Cycling vigilante Adrian Chapmanlaw followed a police car responding to a 999 call through traffic, taking advantage of the space left behind it. Filming himself on YouTube, he claimed his actions were legal since cycling between stationary vehicles is permissible under British law. However, critics argue that such behavior can be dangerous and potentially lead to prosecution for careless or dangerous cycling. The article highlights the public backlash against Chapmanlaw’s perceived arrogance and disregard for road safety norms.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Adrian Chapmanlaw, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Bournemouth, drew criticism for his actions on social media after filming himself following closely behind an unmarked police vehicle responding to an emergency call. When the police car passed through traffic, other drivers pulled over to let it pass, creating a gap in the middle of a busy road. Instead of waiting his turn to rejoin the flow of traffic, Chapmanlaw rode through the stationary cars ahead of him and caught up with the police vehicle. He posted the video on his YouTube channel, Dorset Safer Roads, arguing that he was merely filtering through the queue as there is no cycle lane in the area. Known for filming and criticizing drivers who violate traffic rules, Chapmanlaw's actions have stirred debate over whether they were legal or appropriate.
Written for “Cycling Vigilante Police Follow” on 2026-10-10,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but none of the 2 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 70939: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-10
A cycling vigilante has been criticised for taking advantage of a police car answering a 999 call by following directly behind it after traffic had cleared a path.
asserted
traffic → criticise → path
Adrian Chapmanlaw pulled over to the side of a busy road along with other motorists when the emergency vehicle approached them from behind.
But after it had sped by, the Liberal Democrat councillor made the most of the gap in the middle of the dual carriageway created by the drivers who had parted for the police car.
asserted
who → pull → car
Rather than wait his turn to rejoin the traffic he filmed himself overtaking and undertaking the stationary cars ahead of him and catch up with the emergency vehicle.
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himself → wait → vehicle
Mr Chapmanlaw, who has been described as a pseudo cop for his habit of telling off drivers on their mobile phones, posted the video on his YouTube channel Dorset Safer Roads.
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who → describe → channel
He was pedalling in Bournemouth when he carried out the move that he says was legitimate.
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he → pedal → move
Accompanying his video, Mr Chapmanlaw said: 'When the police part the seas for better filtering.
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police → accompany → filtering
It is always busy here, there's no cycle lane and I always end up filtering through the queue.
'
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I → be → queue
The problem is that people rarely leave space to allow that to happen.
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that → leave → space
So when a police car parted the sea of course I am going to carefully take advantage of that.
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I → part → that
Cycling vigilante Adrian Chapmanlaw uploaded this footage of him taking advantage of the space created by an unmarked police car answering a 999 call - by riding through it
Mr Chapmanlaw is a Liberal Democrat councillor in Bournemouth who has something of a reputation of being loathed by drivers in the area for filming them and uploading their misdemeanours onto his social media pages
'
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who → upload → pages
However, I am not driving a car, I am on a bicycle and filtering is 100 per cent legal.
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filtering → drive → bicycle
The police vehicle just made it easier for me.'
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it → make → me
However, the Home Office guidance states that, while it's not explicitly illegal to ride a bicycle behind a police car on a 999 call, it can easily lead to prosecution for careless or dangerous cycling if your actions put yourself or others at risk.
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actions → state → risk
And many other road users disagreed with Mr Chapmanlaw's actions which have been called 'dangerous'.
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which → disagree → actions
Others called him an 'idiot' who lacked road manners.
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who → call → 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 → say → one
He may not be doing anything illegal but he is tailgating a police car and overtaking and undertaking cars that have cleared the way.
uncertain
that → do → way
'If you were one of those drivers you wouldn't necessarily think to look over your left shoulder to make sure there is nobody coming up from your inside after you have seen the police car go through.'
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car → think → inside
Adam Bennett said: 'Following an emergency vehicle and using that as an opportunity to overtake people is the stupid part, not anticipating that cars will just pull back to where they were originally in the queue is the dangerous part.'
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they → say → queue
Jess McHale said: 'Squeezing in behind an emergency vehicle when cars have moved over to give it space is just stupid.'
Mr Chapmanlaw says he has reported almost 70 drivers to the police for phone use since 2023.
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he → say → 2023
He films his showdowns with angry drivers and pedestrians that he has caught on camera
Bernie Hughes posted in response to seeing the video: 'You talk about safer roads, with you demonstrating how to get run down.
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you → film → roads
If I tried that in a car or a van I'd be arrested.
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I → try → car
Mr Chapmanlaw responded by saying he was riding carefully at the time and was mindful of cars pulling back out into the road.
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cars → respond → road
It is not the first time the elected member of BCP Council has incurred the wrath of motorists with his cycling.
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member → elect → 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.
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he → clash → 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'.
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who → have → points
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.
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he → force → 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.
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He → brag → 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.
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they → accuse → 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.
asserted
he → make → channel
The Aporia
