BBC star Jeremy Vine comes under fire for shaming a ‘bad pedestrian’

BBC star Jeremy Vine has today come under fire for his cycling – after he tried to shame a walker he branded a ‘bad pedestrian ‘ on a busy London street.

The Radio 2 presenter, 56, tweeted video of a young lady walking out in front of him – as he yelled: ‘Oh! Watch out’.

Vine – like many other cyclists – attaches cameras to his helmet when he is on his bike to capture the journey as well as what he considers to be bad driving and walking.

He wrote: ‘I know there are bad drivers and bad cyclists, but is there any such thing as bad pedestrians?

But scores of followers challenged him over the footage on social media.

One told him: ‘You should have been observant enough to see her and react accordingly.’ Another suggested he should have used his bell, adding, ‘You do have a bell?’

And Vine told a third to ‘shove off’ when he suggested the cyclist was going too fast.

The footage – from Vine’s helmet camera – was apparently filmed on Oxford Street this week and has since been viewed more than 29,000 times.

It focuses on the moment the woman steps out into the path of his bike.

But one eagle-eyed safety campaigner believes the ‘green man’ is in favour of pedestrians by the time Vine completes the crossing- moments before the near-miss.

Sarah Gayton, from the National Federation of the Blind UK, says the film suggests pedestrians don’t have enough time to navigate the crossing and wants Transport for London and the Met Police to investigate

Married father of two Vine, 56, has been cycling in the capital for over 10- years and is a campaigner for safer travel for cyclists on Britain’s roads.

Vine shot his video while he was cycling down Oxford Street, one of London’s busiest roads

The broadcaster took the time and effort to shame this woman online, attracting criticism

He had a lucky escape in February when a car swerved to overtake and narrowly missed him.

He later said it was ‘the closest I’ve come to dying on my bicycle’.

Thursday’s (April 14) footage and comment met with a mixed response form his thousands of followers.

Some supported his comments but one said: ‘Too fast. No time to anticipate. One more bad cyclist based on that.’

A second wrote: ‘As a driver I slow down where there may be an unexpected problem like a pedestrian stepping out. Errr why don’t cyclists?

Another posted: ‘The problem for pedestrians in places such as your video is that nobody lets them cross so they have to take a chance. I guess they are also unaware of the possibility of cyclists on the inside.’

And a woman, who described herself as a pedestrian who walks Oxford Circus daily, added: ‘I am extremely cautious of cyclists speeding on the inside and not stopping at red lights.

‘Only this week I had a very near miss with a non stopping cyclist at Oxford Circus junction, giving cyclists a bad name.’

Ms Gayton, Street Access Campaign Co-ordinator for the NFBUK added ‘Blind and visually impaired pedestrians rely on the rotating cone underneath the pedestrian control box to cross the road.

‘It is dangerous if any vehicle, bus, lorry, car or bike is moving or stationery on the pedestrian crossing when the green man phase is on.

‘I am very worried about the timings of the pedestrian crossings at this location.

‘Jeremy is first seen going through the crossing when the pedestrians have a red light, however seconds later, after crossing the junction, the next phase of the pedestrian crossing changes to a green man to allow pedestrians to cross the road.

‘However the crossing is blocked by a bus.

‘ It would appear that there is not enough time for a cyclist or a vehicle to go through the traffic light sequence before they change in favour of the pedestrian.

‘TfL and the MET need to urgently review the full video of what happened and to reassess the timing of the traffic light sequence at this junction to ensure this does not happen again.’