A video showing a road rage incident between a moped rider and a furious motorist who repeatedly shouts his own name has gone viral on social media.
The clip was recorded by Steve Midz on his helmet camera as he rode his moped around Hull. It shows a motorist, the now infamous Ronnie Pickering, angrily accusing Midz of causing a traffic hold-up.
As their paths cross again on a side road, the driver pulls alongside the moped rider and proceeds to berate him in no uncertain terms. Midz seems baffled by the vitriol, only able to get in the occasional "why?" amid the ranting.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
The altercation then takes an unexpected turn as the irate driver pulls out a move straight from the book of celebrity divas. "Do you know who I am?" he demands. Midz confesses that he does not know the true identity of the middle-aged Citroen Xsara driver.
The key exchange runs like this:
Midz: "Go on, who are you then"
Pickering: "Ronnie Pickering"
Midz: "Who?"
Pickering: "Ronnie Pickering"
Midz: "Who?"
Pickering: "Ronnie Pickering!"
Midz: "Who the f**k's that?"
Pickering: "Yeah. Me"
Midz: "Oh. Brilliant."
The bemused moped driver then asks. "Are you famous or something?"
The "Ronnie Pickering" moment set the clip aside from the hundreds of road rage videos available online, and immediately started gathering steam on social media. The clip was shared by thousands on Facebook and Twitter, and – predictably – users couldn't resist transforming the bizarre encounter into memes.
Amused viewers got creative with the clip, resulting in gems like this James Bond mashup, a tongue-in-cheek scoop from Channel 4, Spider-Pickering, and a Jar of Hearts remix:
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"84911","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"84912","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]
Comedian Jack Whitehall chimed in with his own gag on the evening of the 'blood moon':
Ronnie Pickering himself has emerged to give his side of the story, telling the Daily Mirror that the video painted him as a "monster" when he was provoked by Midz's poor driving. "That just is not me," the grandfather-of-five said. "I am an easy-going guy who does not go around bothering people."
Watch the original viral clip below.
Warning: strong language.
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"84913","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]
