BBC TV Program on Danger of Cyclists

bikey2009

Christophe3967 wrote:

Just watched it and can't recall seeing anyone wearing lycra behaving stupidly - the biggest muppet was the middle-aged codger on a shopping bike. Overall, I thought it was a fair reflection on what happens in central London - most riders obey the law but a sizeable minority don't, and it's easy to see why people get upset about it. Glad to learn that the police are going to have a crack down on RLJs too.

The bit on Critical Mass was an eye opener though. No wonder cyclists are looked at askance by so many black cab drivers.

+1
Bloke at work went on a critical mass before Xmas, he told me it was just a big p!zz take for a couple of hours :roll:

warthog562

just a wierd thought but they stated during that show that th most feared was the courior types that just carry on through lights and traffic, does any one actually think they are going to stop when the cops try to pull them. we all agree that the bike is the fastest way through london. so all they are going to catch is the guy who followed an 8 ton truck through the lights and is probably a fairly law abiding citizen. so short of using the cctv to follow these guys they aren't going to get the dangourous ones any way. not in any way condoning their behaviour one bit. just a thought.

rml380z

The WPC in the programme said that local residents considered RLJs to be the top thing they wanted police to crack down on.

I'd love to live somewhere where cycling is the main criminal activity.

deptfordmarmoset

While you're looking at the cyclist RLJing, don't lose sight of the big blue thing behind. Perspective please...for me, this still perfectly sums up the selective blindness that scapegoating cyclists induces.

vinnn

Well I've just watched the article and I would say that it's not an generalised anti-cyclist rant at all.
He's clear to point out that the problem is with a minority of irresponsible people who ride bikes. The footage they showed of one dickhead deciding to ride down the wrong side of the road skimming past a pram in order to then ride down the pavement is good enough evidence in my opinion.

How many of you lot would ride off after knocking down a little girl?

I don't think he should have used the term 'lycra lout'' though, it's such a stupid saying.

roger_merriman

It's not bad, not prefect but not bad.

points are westminster being central is busy and the worse for awful traffic behavour. so 1in5 is quite low I thought!

Critical mass well if it didn't exist it would have to be invented so people could be worked up about them.

they speak for no one but them selfs.

the ladies kid - well while being knocked over is bad, being shot/stabbed is worse so yes it is a minor crime.

it is just tabloid fluff. nothing to see really.

we know lots of bikes RLJ etc I though it would be a lot worse to be honest.

MadammeMarie

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

While you're looking at the cyclist RLJing, don't lose sight of the big blue thing behind. Perspective please...for me, this still perfectly sums up the selective blindness that scapegoating cyclists induces.

Well spotted!!! Now foward it to the Daily Hate, for the attention of Petronella!

itboffin

I think anyone who breaks the law should be shot! in fact anyone who's even thinking about breaking the law :roll:

Esp. cyclist - bastards!!!

DonDaddyD

The hippies did not impress me.

Anyway...

I'm sorry its not balanced.

The BBC proves it reads the Daily Mail to steer its programme generation. How are you going to make a programme about cyclists jumping red lights and then show a clip of a cyclist and big blue lorry jumping the lights as well. Had the cyclist been infront of the Lorry and stopped, no more cyclist.

I'm all for programmes like this as long as there is a counter balance looking at why the dangers cyclists face and all the reasons cyclist may flout, bend or outright bend the laws.

I'm going to say this once more. Bicycles aren't cars and the way some motorists drive would suggest we are and if in those situations we stuck with the highway code the end result would certainly result in injury, probably death.

soy_sauce

vinnn wrote:

Well I've just watched the article and I would say that it's not an generalised anti-cyclist rant at all.
He's clear to point out that the problem is with a minority of irresponsible people who ride bikes. The footage they showed of one dickhead deciding to ride down the wrong side of the road skimming past a pram in order to then ride down the pavement is good enough evidence in my opinion.
.

+1

Clever Pun

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

While you're looking at the cyclist RLJing, don't lose sight of the big blue thing behind. Perspective please...for me, this still perfectly sums up the selective blindness that scapegoating cyclists induces.

in that pic alone the lorry could be waiting at the start of the cross hatched box and therefore not have rlj'd I seem to remember the lorry not continuing while the cyclist did

DonDaddyD

Clever Pun wrote:

in that pic alone the lorry could be waiting at the start of the cross hatched box and therefore not have rlj'd I seem to remember the lorry not continuing while the cyclist did

Just watch it on iplayer (again) the Lorry went through. It was quite unbelieveable really, had no intention of stopping.

Surely with video footage the cyclist someone could complain about police mistreatment. Surely the Lorry is the bigger threat.

Porgy

rml380z wrote:

The WPC in the programme said that local residents considered RLJs to be the top thing they wanted police to crack down on.

I'd love to live somewhere where cycling is the main criminal activity.

I'd like to live somewhere where there are significant levels of cycling. At the moment anyone rides a bike through Welling and it's like a cross between the Bodysnatchers and Day of the Dead. :shock:


I completely missed the programme and my broadband restrictions are such that I can't use iplayer. Just as well really as I know it would have just wound me up, and evenings are for relaxing.

deptfordmarmoset

'in that pic alone the lorry could be waiting at the start of the cross hatched box and therefore not have rlj'd I seem to remember the lorry not continuing while the cyclist did

As DDD says, watch the iPlayer again. Sure, it's only a screen capture of one moment and I could be trying to use it as a form of visual rhetoric. But in fact, I was trying to make a point about selective vision - by focussing completely on cyclists and RLJing, the greater infraction behind it fades into the background and becomes unnoticed.

