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Driver says Liverpool cyclist took a "chunk" out of his car when he parked across cycle lane

Accuses cyclist of being ‘pedantic’ and said he could have cycled round him

A man from Devon has accused a cyclist of taking a ‘chunk’ out of his BMW during a trip to Liverpool. Keith Crewe had parked across a cycle lane on a quiet city road, but refused to move for the cyclist who reportedly scratched the car with a pedal in response.

Dash cam footage of the incident has been published on the Liverpool Echo website.

Keith Crewe, who had travelled to Liverpool from Devon for a family funeral, says he had permission to park his car across the bike lane so that he could load his bags after staying at the Richmond Hotel.

The cyclist who pulls up behind is clearly unhappy with this and won’t ride round the car. He instead picks up his bike and walks onto the pavement, at which point he is said to have deliberately damaged the car.

Crewe said: “There’s a chunk out of the driver side bumper, and there’s a load of scratches. The car is only three years old and I think it’s going to be quite expensive because it’s going to need to be resprayed.

“We’d had a lovely time in Liverpool, it’s a fantastic city and we’d caught up with some family, but this did put a downer on it. As a cyclist myself I appreciate the difficulties of cycling in a busy city and the use of cycle lanes. I also think as fellow road users, we should show some common sense in sharing a road.

“The chap in this video clip could easily have rode around us as there were no cars in a very quiet street on a Sunday morning. Instead, he chose to be pedantic about the use of the cycle lane before purposely getting off his bike and causing damage to our car when he knocked his pedal and scraped along the bumper.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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67 comments

Avatar
mathcore | 6 years ago
3 likes

legit or not from the cyclist? one thing is sure , the bmw driver learned his lesson and I'm sure he will never park in a cycle lane again

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DaveE128 | 6 years ago
6 likes

No loading lines on the kerb, clear signs saying "no loading at any time", double yellows and a mandatory cycle lane, yet this seems common outside this hotel:

https://goo.gl/maps/6gpW7W2FJkS2

https://goo.gl/maps/x85xANZhKFR2

What is needed is some enforcement of the law, and soime education of the hotel staff who would seem to think they have authority to authorise breaking the law (based on mention of "permission" and the two cars in Google Street View. Tweet the relevant police force?

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DaveE128 | 6 years ago
0 likes

@merseypolice ?

@Merseysidersp ?

@MerPolTraffic ?

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ClubSmed | 6 years ago
7 likes

"[Mr Crewe says] he was given permission to briefly park his car across the bike lane"

The only authority that could have given him permission to park like this is the council. He would have had to have applied to the council months before and they would have had to display temporary removal of parking restriction notices around the street in question prior to the event. If this had happened I would be wanting a full investigation as to Mr Crewe's involvement into his family members death as to plan that far in advance for a funeral is very suspicious!

 

"[the cyclist] repeatedly insisting he moves the car. When Mr Crewe refuses, the cyclist can be heard scratching the car with the pedal of his bike as he walks off carrying it."

“[Mr Crewe says] The chap in this video clip could easily have rode around us as there were no cars in a very quiet street on a Sunday morning.”

 

As the road is one way, but the cycle lane is bi-directional, the cyclist is travelling legally but as soon as he leaves the cycle lane he would be travelling illegally as he would be going the wrong way down a one way street. Instead it seems that he chose to legally carry or push his bike past, the only option given to him due to Mr Crewe's refusal to move.

 

*Caveat: I have not watched the video as it is no longer available, I am just going off the report and the details available of the road restrictions

Avatar
brooksby replied to mathcore | 6 years ago
1 like

mathcore wrote:

legit or not from the cyclist? one thing is sure , the bmw driver learned his lesson and I'm sure he will never park in a cycle lane again

I disagree: the bmw driver still thinks he's the wronged party, and will go on to do exactly the same thing next time 

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
2 likes

brooksby wrote:

mathcore wrote:

legit or not from the cyclist? one thing is sure , the bmw driver learned his lesson and I'm sure he will never park in a cycle lane again

I disagree: the bmw driver still thinks he's the wronged party, and will go on to do exactly the same thing next time 

 

Though, if he found it happening regularly whenever he parked there, he almost certainly would become more inclined to find somewhere else, regardless of whether he considered himself wronged or not.  There's no shortage of evidence that that's what would happen, as its what happens in any number of other situations (most notably with people's willingness to cycle on roads).

