The company has just shot themselves in the foot with the lawyer's letter bullying trick. Where we might have just seen that as bad driving from an employee, we now have a better idea of what the company itself is like.

The company would have had a big thumbs up if they released a statement that they are dealing with the poor driver in question. Instead they do themselves no favours by sticking up for him and escalating this situation. The company is now causing self-defamation.....in my opinion of course :)

The Company: "cease and desist, take the video down!" Ashley: "so here it is again, the clip in full" Love it, 😂 just because it embarrasses them doesn't make it illegal, quite the opposite.

I'd put money on the driver being the business owner whose ego has just taken a bruising. No intelligent person would go running to give money to a solicitor when all that's needed is an apology and a sharp interview with the driver.

To be honest, I’ve seen this video three times now and I’ve never noticed the logo or sign on the van. This is self defeating by the company drawing attention to themselves, rather than dealing with the problem, they themselves are singling themselves out…

It's incredible that rather than seeing this and disciplining your own employees for behaving badly, the reaction of the company is to try to silence someone pointing it out. I totally agree that there are bad eggs everywhere, but a responsible organisation should deal with these people properly rather than trying to cover up their behaviour to manage the company's reputation. Very poor.

I am a truck driver and been on the road most my life.. The van DEFINITELY swerved at the cyclist and deserves to lose his job and licence. On top of that the company has indeed shot themselves in the foot. They could of turned this story around and stated they have fired the driver in question and offer an apology and explanation on how serious they are about road safety and have policies in place which their employee violated. Instead they try the old strongly worded letter trick with some fancy letterhead with solicitors mentioned in it.

Well, the company definitely shot themselves in the foot here. Instead of people seeing the video and then most likely forgetting about it again, they've now drawn more attention to it. If they would have just kept quiet about it, this whole thing would probably have been forgotten in a short period (I already forgot about that video).

Very good breakdown. I agree and still don't think it was a swerve from the blue van. Either way, he clearly didn't give the cyclist enough room and was breaking the HWC Rules in any event, in my view.

Well done for doubling down, don't be bullied.

First time watching I didn't even notice the van was liveried up. After their response I decided to go frame by frame just to get the company name and see the backlash. How do you own a company, successfully fit and repair boilers for years, but are stupid enough to not see this happening? You know when 90% of PR teams say "an internal investigation will be held and appropriate action taken"... That's the ONLY response needed.

Put it this way. If this driver was working for me, I'd be having a serious "meeting without coffee" and sending them for driver training. I wouldn't get getting the lawyers out...

Good on you for standing up. The proper response to such bullies is, "See you in court."

You have done nothing wrong. They’re trying to cover up a bad employee instead of dealing with the situation properly.

As an ADI who is a cyclist, I am so pleased you intend to stand up for us.

Thanks for sticking up for us vulnerable road users Ashley and not bowing to legal pressure. Will happily donate to a gofundme if it does come to it.

As I posted on Black belt barristers channel alluding to this video, When I drove works vehicles with company logos I was always told “ just remember when you drive our vehicles you a representing our company, do not do anything to tarnish our reputation”

It clearly looks like a threat on the business for the reason they are complaining like it's some newer hierarchy towards people getting away with such reckless behaviour. You're good to stand your ground Ashley i hope it works out for you, reckless driving shouldn't go unchecked. It's life or death, the courts should know this.

I use to drive for a company and if there was a formal complaint from a member of the public or customer, about our behaviour we would be suspended until it was investigated ! But a great company to work for as they supported staff with any problems! 👍

Ride safe and drive safe! It's fantastic that you are always raising awareness of the relationships between different users of the roads. I wish that more road-users would see it this way.

Having been a HGV Driver myself for 20 years in mostly livered vehicles it is drummed into anyone driving thet they represent the company whilst on the road and any interaction with Joe public would be liable to a investigation if raised . This situation makes me feel it's a small business or someone from within the business in a key position trying to use bully boy tactics to lose the video. Stick to your guns Ashley, I'm interested to how this ends up.

The reputation of that company will downgrade fast after this. They better apologise and punish the driver.

