11-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE The cycling wheelie craze that's terrorising London streets: How gangs of brazen teenage riders are causing rush-hour chaos with their reckless stunts for social media clicks
Londoners are being terrorised by an idiotic social media trend that sees cyclists pull wheelies through busy streets next to cars, pedestrians and police officers.
Clips of teenage riders doing wheelies while weaving through traffic are regularly appearing on social media sites like Instagram and TikTok alongside laughing emojis.
One video shows two mounted police officers shouting 'what are you doing?' as a cyclist on a BMX-style bike rides on one wheel within inches of their horses.
In the footage, filmed near Buckingham Palace and shared online two weeks ago, the teen's friend can be heard egging him on to 'go between the horses'.
In the end, he swerves around the officers as one of them shouts after him 'not ok'.
Motoring campaigners have condemned the trend as dangerous and 'irresponsibility personified'.
Another video found on Instagram shows a rider pulling a wheelie while weaving through pedestrians on a crowded pavement in central London.
At one point, the youngster filming the video approaches a man on a hire bike and shouts at him to move.
Other clips show riders deliberately going on the wrong side of the road before swerving out of the way of approaching cars right at the last minute.
All of them appear to have been filmed in central London - suggesting the riders are specifically targeting busy streets to generate more traction on social media.
Ian Taylor, from the Alliance of British Drivers, told MailOnline: 'We're not anti-cyclist, but what we do condemn is dangerous cycling that doesn't have any regard for other road users.
'This is dangerous behaviour. I'm sure these people aren't representative of a majority of cyclists, but it's the same as bad drivers - it's the few that give everyone a bad name.
'When people are filming them that makes a bad situation even worse given they won't be in control of their bikes. It's irresponsibility personified.'
A series of new laws have been proposed that would see cyclists face education courses or fixed penalty notices for ten new offences including cycling on a road without due care and attention or not using a light a night.
The new legislation will attempt to tackle antisocial cycling, although penalties for certain offences - including dangerous cycling and ignoring school crossings - could be downgraded.
Under proposals put forward by the Home Office earlier this year, those breaching the new rules could have to take a 30-minute e-learning course by the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) for a £100 fee instead of receiving a fine or points.
Cyclists are currently exempt from needing to follow the national speed limit but they can be prosecuted for cycling dangerously.
However, the changes would see ignoring school crossings, dangerous cycling and hitching rides from moving cars dealt with by a more educational approach.
The Home Office report said: 'Such courses are offered as an alternative to an offer of a fixed penalty notice, and therefore a driver who successfully completes a course is not required to pay a fixed penalty amount in relation to the offence, or to have points endorsed on their driving record.
'The operation of the NDORS allows the police the discretion to deal with low level driving offences without reference to the courts by offering training courses as an alternative to prosecution.'
Since 2013, more than 30 pedestrians have been killed by cyclists in England and Wales.
Campaign group Cycling UK has condemned dangerous cycling but pointed out that an average of 417 pedestrians are killed each year by cars.
Particular concerns have been raised about an increase in high-powered e-bikes that have been adapted to go faster than the legal limit.
Donna Jones, who is responsible for policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, warned the electric bicycles which resemble motorbikes are frequently being used by criminals due to their 'agility'.
A rider crashes to the ground after losing his balance while attempting a wheelie
The police and crime commissioner claimed the majority of people using these type of e-bikes are 'doing something wrong' as she voiced her concerns over the spate of crime gripping Britain.
Silent and capable of reaching top speeds with dangerous modifications, thieves using these stealthy e-bikes are prowling around and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on unsuspecting victims.
Detectives are battling an epidemic of theft in the UK, particularly in London, where phone snatchers are terrorising mothers, teenagers, commuters and tourists on a daily basis.
The e-bike causing the biggest headache for officers is the Sur-Ron, which have become one of the go-to option for robbers menacing British cities, where they are used by masked thugs behind a dramatic rise in 'snatch' thefts.
