The war on Britains roads, 5th Dec BBC

iPete

Seen the ad for this earlier, seems threads on here asking for head cam footage have finally been turned into a show. Looks awful, everyone is going to think cycling is for loons but who knows, might be balanced, think it'll be too cringeworthy to watch.

The ad even had some alley cat footage

mybreakfastconsisted

Stupid, unhelpful title.

Kieran_Burns

http://road.cc/content/news/57221-bbc-a ... ains-roads

Christ. It's going to be a nightmare.

daviesee

i have sent an e-mail to the producers of the programme questioning the sensationalist level.
It will be interesting to see the reply, if any.

CiB

Saw the trail for this yesterday evening (Sat) and was a bit perturbed by the title. A quick google showed that it was commissioned in April and was waiting for a suitable slot - three high profile cyclists being involved in accidents probably triggered it, rather than the summer of cycling success that the nation enjoyed and appears to have completely forgotten about.

It's not ITV so it probably won't be as bad as the title suggests but I won't be holding my breath in expectation of an hour's worth of tv showing how great it is to cycle instead of driving. If it has any element of studio discussion I'll have a fiver on road tax being bandied about inside the first three sentences.

ETA. The PR gumph from Leopard Productions who made it claims that of four similar doccos this one has the highest chance of being commissioned as a series, which could be a game changer. Once the first three episodes full of 'blimey what a twonk' video clips have gone out, it could conceivably* become a useful forum for a proper discussion between the nutters who post their brain-dribble on newspaper comments & the Camiila Tominey type of journo, and those us who know what we're talking about innit.

* yeah i know. Dream on.

Kieran_Burns

Meanwhile, in an adrenaline-filled one-off film for BBC One, viewers will be parachuted into the middle of a war that is raging between two-wheeled road users and their four-wheeled counterparts in The War On Britain’s Roads. As more and more people take up cycling as a way of beating the traffic or just keeping fit on their commute, the potential for conflict between cyclists and drivers has increased massively.

Now cameras installed on bikes and in vehicles will use heart-stopping footage of interactions between road users to reveal a shocking picture of life on Britain’s roads. The film will follow current cases as they go through the courts and revisit the tragic stories of some of those who have lost their lives on Britain’s roads.

Todd Austin, Chief Creative Officer, Leopard Films, says: “This timely documentary highlights a growing issue on Britain’s roads, from the viewpoint of both the motorist and the cyclist. BBC One is the perfect home for this insightful and at times shocking film.”

Doesn't appear to be anything but sensationalism

The BBC have a history of this kind of thing unfortunately and it's a LONG history. I was told by a very reliable source (Chief Pilot for a major UK airline) that when he was a child in Belfast, the BBC journos would pay kids to start throwing stones at the soldiers and allow them some good camera shots

I may be proven wrong, and I sincerely hope I am, but I really don't hold out much hope.

rjsterry

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Meanwhile, in an adrenaline-filled one-off film for BBC One, viewers will be parachuted into the middle of a war that is raging between two-wheeled road users and their four-wheeled counterparts in The War On Britain’s Roads. As more and more people take up cycling as a way of beating the traffic or just keeping fit on their commute, the potential for conflict between cyclists and drivers has increased massively.

Now cameras installed on bikes and in vehicles will use heart-stopping footage of interactions between road users to reveal a shocking picture of life on Britain’s roads. The film will follow current cases as they go through the courts and revisit the tragic stories of some of those who have lost their lives on Britain’s roads.

Todd Austin, Chief Creative Officer, Leopard Films, says: “This timely documentary highlights a growing issue on Britain’s roads, from the viewpoint of both the motorist and the cyclist. BBC One is the perfect home for this insightful and at times shocking film.”

Doesn't appear to be anything but sensationalism

The BBC have a history of this kind of thing unfortunately and it's a LONG history. I was told by a very reliable source (Chief Pilot for a major UK airline) that when he was a child in Belfast, the BBC journos would pay kids to start throwing stones at the soldiers and allow them some good camera shots

I may be proven wrong, and I sincerely hope I am, but I really don't hold out much hope.