You should be a forensic police accident investigator . Your tips on driving has made me rethink my driving position , speed ,forward thinking ect. Many thanks Robert / Edinburgh

I’m really appreciate you seriousness about road safety . Glad I’m not the only one

I love how Ashley did an in depth analysis of the video they told him not to ever replay on any platform at any time lol 😂 ledge Also the van driver was 100% using his vehicle to intimidate that cyclist. That the company had decided to try and cover that up rather than dismiss the employee says it all

Solicitor: Take down the video! Ashley: Hold my beer. Seriously though, well done on doubling down.

Anything that happens in public can be recorded. No laws stopping that at all. The biggest mistake the company made was to not address this properly. This could have been dealt with and forgotten. Now more people get to see it.

I had a guy on a phone overtake a parked car on his side while I was headed towards him ripping of both our mirrors and the parked car mirror. He didn’t stop but sped away at speed through a built up area requiring 30mph maximum speed. White van man indeed he was .

Completely agree. I saw the original, I saw the BBB video in its entirety, and I also emailed the company suggesting they view the video. I didn't leave any negative reviews because... why would I do that? Through all of this, I completely agree that it appears to be deliberate, and I don't believe the swerving-to-avoid-the-blue-van theory holds water. Apart from everything else you've pointed out, everyone drives that close to oncoming traffic in narrow roads and no-one bats an eyelid; it's really not that close at all. The only way I can see it could be a swerve due to the blue van is through distraction leading to surprise and overreaction, which makes it just as bad as a punishment pass. Cyclists know what this is.

A reputable company would take it on the chin and see what good they could take from the situation moving forward ie. driver education.

I am a cyclist as well as an HGV driver. When you froze at the front to front point of the vans, the cyclist is looking right at the van. That tells me there may have been an earlier incident and the cyclist is either saying something or just keeping an eye on a threat. 100% the van driver is acting maliciously. I will happily contribute to a funding page if this goes further.👍

Apart from anything else each time this clip is revisited more road craft lessons are learned 👌 I am happy learning things such as the shadows from vehicles can be utilised and give a greater awareness of the driving environment.

I used to work with an ex-solicitor, she always used to say as a solicitor she would happily send a letter to anyone on any subject as long as it wasn't proposing some sort of illegal action regardless of whether they had a good claim or not. It doesn't mean they would sue but she didn't care as she got paid £100 for 5 minutes work. Besides, people should look up Streisand Effect before threatening KZfaqrs.

Handling how your company appears in a public space is down to the owner, Rather than coming out and apologising we get Streisand effect in action

As ever - a logical, and balanced, assessment with a stepped-through breakdown. Glad to hear that you haven’t agreed to take the video down as you are right, the only way to improve the situation is to identify and educate in instances where drivers should have done better.

I think I recognise the road, and the dialling code on the van means it's a local company. I'll be sure never to use them - not because of the driver's behaviour, any company could employ a bad driver and not know it, but purely because of the company's response to the video.

I'm sorry you are having to defend yourself like this (for simply highlighting bad driving). As a cyclist who has dealt with a number of situations similar to this, I appreciate the support.

Boy this firm has well and truly shot themselves in the foot I never noticed the company logo on the van the first time around but I purposely paused the video to see the name this time and I’m sure many people have now done the same 🤣

I’m a motorist, a pedestrian and a cyclist. And the treatment you receive as a cyclist is sometimes dreadful, most drivers as safe and courteous. I’m not perfect as a cyclist or a driver. But more vulnerable on the bike even when I’m not riding perfect.

100% agree with you. I drive a van and have learnt alot from your videos and changed alot of my own practices. I've always felt that van drivers should have to pass a separate test, just as I did for my minibus licence and as HGV drivers do. Its also amazing how many van drivers think that speed limits for them are the same as for cars and how many don't follow the driver directive.

I haven't left any reviews myself and I won't. But, take the case of Taylor's Landscapes. That driver got out and pushed or punched a cyclist. (The cyclist had used his Hornit during a close pass). The video went viral, reviews were left on Yell, Google etc. and the business folded, all because of a 20 second video. I don't feel sorry for anyone who's business is affected by their own bad behaviour.

Love it, they threaten legal action so you post the video again! My hero! 😁

That is a signature move of looking up from your mobile phone realising the tight situation after the last second. Reflex move when something suddenly comes into your view unexpected.

Good on you Ashley. I can not understand companies like this taking this sort of action instead of dealing with the bad driving of their employee. You Tube took down a video of mine when the company who's driver I caught on dash cam watching his phone driving a 44 tonne truck on the M61, complained. I argued that they were condoning unsafe and illegal driving, but to no avail. I did re-edit it and sent it to several different channels.

