Behind the Bike Lane Protest Video: Casey Neistat Made DOT Videos Too

(Transportation Nation) The video in this post is an interview with Casey Neistat, not his bike lane protest video going viral right now, in which a Transportation Nation radio segment excerpt plays a bit roll. It's sparked a question to NYC Mayor Bloomberg about cycle etiquette, international media coverage, more than 1 million views, and now an Associated Press sit down interview with the filmmaker, Casey Neistat.

In the AP video above, we hear Neistat's motivation and a few behind the scenes tidbits on the making of the video, but we also learn that Casey Neistat was hired by the NYC DOT to make their own bicycle safety videos as part of their Don't Be a Jerk campaign earlier this year. "Those videos are all about properly adhering to the rules of the road," he tells AP."So there's some irony there." The renegade protest video was a personal project.

Neistat admits he's not the most law abiding cyclist, but he felt this particular ticket he got for not riding in a bike lane was "above and beyond." So he made a protest video.

He says, "I thought it was a very literal take on not being allowed to ride outside of the bike lanes." He also swears he didn't set anything up, all the obstructions he slams into were naturally in the bike lanes.

This isn't the first time Neistat has taken to two wheels with his camera for outlandish bike-themed short films. In fact, one of his older videos that earned him and his brother praise and recognition as a filmmaker pits a Schwinn against a Ducati in a race through city traffic. Yogurt vs Gasoline currently has about 1 percent of the views as his bike lane protest.