They don't like it, but dashcams are fine.
================================
A concerned taxi driver's association rep has warned cabbies of cyclists' "sneaky" cameras costing professional drivers fines and penalty points.

Speaking to TAXI Newspaper (link is external), a publication of the Licensed Taxi Driver's Association (LTDA), LTDA executive Lloyd Baldwin urged drivers to avoid being "tempted to pick up your mobile phone", not because of the danger a distraction could cause other road users, but because of those pesky cyclists with their helmet cameras.

Telling the tale of one member who received a fixed penalty notice for six points and a £200 fine, Baldwin explained how the driver requested a copy of the video footage which he then forwarded on to the LTDA.

"He didn't remember any such incident and had not been approached by a police officer," Baldwin explained. "I advised that it was probably a report from a cyclist or possibly a member of the public and suggested that he contacted the police explaining that he didn't know of any incident and to ask them to email him the evidence against him.

"I told him to relay to the police that he didn't want to plead not guilty, then attend court only for the police to produce evidence which showed him making an error he was unaware of. The police agreed and sent him a video.

"The member emailed the video to me. What I watched showed just how sneaky these cyclists can be."

Explaining what happened, the LTDA rep says the cyclist struck up a conversation with the driver so he could get footage of his law-breaking.

"Picture the scene. Our member is sitting in Sloane Street traffic, northbound at the lights with Knightsbridge," Baldwin continued. "A cyclist drives past and has a look through his driver's window. The cyclist saw that the cabbie had his phone in his hand. The cyclist carried on, but then reversed back and started a conversation with the cabbie about how a car had stopped in the cycle box.

"Obviously, the cabbie showed no interest and gave him a look of 'so what?'.. Little did he realise, the reason for the conversation was so the cyclist could film the member up close and report him to the police.

"Of course, the cabbie was unknowingly guilty and will have to face the consequences, but it goes to show you can never be too careful. I may sound like a broken record and friends of mine suggest I write about something else (they are happy to tell me how boring I am), but I know what damage these six points can do to a cabbie.

"So please be careful. In my experience, 90 per cent of reports made to the police are from cyclists."

Reports to police of law breaking and dangerous driving on Britain's roads are on the rise, with a 25 per cent increase in video submissions reported in the first three months after last year's Highway Code changes.

Regular readers of this website will no doubt be familiar with CyclingMikey, one of the cyclists regularly reporting drivers using their phones behind the wheel, and who also uploads videos like the one below to his YouTube channel.

Last week an Edinburgh cyclist, driven off social media by abuse from trolls, said he would not give up on reporting dangerous motorists he captures on his helmet camera.

Speaking to road.cc, Edinburgh-based cyclist Deacon Thurston argued that the "societal acceptance" of anti-cycling attitudes – strikingly evident in the recent campaign against him, which saw one Twitter user invite others to join him on a "hit-and-run" – is a key barrier to coaxing people out of their cars and towards more sustainable modes of transport.
Phone drivers (Twitter/@DeaconThurston)

Thurston began regularly reporting and posting videos of law-breaking drivers on Twitter and YouTube just over a year ago, after being involved in an altercation with a motorist that the police couldn't pursue due to a lack of evidence and witnesses.

"Two days later I became GoPro's newest customer and I've recorded every ride since," he told us.

"I report as much of the bad and dangerous driving to the police as I can possibly manage, the rest has tended to find its way onto Twitter and YouTube to raise awareness of just how widespread this behaviour is."

https://road.cc/content/news/taxi-association-warns-drivers-sneaky-cyclists-299287

eburtthebike | 4058 posts | 45 min ago
7 likes
Staggering self-justification and victim-blaming. Bloody cyclists, always breaking the law themselves but just because I made a perfectly innocent phone call which is illegal and threatens their lives the snotty bastards reported me!

If the warning has the effect of preventing drivers making phone calls, then good. If it has the effect of making drivers even more hostile to cyclists, not so good.

It sounds very much like the LTDA rep has been caught and fined themselves.

"Of course, the cabbie was unknowingly guilty"

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

*big intake of breath*

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa!

Sorry, I was laughing so much I forgot what my point was.

Off the back | 49 posts | 13 min ago
0 likes
Good. Warn them. Every single one of them. Let them know there are people who won't stand for their law breaking behaviour. If you don't like it. DONT BREAK THE F**KING LAW!!

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> Off the back | 49 posts | 13 min ago
> 0 likes
>
> Good. Warn them. Every single one of them. Let them know there are people
> who won't stand for their law breaking behaviour. If you don't like it.
> DONT BREAK THE F**KING LAW!!

Like illegally cycling on the footpath, you mean?

--
Spike

I other words, they use their phone so frequently, how are they supposed to know which offence the police are talking about?

Unknowingly would be, I don't know, parked at the side of the road, believing the engine was switched off when the auto-start cut in, but even then, a professional driver would know that a mistake had been made and correct it, rather than carry on.

This is a variation of "It's not fair, how was I supposed to know there was a speed camera there, those warning signs are there whether there is one or not. I'd have to spend all my time checking my speedo if I knew there were speed cameras around and that can cause accidents!!!!"