Thank you for standing up for cyclists and road safety!

That's a very good way of pointing this out but my opinion still hasn't changed I don't think Mr Neal has done anything wrong never back down from what you believe

The company does itself a disservice in threatening legal action. It makes matters worse, and makes it look even worse than it did to start with.

The company is awfully unaware of the Streisand effect. Suing does more damage to the company image than the driver himself.

Stick to your guns Ashley. This needs to stop, it happens everyday to cyclists 🚴‍♀️ 🙄

Good on you for doubling down and standing up to these bullies. Absolutely the best stance. You've nothing to worry about.

Cease and desist letters can be really stressful. What they ask for is also usually rather excessive. Why can't we all just share the road equally? There are so many media outlets that try to stoke the hate between different types of road user. I think that you've really been fair with this incident. I would accept constructive feedback with any incident that happens. We all develop bad habits when it comes to driving, cycling, riding or walking on the roads. Just have to look at ourselves first before blaming others.

The way almost everyone has responded to this is surely more than enough for this company to get the message to just be humble and apologise or remain silent, move on and let it go. Their ego didn’t allow that to happen sadly.

Good man. You Have to fight it or everyone will claim in future. On a side note, since watching you videos I’m noticing my driving recently is far more flow focused and forgiving of others errors. I’m convinced that what you are doing is important.

Whilst I understand a company trying to protect their reputation, I think they are making an even bigger mistake by taking you to court, one way or another l, the driving by the offending van driver is atrocious, they should have just acknowledged that fact and left it at that. Also, well done for sticking to your principles Ashley, many would have crumbled at the sight of a solicitors letter.

Great video- highlighting such poor driving instances should help to keep more people safe

What i love about Ashley is that he's got BALLS! and will stand by his opinions. Others would roll over like a lap dog and do as they are told.

And the company have brought bad advertisement on themselves by their actions.

Well done Ashley. I would be quiet happy to donate to a legal fund if it goes that far.

The fascinating thing about this is that i had to pause and zoom the video to actually read the name on the van. It's not like it was obvious. So in pursuing a legal case the owner/driver of the van has probably attracted a lot of attention that he/she would otherwise have never got.

I concur with your assessment, Ashley. The Van that made the move was in virtually the SAME lane position as the car in front of them, and that car is the same width as the van (yet did not need to make any movement toward the cyclist or away from any of the oncoming vehicles as the mirrors were probably 40-50cm apart and in no danger of striking). In the first frame where the van appears to be initiating the movement, based on shadows and vehicle lengths, the front bumpers had most likely already passed each other and if a driver is so unsure of the width of their vehicle on the driver's side (!) they certainly are requiring some remedial training so as to be safer on the road. I know the width of the box truck that I drive for work, including the mirror clearances, and if I was unsure of being able to squeeze between the cyclist and the oncoming vehicle, I would simply have slowed down early to allow a slight movement in the direction AWAY from the cyclist (the other cars and vans would be able to see my move and the vast majority would do what they could to assist in giving me the extra room for the cyclist's safety. Cheers from BC Canada.

Love your channel Ashley, it's helped me improve my driving immensely. Never back down to this kind of legal bullying. Keep up the amazing work

I agree you shouldn't be bullied into removing the video. UK defamation laws are pretty weird from my understanding but this seems like a stretch to call it defamation. I also agree it was a punishment maneuver to scare the cyclist.

Possibility:- The van driver was not paying attention and was shocked when he saw the oncoming van so close. It may not have been deliberate, and over reacted. Just an alternative explanation.

That's hilarious. As I posted on the original video, I can think of a few reasons why this swerve may not have been "an attack" on the cyclist. But none of those reasons can actually defend the driving seen here. Negligence, incompetence, or violence... It's still a display of poor driving.

I never cease to be amazed at the stupidity of drivers of liveried up vehicles.

I lost count of van drivers being buttholes on the road, towards me or other road users. Like you said in another video and I quote, ''Keep talking yourself into shit'' and the comments will state the obvious anyway: that van swerved towards the cyclist. Like you said, this attitude has to stop. Let them sue you, and watch the judge throw the highway book at them. If it's a case of the van driver suddenly getting spooked at the last nano second because of a lack of space, and that's what they're saying, then the van driver should have stayed behind the bike. Smells like a company had to deal with some social network backlash and loss of custom..... (side note, I do have a video of a lorry overtaking a cyclist inside a blind turn, over a white line and expecting me to go off the road to avoid a collision.)

