Five-year-old cycling in the middle of the road causes huge debate after near miss with car
An impassioned debate has erupted on social media after a parent shared a video of their five-year-old child cycling down the road before being narrowly missed by a car.
Watch the clip below:
The child's dad can be heard chastising a driver for not stopping as he cycles behind his son while traveling in Kingston, south-west London.
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The video was uploaded by the child's father, who goes by @azb2019 on Twitter, who tagged broadcaster and well-known cycling advocate Jeremy Vine in the tweet.
"How can we expect parents to let their kids ride to school if this is how their neighbours drive towards them?" the dad wrote. "He's five by the way and this is 100m from his home."
Vine re-shared the video, who later discussed the situation on The Jeremy Vine Show, on Twitter and asked his followers for their response.
"Take a look at this video of a five-year-old cycling to school. He's being recorded by his dad behind," he tweeted on Tuesday (8 November). Look at how close this car approaches the child.
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"Who is in the wrong?
"Is it the five-year old, or is it the driver of the Ford?
"Let us know what you think."
Bromsgrove MP and a former Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, decided to weigh in on the discussion and put the blame on the child's father.
"The 5-year old's father," he responded.
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Vine then quote-tweeted Javid's response, writing: "I mustn't respond
I mustn't respond
I mustn't respond".
Social media was divided by the video, with some Twitter users also agreeing with Javid while others thought the driver should have stopped.
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"Sajid is correct I’m afraid Jeremy," one Twitter user replied.
Another commented: "The father, who seems to be wanting to impart a message to his child to ignore his innate sense of danger even when the danger is quite obviously present."
While a third said: ""The little one clearly saw the car as a potential hazard and said ‘should I pull over to the side?’ The father saying ‘no carry on’ suggests that he was the danger here too. Safety and self preservation should always come first. You can always argue about rights of way later."
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However one woman came out in support of the dad, writing: "The driver, 100 percent.
"Blaming the fact that the kid is on the road (bikes belong on the road, the kid is clearly steady and riding at speed without training wheels - he's road-worthy) is like blaming a girl for wearing a skirt or blaming her dad for letting her out in a skirt."
Most recently, the Highway Code was updated in January to give more priority to cyclists. The 'hierarchy of road users' means drivers could face £200 fines and six points on their licence if they don't follow the rules.
Since cyclists and pedestrians are now prioritised, drivers will have more responsibility to watch out for people cycling, walking or riding a horse, and cyclists will have more responsibility to be aware of pedestrians.
Drivers must leave a minimum distance of at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists, and to give way to pedestrians waiting to cross roads at junctions.
And cyclists are encouraged to keep to the middle of the lane on quiet streets, in slow moving traffic and where approaching junctions or road narrowings would make it unsafe for motorists to overtake them.
What do you think?
Gregory Robinson