Richmond Row motorcycle stunt driver upsets witnesses, merchants

Richmond Row motorcycle stunt Video posted to social media shows a motorcycle driver standing on the moving bike in front of police. CTV London’s Bryan Bicknell explains.

Witnesses are reacting with disdain after a motorcyclist was seen standing on a motorcycle while driving down Richmond Row on Saturday.

The stunt was captured on video and posted to social media site Reddit.

Steve Walmsley, manager of Running Room on Richmond Street, didn’t have to see the video because he saw the incident with his own eyes.

“So I saw the motorcycle pull up in between the two cars at the red light,” explains Walmsley. “He was standing up on the motorcycle. He proceeded to just blow right through the red light. Top speed. No regard for any other traffic that was going through.”

Even more shocking is that police officers can be seen in the video on both sides of Richmond Street.

However, it’s not clear whether they even noticed the motorcycle driver because they appeared to take no action.

Witness Bob Wilcox, who took the video, called the stunt “flagrantly selfish behaviour.” But, he said he’s not judging police in this case.

“You know I think that the police are heavily inundated with just endless amounts of drama, and there’s certainly not enough officers in the area to take care of all these different peoples’ needs,” he tells CTV News London.

The incident turned heads on Richmond Row, but it’s also gotten the attention of the motorcycling community, especially those in the business of promoting safety.

“Total disregard for the safety of everybody, whether it’s pedestrians, people operating motorcycles, people operating cars, just everybody,” says Gord Inglis.

The owner of Inglis Cycle Centre is part of the Canada Safety Council and a motorcycle driving instructor at Fanshawe College. He was upset when shown the video by CTV News London.

“You have insurance rates are going up. We have had some accidents on motorcycles this year, as well as automobiles and that. We have to operate this stuff in a safe manner,” he adds.

The London Police Service was unavailable to comment on the video.

As for eyewitness Steve Walmsley, he says he’s none too impressed by such stunts, whether it’s downtown or elsewhere.

“It boggles my mind that people do things like that,” he says.