The film shows a Yamaha R1 superbike driving
through traffic, squeezing between two cars driving in opposite
directions and returning to Parrott's home address. The video does
not show the driver, and Parrott has not admitted being the
driver.
The camera was mounted so that it recorded the
driver's-eye view of the road as well as the speedometer. Not only
did the motorcycle begin and end its journey at Parrott's home
address, it shows a vehicle number plate in the drive way, which
may have helped police trace Parrott.
"They came and knocked on my door and said
I've come to talk to you about the words YouTube and R1," said
Parrott in an interview with Motorcycle News. Parrott was
questioned by police and may be charged.
Parrott has declined mainstream press
interviews, but in the MCN interview, part of which can be heard
accompanying the video at
Motorcyclenews.com, he neither categorically denied nor
admitted being the rider of the bike.
"I wasn't the rider of the bike necessarily,"
he said. "I'm not saying it's me." When asked could he explain why
the motorcycle began from and returned to his house he simply said
"no".
"This man was driving through a built-up area,
past a housing estate and a school, at up to 100mph," said a
spokesman for Avon and Somerset police.
"There have been a number of
incidents of people videoing themselves driving at excessive speeds
in urban areas. They are putting their lives and the lives of other
road users at risk."
"The motorcyclist is risking a long ban," said
the police spokesman. "This is an important example to other road
users thinking of putting videos like this on the internet."
"What is humorous to some could be fatal to
others. If anyone knows of individuals involved in speeding they
should contact police," said the spokesman.
The incident is just the latest example of
YouTube and other video sites proving a fertile hunting ground for
police. In the US a string of teenagers have been arrested after
being identified in YouTube films.
Four young people were arrested after a video
they posted of them beating up a girl was viewed many times, and
others have been caught making threats against schools in clips
they posted.