 

True, a one-off would probably not make any difference, especially if he manages to have the perpetrator punished for it in some way.

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brooksby replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 6 years ago
3 likes

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

brooksby wrote:

mathcore wrote:

legit or not from the cyclist? one thing is sure , the bmw driver learned his lesson and I'm sure he will never park in a cycle lane again

I disagree: the bmw driver still thinks he's the wronged party, and will go on to do exactly the same thing next time 

 

Though, if he found it happening regularly whenever he parked there, he almost certainly would become more inclined to find somewhere else, regardless of whether he considered himself wronged or not.  There's no shortage of evidence that that's what would happen, as its what happens in any number of other situations (most notably with people's willingness to cycle on roads).

 

True, a one-off would probably not make any difference, especially if he manages to have the perpetrator punished for it in some way.

Maybe, but some folks won't learn the lesson no matter how many times you hit them with the learnin' stick  3

Avatar
Boatsie | 6 years ago
0 likes

Dude's a dick! No traffic, Sunday, loading bags. Sad with loss. Knowing the addiction of physical effort is felt with cyclists; surely riding around and savoring such effort towards further down the road with something more constructive would be of greater benefit.
I'm enjoying life too! I destroyed a mobile phone saving a dragon fly from drowning.
Seeing he refused to move indicates that a conversation had preceded the incident, the driver lost family hence give him a break, the road is quiet. Best wishes sir

Love ya video above. Lol

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tarquin_foxglove | 6 years ago
1 like

"Doesn't give the cyclist the right to (allegedly) damage the car.

Correct, but what the hell else could he do? "

Make his own video, like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

Avatar
burtthebike replied to tarquin_foxglove | 6 years ago
1 like

tarquin_foxglove wrote:

"Doesn't give the cyclist the right to (allegedly) damage the car.

Correct, but what the hell else could he do? "

Make his own video, like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

Great vid, but has it changed anything?  Are the cycle lanes in NY suddenly free of obstructions?  Do the police book anyone who parks in a cycle lane?  I suspect not.

Whereas tens of thousands of drivers will have seen this case because the aggrieved driver was stupid enough to publicise it, and are much less likely to park in a cycle lane for fear of getting a scratch on their prize posession.

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burtthebike | 6 years ago
3 likes

How about some radical redefining of the law to really encourage drivers not to park in cycle lanes? 

I was thinking of a law which mandated that a cyclist passing a car parked in a cycle lane was obliged to scratch it on at least three panels.  Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by community service of booking illegally parked cars for ten hours.

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gawl07 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Two wrongens don't make a right

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Russell Orgazoid | 6 years ago
8 likes

The cam footage shows insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing by the cyclist.

Not so funny now, is it car drivers?

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cyclist13 | 6 years ago
1 like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsT1GHhQDxc

 

this is the route from the begining  the hotel is on the left  with 2 parked cars outside it in the cycle lane

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Podc | 6 years ago
4 likes

I suspect that the clip of the car with the pedal was not deliberate. I know when I bump a bike up a kerb at an angle, the rear wheel sometimes skips sideways. I suspect he gave the necessary room but the wheel kicked off the kerb and the pedal caught the illegally parked car. Just an accident  1 and no-one was hurt  3

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Pudsey Pedaller replied to Podc | 6 years ago
4 likes
Podc wrote:

I suspect that the clip of the car with the pedal was not deliberate. I know when I bump a bike up a kerb at an angle, the rear wheel sometimes skips sideways. I suspect he gave the necessary room but the wheel kicked off the kerb and the pedal caught the illegally parked car. Just an accident  1 and no-one was hurt  3

Not true. Many drivers have developed a symbiotic relationship with their vehicle in which they feel what their car 'feels'. That's why you see instances where drivers get really upset after a cyclist hits the side of the vehicle which is being driven well within arms reach of a cyclist.