I put a quick blog up this morning which outlines my take on it http://deptfordmarmoset.blogspot.com/

OldSkoolKona

Surely there are plenty of youTube videos showing dangerous driving at cyclists that could be emailed en masse to the BBC as a complaint and a request to have a more balanced view.

While some of you may think the program was balanced (I tend to disagree) the coverage of the subject all day on BBC, in particular BBC Radio London, was less than balanced. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as they have previous form

For those who say, just ignore it, I would say consider the following effects of this negative sloppy journalism:
- The burden of guilt in an incident is now always on the cyclist (see comments in news articles around 'he wasn't wearing a helmet' or comments about cyclists breaking the law)
- The point above then influences court cases involving cycling fatalities, look at the comments in regard to this tragic incident in Cambridgeshire
- They influence Public Opinion whereby it's ok to drive dangerously around cyclists or even to teach them a lesson
- They are used as an excuse not to improve infrastructure for cyclists (and by that I don't mean cycle lanes, but road layout improvements such as removal of pinch points) as they don't deserve them

Porgy

OldSkoolKona wrote:

Surely there are plenty of youTube videos showing dangerous driving at cyclists that could be emailed en masse to the BBC as a complaint and a request to have a more balanced view.

While some of you may think the program was balanced (I tend to disagree) the coverage of the subject all day on BBC, in particular BBC Radio London, was less than balanced. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as they have previous form

For those who say, just ignore it, I would say consider the following effects of this negative sloppy journalism:
- The burden of guilt in an incident is now always on the cyclist (see comments in news articles around 'he wasn't wearing a helmet' or comments about cyclists breaking the law)
- The point above then influences court cases involving cycling fatalities, look at the comments in regard to this tragic incident in Cambridgeshire
- They influence Public Opinion whereby it's ok to drive dangerously around cyclists or even to teach them a lesson
- They are used as an excuse not to improve infrastructure for cyclists (and by that I don't mean cycle lanes, but road layout improvements such as removal of pinch points) as they don't deserve them

+1

I can't agree strongly enough. I used to listen to a lot of BBC London; whenever they had a cycling topic on the phone in show it was never long before it was sabatoged by the "all cyclists are evil sponging lycra bullies" brigade. The host rarely showed any balance, and the fact that these calls were being put through in a programme that was supposed to be about improving cycle facilities or safety for cyclists, for example, showed an incredible lack of editorial competence or journalistic integrity.

It got to the stage where I just stopped listening.

CyclingBantam

vinnn wrote:

Well I've just watched the article and I would say that it's not an generalised anti-cyclist rant at all.
He's clear to point out that the problem is with a minority of irresponsible people who ride bikes. The footage they showed of one dickhead deciding to ride down the wrong side of the road skimming past a pram in order to then ride down the pavement is good enough evidence in my opinion.

How many of you lot would ride off after knocking down a little girl?

I don't think he should have used the term 'lycra lout'' though, it's such a stupid saying.

I think the problem is that whilst they do state a few times that it is a minority who break the rules the rest of the programme just refers to 'cyclists'. What on earth was the point of interviewing the lady who's child got hit as well? Clearly whoever hit her daughter and rode off was an @rsehole but what does it add to the show? Is people being hit by cyclists a big deal? I have never seen or heard of it happening. I would far rather be hit by a cyclist than a car.
The programme just seemed to be picking on a subject that gets people 'outraged' and therefore gets a good reaction. There was no conclusion at the end so what is it proposing happens? Will they do one about ar accidents next week. I doubt it.
Of the cyclists doing stupid things in the footage, how many of them do you think then get in a car and drive well and capably and are not a danger to others arond them?

deptfordmarmoset

Just got an email from the BBC concerning my complaint about the programme. Apparently the complaint has been included in the BBC ''Audience Log.'' But I've been entered into countless lucky prize draws too, and never got anything back. In effect, I have just been fobbed off.

Dear Mr XXXXXX

Thanks for your e-mail regarding 'Inside Out (London)' on BBC One.

Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying. We know our correspondents appreciate a quick response and we're sorry you've had to wait on this occasion.

I note you felt Adrian Simpson's report on "lycra lout" cyclists was one-sided and featured no balancing input on the dangers cyclists themselves face from road traffic.

While I recognise your concerns, we don't aim for a balance of opinion within one single item or programme as it's not always possible or practical. Instead, we provide this balance over a period of time across our entire news and current affairs output.

However, Adrian did say that "most cyclists do have respect for other road users" and alongside the Critical Mass rally, we heard from Tom Bogdanovitch from the London Cycling Campaign.

Further to this, the BBC has reported on the dangers to cyclists from road traffic and also the benefit it can have on the environment and congestion, and below are two examples from BBC Online of such reporting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8296971.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/p ... 201618.stm

Nevertheless, I do appreciate the strength of your views about the representation of cyclists on the BBC and please be assured that your comments have been included in our audience log. This is circulated widely within the BBC and made available to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Regards

Alec Mackenzie
BBC Complaints