I'm not sure I would blame it entirely on the Beeb: Leopard Films is an independent company, which will have touted this around. I think Mr Austin will find that the far end of the freeview channels is the perfect home, along with all the other recycled cctv camera guff. Here's a link to some of Leopard Films other inspiring work.

http://www.leopardfilms.com/productions/leopard-uk

anonymousblackfg

Surely if they follow cases through the courts it will highlight how you can kill a cyclist and get 3 points and a fine, hopefully helping the publics opinion. That said, it could go the other way and just make people think they can get away with treating us like sh*t.

Reane_Machine

Although it says the war on 'Britain's' roads, I'll bet the majority of footage is from London and there will hardly be a mention of the thousands of cyclists and motorists who get along respectfully.

But then that wouldn't make for controversial telly would it?

Sounds like the BBBC are trying to lean more towards airing controversial programmes, like Channel 4 do on a regular basis.

vermin

Saw the trailer last night and now looking forward to watching this.

I love shouting at shouty cyclists shouting at shouty drivers.

I also often mix up my 'ou's and my 'i's

Big_Paul

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Doesn't appear to be anything but sensationalism

The BBC have a history of this kind of thing unfortunately and it's a LONG history. I was told by a very reliable source (Chief Pilot for a major UK airline) that when he was a child in Belfast, the BBC journos would pay kids to start throwing stones at the soldiers and allow them some good camera shots

I may be proven wrong, and I sincerely hope I am, but I really don't hold out much hope.

This is absolutely true! Also, the year of the bad Drumcree Riots, 1996 I think, enterprising wee gits were picking up the plastic bullets fired by the RUC and selling them at a fiver a pop to the foreign TV crews.

daviesee

vermin wrote:

Saw the trailer last night and now looking forward to watching this.

I love shouting at shouty cyclists shouting at shouty drivers.

I also often mix up my 'ou's and my 'i's

bails87

vermin wrote:

Saw the trailer last night and now looking forward to watching this.

I love shouting at shouty cyclists shouting at shouty drivers.

I also often mix up my 'ou's and my 'i's

Officer Crabtree wrote:

Ou love shiting at shity cyclousts shiting at shity drouvers.

?

Ginjafro

I wonder if some of our particularly gobby radar cummunters will feature?

vermin

bails87 wrote:

vermin wrote:

Saw the trailer last night and now looking forward to watching this.

I love shouting at shouty cyclists shouting at shouty drivers.

I also often mix up my 'ou's and my 'i's

Officer Crabtree wrote:

Ou love shiting at shity cyclousts shiting at shity drouvers.

?

rhext

I'm quite looking forward to it. I have to say though that there's no war going on in Derby. Obviously you encounter the odd idiot, but generally speaking cyclists and drivers rub along OK.

The more of these 'cyclist vs driver' threads I read, the more I come to the conclusion that there are a very small number of places (possibly just central london??) where there's a bit of a 'perfect storm' going on for drivers. They're horrible enough to drive around at the best of times, and it's easy to see how large numbers of cyclists, some of whom appear to have scant regard for their own or other people's safety could appear to make a bad situation worse. Most people grind their teeth and write to the papers explaining why cyclists should pay road tax. Some people lose it completely.

The schedules are crawling with this sort of stuff. If you believed them, you'd never go into a town centre again. I'm hoping that people will understand that this is only showing the worst of the worst (else why show it at all), but will also perhaps decide to distance themselves from some of the extreme behaviours that will doubtless be exhibited. You never know - always the optimist.

Blacktemplar

rhext wrote:

I'm quite looking forward to it. I have to say though that there's no war going on in Derby. Obviously you encounter the odd idiot, but generally speaking cyclists and drivers rub along OK.

