A cyclist called out a man for using his phone while driving. Moments later, the driver—who had insisted he could drive safely while on his phone—crashed his car. And the whole thing was caught on the rider’s helmet cam.
The incident, which took place last month on a major road near Glasgow, Scotland, allegedly began when the driver complained that the cyclist was moving too slowly, according to the Scotsman newspaper. The rider, Dave Brennan, then pulled alongside the driver and the two had an argument.
Brennan berated the driver for using his phone while behind the wheel, and the driver countered that he could safely drive and use his phone at the same time.
“It’s people like you that kill people like me,” Brennan told the driver.
Using a phone while driving is indeed against the law in Scotland. It carries a fine of 200 pounds (about $250 USD) and a penalty of six points off the offender’s driving license. Scottish drivers can be banned from the roads if they accrue 12 penalty points in three years.
Per the video, Brennan asked the driver, “Can you drive safely with your mobile phone?” The driver responded, “yes I can,” and added something that sounded like “cyclists think they rule the road” before driving away.
Because of heavy traffic, however, Brennan managed to catch up with the driver not long after the initial exchange. “He’d complained I was previously cycling along at ‘3 mph,’” Brennan told the Scotsman. “So I smiled and waved as I went past, pointing out the fact he was the one now doing 3 mph.”
In a final twist, the driver then accelerated but didn’t hit the brakes in time to stop with traffic, rear-ending the car in front of him. It was a small fender bender, and Brennan told the Scotsman that he didn’t think the driver was using his phone at the moment of impact. Still, it was an ironic end to an argument over road safety and distracted driving.
“I spoke to the two drivers,” Brennan said. “I offered my footage to the driver in front as evidence, but they decided to settle it between them.”
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