A cycling campaigner has faced criticism after riding directly behind a police car responding to a 999 call, using the route motorists had cleared for the emergency vehicle.
Adrian Chapmanlaw moved to the side of a busy road with other drivers when the police vehicle approached from behind.
Once the police car had passed, however, the Liberal Democrat councillor took advantage of the open space along the centre of the dual carriageway created by the traffic giving way.
Instead of waiting for the vehicles to return to the queue, he filmed himself passing the stationary cars on both sides before catching up with the emergency vehicle.
Mr Chapmanlaw, who has earned the nickname “pseudo cop” because he confronts drivers using mobile phones, later shared the footage on his YouTube channel, Dorset Safer Roads.
He was cycling in Bournemouth when he made the manoeuvre, which he insists was lawful.
In a caption accompanying the video, Mr Chapmanlaw wrote: “When the police part the seas for better filtering. It is always busy here, there’s no cycle lane and I always end up filtering through the queue.
“The problem is that people rarely leave space to allow that to happen. So when a police car parted the sea, of course I am going to carefully take advantage of that.”
Cycling campaigner Adrian Chapmanlaw shared footage of himself riding through the gap created by an unmarked police car responding to a 999 call.
The video shows him following the route cleared by the police vehicle and passing drivers who had moved aside to let it through.
Mr Chapmanlaw is a Liberal Democrat councillor in Bournemouth and has developed a reputation among local drivers for recording alleged motoring offences and posting the footage on social media.
“If I was in a car, it 100 per cent would be [illegal]. However, I am not driving a car, I am on a bicycle and filtering is 100 per cent legal. The police vehicle just made it easier for me.”
However, Home Office guidance says that although cycling behind a police car responding to a 999 call is not specifically prohibited, the behaviour could result in prosecution for careless or dangerous cycling if it places the rider or other road users at risk.
Several motorists rejected Mr Chapmanlaw’s interpretation of the incident, describing the move as dangerous. Others labelled him an “idiot” and accused him of showing poor road manners.
A spokesman for the campaign group Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) & Dorset Motorists said: “He acts like he is a pseudo cop and now he thinks he can ride like one.
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“He may not be doing anything illegal, but he is tailgating a police car and passing cars on both sides after they have cleared the way. It is complete arrogance.
“If you were one of those drivers, you would not necessarily think to look over your left shoulder to check that nobody was approaching from inside after you had seen the police car pass.”
Adam Bennett said: “Following an emergency vehicle and using it as an opportunity to overtake is the stupid part. Failing to anticipate that cars will move back into their original positions in the queue is the dangerous part.”
Jess McHale said: “Squeezing in behind an emergency vehicle after cars have moved aside to create space is just stupid.”
Mr Chapmanlaw says he has reported almost 70 drivers to police for using their phones since 2023. He also records confrontations with angry motorists and pedestrians captured on camera.
Bernie Hughes posted in response to seeing the video: ‘You talk about safer roads, with you demonstrating how to get run down. If I tried that in a car or a van I’d be arrested.’
Mr Chapmanlaw responded by saying he was riding carefully at the time and was mindful of cars pulling back out into the road.
It is not the first time the elected member of BCP Council has incurred the wrath of motorists with his cycling.
He has repeatedly clashed with drivers over issues of not giving him enough room while overtaking his bike and tailgating him when he deliberately rides in the middle of the lane.
He has also had rows with drivers for parking on yellow lines and regularly calls people who park in zig-zags lines at crossing points ‘scumbags’.
Last year Mr Chapmanlaw was forced to apologise for accidentally filming children while he tried to catch motorists parking illegally outside a primary school in Bournemouth.
He has bragged about getting dozens of drivers in trouble by submitting videos of minor traffic offences to the police’s Operation Snap initiative.
He has been accused of deliberately trying to antagonise motorists to provoke conflict and make his YouTube videos more interesting so they get more clicks.
Several complaints to BCP Council have been made by people alleging that Mr Chapmanlaw’s behaviour is not becoming of an elected councillor.
But each time they are rejected on the basis he is acting in his own time while making videos for his YouTube channel.