The more of these 'cyclist vs driver' threads I read, the more I come to the conclusion that there are a very small number of places (possibly just central london??) where there's a bit of a 'perfect storm' going on for drivers. They're horrible enough to drive around at the best of times, and it's easy to see how large numbers of cyclists, some of whom appear to have scant regard for their own or other people's safety could appear to make a bad situation worse. Most people grind their teeth and write to the papers explaining why cyclists should pay road tax. Some people lose it completely.

The schedules are crawling with this sort of stuff. If you believed them, you'd never go into a town centre again. I'm hoping that people will understand that this is only showing the worst of the worst (else why show it at all), but will also perhaps decide to distance themselves from some of the extreme behaviours that will doubtless be exhibited. You never know - always the optimist.

^This

graham.

Blacktemplar wrote:

rhext wrote:

I'm quite looking forward to it. I have to say though that there's no war going on in Derby. Obviously you encounter the odd idiot, but generally speaking cyclists and drivers rub along OK.

The more of these 'cyclist vs driver' threads I read, the more I come to the conclusion that there are a very small number of places (possibly just central london??) where there's a bit of a 'perfect storm' going on for drivers. They're horrible enough to drive around at the best of times, and it's easy to see how large numbers of cyclists, some of whom appear to have scant regard for their own or other people's safety could appear to make a bad situation worse. Most people grind their teeth and write to the papers explaining why cyclists should pay road tax. Some people lose it completely.

The schedules are crawling with this sort of stuff. If you believed them, you'd never go into a town centre again. I'm hoping that people will understand that this is only showing the worst of the worst (else why show it at all), but will also perhaps decide to distance themselves from some of the extreme behaviours that will doubtless be exhibited. You never know - always the optimist.

^This

Never had a problem in derby either.

Kieran_Burns

Graham. wrote:

Blacktemplar wrote:

rhext wrote:

I'm quite looking forward to it. I have to say though that there's no war going on in Derby. Obviously you encounter the odd idiot, but generally speaking cyclists and drivers rub along OK.

The more of these 'cyclist vs driver' threads I read, the more I come to the conclusion that there are a very small number of places (possibly just central london??) where there's a bit of a 'perfect storm' going on for drivers. They're horrible enough to drive around at the best of times, and it's easy to see how large numbers of cyclists, some of whom appear to have scant regard for their own or other people's safety could appear to make a bad situation worse. Most people grind their teeth and write to the papers explaining why cyclists should pay road tax. Some people lose it completely.

The schedules are crawling with this sort of stuff. If you believed them, you'd never go into a town centre again. I'm hoping that people will understand that this is only showing the worst of the worst (else why show it at all), but will also perhaps decide to distance themselves from some of the extreme behaviours that will doubtless be exhibited. You never know - always the optimist.

^This

Never had a problem in derby either.

Me either.

Littleover's a dump though.

nevman

Maybe not IN Derby but the chaingang on the A6 regularly gets abuse from impatient twonks straddling white lines to overtake against oncoming traffic.My view is they are on a short fuse to violence.Sympathise with anyone subject to road rage and hope that airing it on TV will change attitudes.

nik6158

never had a problem on my commute from derby to kegworth every day.

mybreakfastconsisted

Cycling groups and MPs condemn BBC1 documentary about road users.


Programme titled The War on Britain's Roads accused of endangering cyclists by stereotyping them as reckless.

MPs have joined motoring and cycling groups to condemn a BBC1 documentary which purports to show the "war" between cyclists and other vehicles on British roads, with some warning that it could actually endanger cyclists by wrongly stereotyping them as reckless.

They have also questioned why the programme, scheduled to run on Wednesday evening, presents excerpts from a professionally shot commercial film of cycle couriers staging a breakneck race through central London as ordinary footage, saying this seems deliberately misrepresentative.

