BBC presenter and cycling advocate Jeremy Vine played a key role in stripping the driving licence from the son of legendary British punk rock icon Ian Dury. Baxter Dury spilled the beans about the unfortunate incident during an interview with Huw Stephens on BBC 6 Music, detailing how he was caught by Vine using his phone amidst a traffic standstill.
Ian Dury made waves as a trailblazer in the late 70s and early 80s punk rock and new wave scene, often ruffling feathers with edgy and provocative themes, most notably with his UK Number One hit ‘Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick’.
His son, Baxter Dury, has carved out his own path in music. The fateful run-in with the BBC presenter occurred as he was travelling to his West London home from the studio of renowned producer Paul Epworth, where they were working on his latest album, Albarone.
On the air with Huw Stephens, a candid Baxter Dury, aged 53, recounted: “Do you know what? This is a tragic story, but I drove there for the first half (of making the record) and then lost my license.”
Despite the embarrassment, Baxter harboured no ill feelings towards Vine for capturing the moment, acknowledging that it was probably justified.
In his explanation to the BBC, Baxter said: “I got caught in a traffic jam, and Jeremy Vine took a film of me looking at Instagram, which he deserves to, I’m not arguing about (it).”
Upon realising that Jeremy Vine might overhear his comment, he quickly added: “Shouldn’t probably say that publicly, he’s probably in the other room, isn’t he?”.
After catching wind of the incident involving Ian Dury’s son, the BBC Radio 2 host expressed his admiration for the musician’s work but refrained from apologising. Speaking to the Mail, he said: “This is very unfortunate.
“I would like Baxter to know that I love his dad’s music.
“I’m afraid mobile phone use in cars in London, particularly the posher parts, is an absolute curse. So I am quite tunnel-visioned about it.
“We have 1700 road deaths a year. Sorry to be serious about it. Best wishes to Baxter.”
Jeremy Vine has been documenting drivers breaking traffic laws for years, sharing footage on social media to highlight the dangers cyclists face daily. Yet, last month, he unexpectedly announced he would cease posting such videos due to the backlash he received.
The broadcaster has accumulated hundreds of millions of views across various platforms without earning any money from them, which has also led to significant online vitriol.
He disclosed on X: “I’m stopping my cycling videos. The trolling just got too bad. They have had well over 100 million views but in the end the anger they generate has genuinely upset me.”
Vine opened up about receiving serious death threats after posting videos of motorists flouting the law, which have led to him being viciously labelled “England’s biggest ***hole” and facing calls for a lorry to crush the Channel 5 debate presenter.
Deciding to step away from sharing such content, he expressed how much he’d miss the discussions that his videos would spark, even when they featured minor wrongdoings.
“Some of the biggest videos were actually about the smallest incidents, like someone turning left in front of me,” Vine recounted.
The broadcaster believes healthy discussion is key to road safety: “People are happy to discuss it and I actually think that we’d all be safer if we all understood each other. People are going to drive 4x4s in Kensington and whatnot but they need to have a bit of care for me on a bicycle.”
He stressed the misunderstanding between drivers and cyclists: “You might be in total control when you pass close by but the person on a bicycle doesn’t know that. I just hope I was part of a dialogue about it.”