James May is pushing back against the idea that social media platforms should bear the blame for dangerous driving behavior. The former Top Gear host argues that genuine car enthusiasts actually despise the reckless videos circulating on platforms like TikTok.
Fatal crash prompts debate
The discussion was sparked by a deadly crash on the British A66 motorway. A Volkswagen Passat drove against the flow of traffic and collided head-on with an armored police vehicle. Seven people were killed, including two police officers.
One of the Passat’s occupants had previously posted videos online showing reckless driving during police chases. He also followed accounts involved in cop-baiting and joyriding. Earlier, Autovisie reported on the dangerous social media trend known as cutting up, where drivers dangerously weave between lanes.
There is no direct evidence the fatal ride was specifically filmed for TikTok, but questions have been raised about the role of social media in encouraging dangerous driving.
May on LBC
During a live broadcast with British radio station LBC, May told host James O’Brien that it is too simplistic to hold a platform responsible for how an individual uses it. “I agree that you shouldn’t automatically blame TikTok and social media,” he said.
May compared the situation to Ryman, a British stationery chain. “I’ve always found that a bit like blaming Ryman for what people write on A4 paper.” The analogy was meant to illustrate that creators or providers of a medium cannot automatically be held responsible for how someone uses it.
Real car enthusiasts versus road pirates
May, himself an avowed car enthusiast, makes the same distinction when it comes to automobile lovers. Dangerous driving on public roads should not be confused with passion for cars and speed.
True petrolheads actually dislike dangerous driving, he argues. It gives cars a bad reputation and harms the standing of car enthusiasts as a group.
Those wanting to push a car’s limits can do so on a circuit during a track day, May suggests. That way it happens in a controlled environment without other road users becoming unwilling participants in the hobby.
For those living near Belgium, a similar issue closer to home involves the TripRank app, which is currently under investigation there. It initially appears to be an innocuous tool for measuring times and speeds, but the troubling aspect is that TripRank seems to encourage people to misbehave specifically on public roads.
Government response
The British government intends to use the Online Safety Act to compel social media platforms to remove videos showing reckless driving. TikTok states that content promoting or causing physical harm is already prohibited and that it actively removes accounts and videos.
May’s distinction remains firm: loving cars and speed is something entirely different from using public roads to display dangerous behavior for online attention.