Ian Austin, the Labour MP who co-chairs the all-party cycling group in parliament, said he feared the programme could make cycling more dangerous. He said: "I'm not in favour of banning things but I don't really see the point of broadcasting something so stupid, sensationalist, simplistic and irresponsible. It doesn't reflect what Britain's roads are like for the vast majority of people who use them."

BBC publicity material for The War on Britain's Roads, promises to put viewers "into the middle of the battle that is raging between two-wheeled road users and their four-wheeled counterparts". Made by an independent company, Leopard Films, it is based on footage shot by cyclists using helmet-mounted cameras, an increasingly common accessory for riders to both share video of their journeys and, if needed, document dangerous behaviour by drivers. It includes scenes of cyclists being almost crushed by lorries and cars and of confrontations and assaults, as well as interviews with drivers, cyclists and a woman whose daughter was killed by a cement lorry while on a bike.

The BBC, which insists the programme is "fair and balanced", has refused to let pressure groups see it in advance, including one cycling organisation which assisted the producers but became concerned its advice was being ignored. However, some of them were able to view a copy sent to the Guardian.

Austin said he was deeply worried by the divisive tone: "I think it's dangerous to promote this culture of confrontation on the roads. It makes cycling more dangerous. The image of cycling the show presents doesn't really represent what it's like for most people in Britain. If that's the impression motorists get of Britain's cyclists it's not going to help road users treat each other with respect."

Austin was particularly concerned by the footage of couriers weaving at high speed through traffic and pedestrians. It was shot in 2006 by a US film maker, Lucas Brunelle, who sells DVDs of his footage, something not mentioned in the programme. Austin said: "I cycle in London every week, and have been for years. I've seen lots of car drivers driving badly, lots of cyclists doing things they shouldn't, and everyone should obey the rules of the road. But I've not seen cycling like that. The idea that they present that as normal cycling is mad, irresponsible and dangerous."

Charlie Lloyd from the London Cycling Campaign also said he was worried by this sequence: "The programme's integrity is destroyed by the use of six-year-old commercial video footage of professional cyclists doing reckless stunts, endangering themselves and everyone else. Showing this as real behaviour is as false as presenting a James Bond car chase as how average people drive to work. The programme makers chose to fan the flames of aggression on the roads, that can only increase the risk for all of us."

Roger Geffen, policy director for national cyclists' group the CTC, said they met the film's producers a year ago and provided statistics showing a long-term increase in cycling safety. He said: "Instead of covering this good news story the BBC has instead chosen to portray cycling as an activity solely for battle-hardened males with helmets and cameras. This hostile stereotyping merely scares mums, children and others back into their cars."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... -bbc1-road

Kieran_Burns

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/anything ... ains-roads

A documentary that airs on BBC One at 9pm tomorrow evening makes interesting viewing for anyone who travels to work on either four or two wheels.

Titled The War on Britain’s Roads, the programme investigates the often-volatile relationship between motorists and cyclists as they try to co-exist on our streets.

Before I watched a preview of the documentary last night, I was concerned that it might be another anti-motoring tirade, but in fact it is very balanced.

Cyclists, van drivers, cabbies and car drivers speak candidly about their experiences of other road users. We hear about cyclists who ride through red traffic lights – "because it was green for pedestrians" – and see worrying footage of drivers using iPads on the move.

The interviews are interspersed by footage from ‘helmet cams’, which an increasing number of cyclists are wearing to record the near-misses they have with motorists and the occasional abuse they receive. The footage is compelling and terrifying in equal measure, not least the Glaswegian who has a near-death experience with an inattentive HGV driver on a roundabout.

It is clear that the cyclists are not completely without fault. To me, a couple of the show’s main pro-cycling protagonists come across as excessively antagonistic towards other road users. It seems to me that some two-wheeled vigilantes relish going out of their way to propagate conflict and film it on their helmet cameras.

Most, however, come across as sensible, grown-up folk who just want to get from A to B without having their lives put in danger. The prevailing message that comes out of the programme is that most cyclists and motorists are keen to harmoniously co-exist, but the antics of the minority cause bad feeling on both sides.

