Video of car zooming past bicycle riding 5-year-old sparks furious debate
car zooming past bicycle. Video posted online by a father showing a car zipping past his 5-year-old son on a bike between parked vehicles sparked a heated online debate on road safety.
It appears the footage was shot with the father’s headcam, recording his son’s bike ride along a residential road towards a stretch of road with some parked vehicles on both sides. While passing the first van, the dad tells his son to “carry on,” as the car on the other side has yet to pass.
As the road narrows due to parked vehicles, the car passes the young child with approximately a foot between them. The father asks the driver: “You not going to stop?” What are you doing?”
car zooming past bicycle
Social Media Outrage
Cycling safety campaigner Jeremy Vine was drawn to the clip, which garnered -as of the time of writing- over 2.6 million views on Twitter.
A furious Vine shared the clip with his 785,000 followers, saying the driver should have gone ‘dead slow’ or stopped altogether. He also called on anyone who disagreed to cut up their license.
Even former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid got involved. However, Javid replies to Mr Vines’ tweet stating that the father of the child was at fault. Since then, the debates have been ceaseless.
The 5-year old's father. https://t.co/nMfncye03d
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) November 10, 2022
The public was divided between supporters of Mr Vine and the father of the child who blamed the car driver for not giving way to the vulnerable (in this case, the child cycling). Others were in favour of the car driver, saying he had priority since the child was not cycling in the correct lane. Additionally, many people claimed the child was too young to be cycling in this scenario anyway.
Why isn’t the child riding in the marked cycle lane and avoiding the oncoming traffic? Father is irresponsible, the driver should have also slowed down seeing a young child in the middle of the road, but the child and father should be in the marked out cycle area of the lane IMO pic.twitter.com/pzrZEtzKBX
— FGR76 🇮🇹 🇬🇧 (@RSapienza76) November 8, 2022
Father speaks out
"The boy's father is probably very proud of him but five is too little."@EvePollard1 thinks it's too dangerous for a five-year-old to cycle on the roads.
She jokes: "One of my children is now 50 and I would't let her out on a bike."
What age do you think is appropriate? pic.twitter.com/V29NeKAotg
— Jeremy Vine On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) November 11, 2022
In a press statement, Ashley, from Kingston, London, UK (the father filming the viral clip) expressed confusion over Javid’s involvement in the matter, believing initially that it was a fake account trolling as Javid.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, he said he was “shocked” that the former chancellor would blame him, not “the poor driving” depicted in the video.
The Right to Cycle Safely
Here's a photo of my youngest daughter, riding her bike on the road. She was riding on the road before her 3rd birthday. She's now 10 and loves riding her bike, and has better road sense than a lot of adults. pic.twitter.com/2Gpn0nvThI
— Shez (@Sh3zz4) November 10, 2022
The father was defended by many, especially parents, who argued that as long as the child wears the appropriate safety gear and has been taught the necessary safety rules, then it doesn’t matter as long as the child is happy. Parents began sharing images of their children cycling in support of the father and Vine.
My daughter rode to school for years, how often do kids in cars go to school as happy as this? pic.twitter.com/LZehDa0kzq
— James Smith (@RUTrainingToday) November 11, 2022
What do you think?
Who is in the wrong?
Is it the five-year-old, or the car driver?
Let us know what you think.
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