This is just a judgement based on what I can see on the screen. Using the width of the white line being around 4" (100mm if you like), I think the width between the two van is at least 32" (2'8" if you like), maybe more. The wing mirrors don't stick out that much showing that there was no danger of a collision of wing mirrors. Perhaps it requires a more careful check and using other frames, but I would say there was no need to swerve his van at all. As the old saying goes "You could get a bus through there." Just my opinion, Ashley, but you might want to check that further.

Again I haven't seen the original video so thankyou for putting it up again. The company in question should take a look at your clips and explanation and then discipline the driver of the van. A poor response from the company in question. Keep up the good work Ashley

I downloaded the video and did the same analysis of the space between the vans at the point the swerve occurred. There seems to be ample space between them, even accounting for the wing mirrors, so no need to swerve at all on that front. The company website is impressive and gives the impression of a large organisation, but someone else mentioned that if you look at the listing on Companies House, it seems quite small... possibly even just a husband and wife team. If so, then it's likely the driver is also the owner, and that may go some way to explaining why they went straight to the lawyers... basically, there would be no one higher up to take the driver aside and have a word, and a fragile ego has been damaged. But whatever the situation, it's a stellar example of how *_not_* to handle things. Black Belt Barrister's video was excellent, and it would seem all of the claims are unfounded nonsense. They will hopefully get laughed out of court.

Easy defence Ash! Hope you get your legal fees covered: 1) Truth; the van driver may admit to intentionally swerving 2) Not Reckless Disregard for the truth; you didn't know for certain that it wasn't intentional 3) Opinion: You quite clearly stated "I think [the swerve] was intentional So that's 3 affirmative defenses getting easier to prove down the list. Another point that might be worth highlighting, the van driver also appears to turn their head and reposition their hands in a way that seems intentional not reactionary: at 2:00 in the zoomed in section, we see the van drivers face stop being illuminated - indicating that it has turned toward the nearside and the cyclist - assuming illumination through the windscreen is minimal compared to the more proximate door window; second the hands reposition to the offside of the steering wheel - showing a preparation for a nearside maneuver (colloquially, getting ready to yank the wheel left). A reactionary maneuver, while done in this order by a well trained and competent driver, would not necessitate the hand repositioning.

I watched the Black Belt Barrister video yesterday; really interesting. The correct decision is to fight this one, though suspect many others wouldn't

Many years before I was a motorist, I was a cyclist and pedestrian every day. I take extra care to make sure the road is safe around them when I'm driving. The driver of the van clearly needed to chill out.

Ash, do please consider a gofundme or something like that if it comes to it. We are all interested in road safety, and ultimately we want to support you in your mission to improve road safety and improve communication around driving standards. If you do need some paid for legal representation you can always donate the leftover, or all of it assuming you can recover costs, to a suitable motoring charity.

Good on you for sticking up for what is right. I don’t back down to bullies ever!

I watched this a few times...I don't think it was a great cyclist overtake by the Van driver, but I don't believe it was a punishment swerve. He waited until he felt he was clear of the cyclist (I think he was just past) and swerved fearing a mirror collision with the van opposite. I think the cyclist didn't react because the van had passed him before swerving in. So although you are right about it being bad driving and not making proper allowance for the cyclist...I would loose/remove the punishment swerve aspects of this one. I certainly wouldn't had overtaken the cyclist if I had been in the van and would have held back until the hazard was passed.

I think it's a good idea to document the legal process here. You focus on road safety. Legal topics fit too. I appreciate the way you do it. You don't show the sign of the company in this clip, you don't want to escalate, you want to educate. I've learnt that doing nothing often really is the best option. In that case doing nothing would have been the best option for the company that sues you now. If I were the owner of that company I would have talked to the driver. Technically it could be that the driver was distracted and than got scared by the car on the other side of the road, reacted really badly and didn't even notice the cyclist. After the talk I would have reached out to you, only asking politely to censor the sign of the company.

Good on you Ash, says a lot about that company if they’re threatening to sue you though

It won’t go to court. All huff and puff that is only a bluff…..

