerous. Yes, driving while distracted by your phone is dangerous. But standing in front of cars and arguing with drivers while they are driving is also dangerous!

Why can’t Mikey just record video evidence and then report them to the police?

I’ll tell you why. Because it wouldn’t make for such a good YouTube video.

And this is the problem these days. People doing stupid or dangerous things because it makes for an entertaining video.

People Who Run Out in Front of Cars Are Either Stupid or Insane

The dangerous actions of the ‘Insulate Britain’ protesters on the M25 motorway near London

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