Vigilante cyclist who pushed his bike into a car he was trying to stop at ‘no entry' sign makes bizarre excuse
Footage posted by Michael van Erp, known as Cycling Mikey, shows him getting into a heated exchange with the motorist on Sunday.
5
Mikey's bike was smashed out of the way
Credit: Cycling Mikey
5
The motorist ignores the flimsy roadblock and accelerates along the road anyway
Credit: Instagram / CyclingMikey
5
Despite being confronted by the vigilante, the driver keeps trying to sneak down
Credit: Cycling Mikey
The video, posted on his Youtube channel, shows the 52-year-old initially blocking the Fiat 500 from driving down the road.
Due to roadworks, the road appears to be reduced to a one way street, with traffic cones and signs telling drivers not to enter it.
Despite being confronted by the vigilante, the driver keeps trying to sneak down Paddenswick Road in Hammersmith, west London.
It is at this point the brazen vigilante cyclist tries to block the driver's path by throwing his bike in his path.
The motorist ignores the flimsy roadblock and accelerates along the road anyway, smashing into the bicycle in the process.
Responding to critics of his extreme actions today, Cycling Mikey gave a bizarre excuse for not stopping his bike.
Writing on X, he claimed that he 'couldn't… brake a 28kg e-bike once I realised the driver wasn't stopping'.
Footage of the confrontation between the road safety warrior and the driver was filmed by Mikey and a bystander.
The Dutch vigilante is then left to pick up his possessions from the tarmac after unsuccessfully stopping the motorist.
Prior to the smash, Mikey can be heard in the clip saying: "What is that sign back there? You have to go back now, very naughty.'
Shouting at another driver who attempts to drive through the one-way street, he says: "No f*** off, go back.
"What do you think you're doing? Go back."
Moment dog walker 'pushes cyclist into canal' - but claims HE'S in the right
The Met confirmed they were aware of the footage and urged Cycling Mikey to speak with officers.
A spokesperson for the force said: 'We are aware of footage circulating on social media which appears to show an incident on Paddenswick Road, Hammersmith on Sunday August 10.
'No arrests have been made at this stage.
'We urge victims of crime to contact the police by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.'
Cycling Mikey has made a name for himself by filming motorists breaking the rules of the road and reporting them.
On his social media, he claims to have reported more than 2,000 drivers in the space of six years.
Since 2019, he says motorists have paid a total of £165,700 in fines and received 2,649 penalty points due to his actions.
He also claims 35 people have been disqualified from driving.
Using a phone when driving
The law is clear on when you can use a hand-held device behind the wheel. It is only legal if you are safely parked.
You can use hands-free mobile devices while driving your car as long as you do not hold them at any time during usage.
It is perfectly acceptable for passengers to use their mobile phone in the car, as long as they do not pass it to the driver or require the driver to touch the phone at any point.
Penalties for being on your phone while driving:
If caught a driver is caught on their mobile while behind the wheel of a vehicle they will receive a fine of £200 and 6 penalty points.
Last year, footage showed him cruising along the road before he caught a woman red-handed using her phone behind the wheel.
She can be seen winding the window down as Mikey explains what she's done wrong.
The woman then says how she's a doctor and explains it's a very "difficult job".
Mikey then appears to consider letting the woman off the hook before he asks her if she already has points.
But then when she admits she does he replies: "I'm starting to think you're someone not learning from the points system."
In 2020, he videoed Guy Ritchie texting while behind the wheel of his Range Rover
The exchange led to the film director being banned from driving for six months, as he already had nine speeding points.
He also caught Chris Eubank on the phone in 2021, with the former world champion boxer telling him: 'Go away. Off you go, off you go.'
Eubank was handed three penalty points and fined £280 in costs because he jumped a red light having driven away from van Erp.
As well as his YouTube site, van Erp also uploads footage to a police website which is set up for citizen reporting.
