Road rage driver Ronnie Pickering's very different life 8 years after viral vid

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Road rage driver Ronnie Pickering
Road rage driver Ronnie Pickering's very different life 8 years after viral vid

On September 1, 2015, Ronnie Pickering's life changed forever. He found himself in a spat with a scooter rider and, not knowing he was being filmed, uttered the now immortal words "Who are you? I'm Ronnie Pickering".

Eight years on, the hardman from Hull is still very much remembered for his classic one-liner bellowed at the moped driver who seemed to have caused Ronnie a great deal of anger whilst stuck behind him on September 21, 2015, whilst driving by Bransholme Fire Station in Noddle Hill Way. The grandfather-of-five, now 60, was dubbed "road rage Ronnie" and the nickname has stuck since the footage was uploaded by Steve Middleton to YouTube eight years ago today and the phrases have followed him ever since. Chatting with , Ronnie shared how he "inspired a lot more road rage videos" from other people since his spat.

Road rage driver Ronnie Pickering's very different life 8 years after viral vid eiqrziqhxiqhuinvThe nickname 'Road Rage Ronnie' has stuck with him (Hull Daily Mail / SWNS.com)
Road rage driver Ronnie Pickering's very different life 8 years after viral vidHis famous spat is one of the most well-known road rage arguments online (Hull Daily Mail / SWNS.com)

"I had no idea it was being filmed and the first I knew was when a friend texted me and told me it was on YouTube. It then got picked up by the likes of UNILAD and it then became one of the country's best known YouTube videos. I think that along with the original YouTube upload and all the other follow-ups and memes, the video has probably had 100 million views. It is a bit crazy to think how many people have seen it and it seems to have inspired a lot more road rage videos since."

However, he explained the video was "heavily edited" and it wasn't all that you thought, as the moped driver removed a lot of the footage of him also winding Ronnie up. "People have rows like that all the time but they are not always filmed. The guy wanted a reaction and he got one, the video was heavily edited. The footage of him winding me up wasn't there at all. He edited much of himself out and made it look like he was the victim," he added.

Admitting he slightly regrets what he said, as he'd even called the moped driver out for a "bare-knuckle fight" from his Citroën Xsara as they sat at the front of a queue of traffic waiting to turn right, the video has been seen worldwide, even being shown in all the way in Australia. Ronnie said: "To be honest, I was just spouting a lot of gobbledegook. I said things I wouldn’t normally say. I now wish I had never said all that but what can you do?"

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In the video, Mr Pickering says to the motorcyclist: "Do you know who I am?" and the bemused motorcyclist replies: "What?", "Do you know who I am?" the driver repeats, "Do I care?" the motorcyclist asks, before adding, "Come on, who are you then?" "Ronnie Pickering," the driver replied, "Who?" the motorcyclist asked again before the driver shouted "Ronnie Pickering!" which led the motorcyclist to jibe "Who the **** is that?"

Niamh Kirk

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