I'll support you Ashley as you did nothing wrong, and your videos have been immensely helpful to me and helps open our eyes to the realities and dangers of bad driving.

If I was the MD I'd be ashamed and horrified at this - Fair play to you Ashley for not backing down - You shouldn't have needed to seek legal advice on this - if this goes further we have your back !

If it wasn't deliberately, which i doubt, then perhaps the driver was looking at his cellphone, looked up, saw the blue van, got a fright and jerked the steering wheel to the left?

Sheer intimidation both the incident and the management reaction, the owner of the company has shot himself in the foot with the bad publicity , was he the driver? The proper reaction should have been an apology and a quiet word in the drivers ear.

Ash, check the description on this vid - typo mate ;) (we all do them) In that first frame when the van dips, it looks like the van driver uncrosses his hands. Speculation: did he have his phone in his hand, both hands at 12'oclock on the steering wheel, and he "woke up" and thought the blue van was closer than it was? Might not be a punishment swerve, but it is an alternative (and still the white van driver would then have to admit to holding his phone, which as we all know, is also illegal).

I love how instead of taking the video down, you make another video to make them even more known. They could have made an apology but instead of that they doubled down.

I wonder if the driver of the van is the company owner and hasn't taken your criticism well.

Surely the Company should be Disciplining the Driver rather than persecuting you Ashley for showing bad driving. Unless the van driver was the company Owner/director then they should be ashamed of themselves. Keep the good work on improving driving standards Ashley.

Good luck to you. Agree it's abysmal driving, whether it was done deliberately or not.

The alleged swerving driver appears to have started his alleged swerve just as the other van passes him, but doesn't appear to be swerving to avoid the van.

I've seen this when I'm on the road quite a few times and each time they were obviously using a mobile phone!

Hi Ashley well done for sticking to your guns. Although I would say that the company has now crossed the line from being an innocent party affected by their bad driver, to now supporting the driver and becoming complicit in supporting his dangerous and illegal behaviour. So I personally would never use this company and I imagine many others wouldn't as well.

Nice one Ashley. Watched Black Belt Barrister on this one. Great video from the expert. You should and I am sure you already have sought legal advice and hopefully you’ll see them in court soon One of the things I recall about the video was that there was a child in the Van. Now I would say as you did what kind of a message is that giving to a child? To me it shouts it’s okay to react physically and dangerously on the road to other road users. This stuff stays with you from childhood and how many of us would have seen our parents do this and hence (no matter that we are now grown up and licensed to drive) might that seem to legitimate such actions from ourselves?

I watched the analysis on Black belt barrister's channel. There's a lot of points the company would have a hard job providing evidence of. They're just making a mountain out of a mole hill by trying to sue you. They should of just said "Thank you for making us aware of the driver's behaviour, we'll be looking into some driver education". Fair play to you for sticking by your original analysis of the video and not giving into unreasonable demands.

Good on you Ashley. Bullies should never get away with bullying. As you said, regardless of what happened, it was AWFUL driving and SHOULD be called out. And if the other side want to argue it, that's a bully trying to get away with bullying.

While I think you are completely in the right for both your assessment of the situation and refusal to take down the footage I would perhaps advise saying nothing further to avoid accidentally contradicting yourself or giving similar leverage points to a lawyer should it go to court (slim chance but you never know). Think of it sort of like the advice you have given to yourself many times about not further antagonising situations by engaging in discussion with idiots, sometimes it's better just not to say anything.

That did my head in a bit - I use that bit of road myself!

Perfect example of the "streisand effect". I didn't really see or noticed the company name on the van when watching the original clip, now I do!

Ashley, you seem to be in the clear here, good luck with whatever is thrown at you and keep on teaching, you've helped change a lot of bad drivers into great and respecable ones. Keep up your good work.

Does the van have a notice on the back saying, "How's My Driving?". I suspect not. My advice to the company is to discontinue the legal matter. Reason? There's a high risk it'll go pear-shaped for them once word gets round. Basically, business could be lost!

It's always preferable to give the benefit of the doubt, but looking at it from step back is hard to defend, particularly how they've reacted rather than just a 'oh yeah he had a split second lapse of concentration and thought the van was way closer than it was' or something.

Black belt barrister made a very important point in his video. This incident looks very different depending on the size of screen you watch it on.