5
Cycling Mikey has made a name for himself catching drivers breaking the rules
Credit: Cycling Mikey
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
4 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
TV presenter Jay Blades to appear in court charged with rape
TV presenter Jay Blades is due to appear in court charged with rape. West Mercia Police previously said the 55-year-old, who fronted primetime BBC show The Repair Shop, will face a first hearing at Telford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Advertisement Blades faces two allegations of rape but will not be expected to enter pleas during his first appearance. The defendant, of Claverley in Shropshire, found fame on restoration programme The Repair Shop, which he started presenting in 2017. He stepped back from presenting the show last year. Blades also appeared on Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off and Comic Relief, as well as presenting the BBC's Money For Nothing until 2020. Advertisement
BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Wrongly accused Birmingham postmaster returns for her dad
A woman returning to her family Post Office business after being wrongly accused of theft in the Horizon scandal says she is doing it for her Gill ran the Wattville Road Post Office in Handsworth, Birmingham, which was started by her father. But that ended when, due to a faulty Post Office computer system - and like hundreds of other postmasters and mistresses - she was falsely said to have stolen money. Now, more than a decade on from an ordeal that left her feeling suicidal, she is about to work there said her dad had been "devastated" by the accusation, "so for him I want to stand back there and say 'I didn't do it'." Her alleged wrongdoing - for which she was later fully exonerated - meant the Post Office dismissed her from the branch, which was based within a shop also run by the banished from the branch, taken over by a third party, she was able to continue working at the shop, which meant she still saw her old customers. Her dad - whom she said was among the first British Asian postmasters outside of London - died before her exoneration and the scale of the scandal was laid bare, although he had supported her through the Gill is due to get back the keys to the branch next week. She said she had been determined to take the helm once more. "I think it's going to be amazing," she said. "It's going to be emotional, but it's going to be exciting."But it comes after she lost her home, her car, and her reputation in the wake of the try to balance the books and stay out of jail, she said she ended up missing card and mortgage payments. The first report from the official inquiry into the scandal said last month the events had had a "disastrous" impact on those accused. Ms Gill first became aware of problems at her Post Office when accounts were falling short and she could not understand why."One day it would be one amount and the next day it would be a different amount. Figures were duplicating," she said."I just couldn't understand what the problem was or why."At the time, she had no idea that hundreds of other postmasters were in the same position as morning, her world came crashing down around her."The auditors came and did a stock balance and realised how much was short and I was asked to leave - hand back the keys, there and then, and they brought in interims to run the Post Office the next day," she said."It was horrible. Absolutely horrible." 'I lost everything' In the aftermath of her dismissal, Ms Gill and her husband's marriage suffered, with both knowing they had not taken any money and wondering where it had gone"I couldn't face anybody for a long time. I was depressed," she said."I lost my house, I lost my car, I lost everything."Things just got on top of me at one stage and I didn't want to be here, I tried to take my life. "Luckily now I'm here, but things could have been a lot different."The Post Office Horizon scandal broke into the public attention many years later, heightened by the ITV drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Gill said she felt angry over her experience, adding: "It was just anger not understanding why we didn't know other people had the same problem or why the Post Office hadn't done anything about it to rectify it and why it took a programme or a podcast for people to realise what was going on." While Ms Gill has been exonerated, an "amazing" point in her life, several of her loved ones are not here to see it."I lost my husband, my mom also passed away after I'd been convicted," she her father supported her after she was dismissed, selling a property to fund the missing money, he died before his daughter was cleared, and before news of the scandal became public."I just wish he'd been here to actually see or hear something, just a clip - maybe there's a chance," she said."But no. But I know he's watching, I know he knows." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Shoplifters get warning from policing minister on visit to Woking
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson has said shoplifters "will be pursued and will face consequences" regardless of how much they steal, as she visited a town centre. Dame Diana made the comments on a visit to Woking as part of Surrey Police's involvement in the Safer Streets summer towns in Surrey joined the government scheme which is running until 30 September and aims to reduce crime and antisocial Home Office said named, contactable officers were now place across every neighbourhood in Surrey, providing a more direct link between the public and police, as part of the plan. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "A connection between the police and public has been lost for too long but restoring visible officers to our streets and giving communities a proper named contact will rebuild those bonds with the communities they serve."Earlier this year, Surrey Police logged a four-fold increase in shoplifting charges in the county. Dame Diana told BBC Surrey she wanted to dispel the myth that if thieves take goods worth less than £200 they would not be said: "We are getting rid of that idea that if you steal less than £200 nothing will happen to you. "You will be pursued; you will face consequences if you steal from shops. We've got to really clamp down on this. It is totally unacceptable." She also said the government would be bringing in new laws to make assaulting shop workers a specific offence. Meanwhile, one shop worker in Woking town centre told the BBC she had noticed an increase in shoplifting attempts over the summer and that some of her colleagues had been verbally assaulted. Insp Ed Lyons, borough commander at Surrey Police, said the force was "starting to see results" in areas where police were more visible. "The feedback [from shops] is that staff feel safer and more supported working there. People want to see police."The Home Office said 25 additional neighbourhood officers would be joining neighbourhood policing teams in Surrey by Spring 2026. Maggie and Colin Wright, who live in Woking, told BBC Surrey antisocial behaviour on e-bikes was their biggest worry. "I don't think the crime is that bad but I don't like the bicycles in the town centre," Mr Wright said. "He has a hearing problem," continued Maggie, " he can't hear them, especially the electric bikes. They're a pain and they shouldn't be in town anyway."