Unless you believe some drivers are placing their property above the well-being of other human beings? Surely that can't be true?

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
2 likes

Next time the cops pull me over when I'm cycling on the hard shoulder I'm going to drag this shit up.

because out of the two, cycling on the hard shoulder is a damn sight less dangerous than being forced into a lane of speeding motor traffic because some twat is parked unlawfully causing an obstruction.

But you won't have it and thus by doing so are in breach of your sworn oath by being bias and discriminative.

Plod are fucking bent. 

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antigee | 6 years ago
2 likes

"......there were no cars in a very quiet street on a Sunday morning...."

but like the many drivers who routinely pavement park he chose to block the cycle lane rather than possibly disrupt the flow of traffic 

anger management for the cyclist and a parking penalty in the post for the driver?

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Hirsute | 6 years ago
9 likes

Saw this elsewhere and wax amazed at the number of comments by people who had no idea what a mandatory cycle lane is.

Typical driver entitlement to park where the heck they want and stuff anyone else because walking 50m is a bit much for them.

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Bluebug replied to Hirsute | 6 years ago
5 likes
hirsute wrote:

Saw this elsewhere and wax amazed at the number of comments by people who had no idea what a mandatory cycle lane is.

Typical driver entitlement to park where the heck they want and stuff anyone else because walking 50m is a bit much for them.

Actually the hotel is at fault.

They know guests will have heavy luggage so should have arranged with the council to put it a couple of proper drop-off points for taxis and cars on the road.

Oh and both guys involved are dicks though I hope the bike pedal isn't damaged.

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Toxmarz | 6 years ago
9 likes

Didn't really have permission from anyone able to grant permission. More like someone said you can get away with it and that was what you wanted to hear because it was convenient for you

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zero_trooper | 6 years ago
0 likes

Who get's buried on a Sunday?
Is this some tie-in with Easter?

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Legs_Eleven_Wor... | 6 years ago
8 likes

Can we have a crowdfunding page set up to pay for a case of beer for the cyclist?

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The Gavalier | 6 years ago
6 likes

“We’d had a lovely time in Liverpool” - what, at the funeral? #anythingforafreelunch

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don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
7 likes

It's only a car, mate.

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velodinho | 6 years ago
7 likes

"As a cyclist myself I appreciate the difficulties of cycling in a busy city and the use of cycle lanes."

Really?

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davel | 6 years ago
8 likes

Well done Keith Crewe, winner of entitled jessie, March 2018. And you whinged to the press too.

Take a bow, son.

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OldRidgeback | 6 years ago
2 likes

Dick, meet Dick.

The cyclist would've done better to take a photo of the car and post it to the local cops.

 

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Exup replied to OldRidgeback | 6 years ago
5 likes

OldRidgeback wrote:

Dick, meet Dick.

The cyclist would've done better to take a photo of the car and post it to the local cops.

 

 

The cops don't do anything. Look at all the close passes in this column. I reported a very dangerous pass and nothing happened.

 

Cyclists today are demonised (remember the chap who killed the young lady and was convicted using very iffy courct arguments and crap police 'evidence').

 

This and the high risk of injury by morons, is possibly (?) one reason why cycling seems to have peaked and be declining again.

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Legs_Eleven_Wor... replied to OldRidgeback | 6 years ago
1 like

OldRidgeback wrote:

Dick, meet Dick.

The cyclist would've done better to take a photo of the car and post it to the local cops.

 

 

See the Deregulation Act 2015. 

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