In my view, the programme is also evidence that bicycles should carry registration plates in the same way that all other vehicles on the road do, as well as factory-fitted lights to a proper, EU-specified standard.

While motorists who commit minor transgressions can be identified on traffic cameras via their car registration plates, cyclists can get away with similar offences in anonymity, a disparity that contributes to the tension between the two groups.

Le sigh....

UndercoverElephant

It was all going so well up to that point as well.

Kieran_Burns

That's exactly what I thought

rjsterry

Kieran_Burns wrote:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/anything-goes/motorists-versus-cyclists-britains-roads

A documentary that airs on BBC One at 9pm tomorrow evening makes interesting viewing for anyone who travels to work on either four or two wheels.

Titled The War on Britain’s Roads, the programme investigates the often-volatile relationship between motorists and cyclists as they try to co-exist on our streets.

Before I watched a preview of the documentary last night, I was concerned that it might be another anti-motoring tirade, but in fact it is very balanced.

Cyclists, van drivers, cabbies and car drivers speak candidly about their experiences of other road users. We hear about cyclists who ride through red traffic lights – "because it was green for pedestrians" – and see worrying footage of drivers using iPads on the move.

The interviews are interspersed by footage from ‘helmet cams’, which an increasing number of cyclists are wearing to record the near-misses they have with motorists and the occasional abuse they receive. The footage is compelling and terrifying in equal measure, not least the Glaswegian who has a near-death experience with an inattentive HGV driver on a roundabout.

It is clear that the cyclists are not completely without fault. To me, a couple of the show’s main pro-cycling protagonists come across as excessively antagonistic towards other road users. It seems to me that some two-wheeled vigilantes relish going out of their way to propagate conflict and film it on their helmet cameras.

Most, however, come across as sensible, grown-up folk who just want to get from A to B without having their lives put in danger. The prevailing message that comes out of the programme is that most cyclists and motorists are keen to harmoniously co-exist, but the antics of the minority cause bad feeling on both sides.

In my view, the programme is also evidence that bicycles should carry registration plates in the same way that all other vehicles on the road do, as well as factory-fitted lights to a proper, EU-specified standard.

While motorists who commit minor transgressions can be identified on traffic cameras via their car registration plates, cyclists can get away with similar offences in anonymity, a disparity that contributes to the tension between the two groups.

Le sigh....

Ha! As if it were that easy.

Origamist

From the trailer, it appears that CycleGaz, SonoftheWindsINC, Magnatom etc have all released helmet cam film for use by the documentary-makers.

I refused to take part, but am hoping that my fears about the production will be unfounded.

mybreakfastconsisted

They should show the car chase from Ronin as balance to the Brunelle footage, shot 6 years ago to sell a dvd.

Kieran_Burns

Origamist wrote:

From the trailer, it appears that CycleGaz, SonoftheWindsINC, Magnatom etc have all released helmet cam film for use by the documentary-makers.

I refused to take part, but am hoping that my fears about the production will be unfounded.

I offered my zen videos and examples of great overtakes and drivers apologising. Oddly, it was never taken up.

Oh, and just to point out. I'm getting increasingly reluctant to use my helmet cam now....

The more I read about this thing, the more worried I become. I might actually end up writing in to complain. (after it's aired of course)

gtvlusso

Origamist wrote:

I refused to take part, but am hoping that my fears about the production will be unfounded.

In all seriousness, the chance to have your films used on TV must be really hard to refuse. so, I don't blame the guys who have allowed use of their footage at all. I hope your fears are unfounded too! :shock:

fossyant

Some of the guys' videos are good (honest account of what does happen), but there are a couple of folk like sonofthewind that give us cyclists a bad name - goes round handing out 'tickets' and all sorts of stuff, and he looks a loon - lights/cameras all over helmet/bike = vigilante

Can't see it painting a good light on cycling/cyclists.

Gonna watch on catch up as out.