War on Britain's Roads

crispybug2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... ins_Roads/


Anybody watch this??

Have to say that most of stuff shown has already been shown from youtube on this very site!!
A couple of the helmet cam warriors did come across as complete knobs though!!


The Mrs ended the programme even more scared about me going out on the road than before it!!

robertsims

basically boiled down to idiot cyclists in some cases and idiot drivers in others. Generally what we all knew already. Scottish guy with lorry on roundabout was scary though!! Agree wife now petrified about my commute tomorrow morning!

Frank the tank

Just to concur really, it highlighted the fact all road users make mistakes and there are good/bad examples on all sides.

The cycle couriers (featured) really do the cycling community no favours at all absolutely shocking behaviour.

I thought the lady who's daughter was killed by the mixer was brilliant though.

Postie John

I think the programme was more a reflection on the sad decline of the BBC, which I love.

It was basically an hour of x-rated bicycle You've Been Framed.

The point, that's obvious to everyone already, was made in 5 mins and drawn out over the next 55.
Desperately using the grief of a mother to try and give the programme credibility.

Where were the answers?
Where was the expert opinion?
Where was the positives?

The programme could have gone to Copenhagen, and studied the very best in cycle safety.
A 20 mile cycling 'super highway' in and out of the city, totally away from any car or pedestrian.

What about Amsterdam, where large areas are shut off to motor vehicles.

Portland Oregon, Boulder Colorado, I'd imagine our Aussie posters could chip in with a city or two, where cycling has become king.

Perhaps going to Washington or New York to see how equally sized cities are dealing with an explosion of cyclists.


It could have been an intelligent kick start to the debate this country has to have, because people are KILLED DAILY, on the roads.
Instead we get the lowest denominator, just to get everyone (myself included) frothing at the mouth with rabid anger.

jonomc4

The only way is Essex on bikes - lowest common denominator frills TV

BillyMansell

Postie John wrote:

I think the programme was more a reflection on the sad decline of the BBC, which I love.

It was basically an hour of x-rated bicycle You've Been Framed.

The point, that's obvious to everyone already, was made in 5 mins and drawn out over the next 55.
Desperately using the grief of a mother to try and give the programme credibility.

Where were the answers?
Where was the expert opinion?
Where was the positives?

The programme could have gone to Copenhagen, and studied the very best in cycle safety.
A 20 mile cycling 'super highway' in and out of the city, totally away from any car or pedestrian.

What about Amsterdam, where large areas are shut off to motor vehicles.

Portland Oregon, Boulder Colorado, I'd imagine our Aussie posters could chip in with a city or two, where cycling has become king.

Perhaps going to Washington or New York to see how equally sized cities are dealing with an explosion of cyclists.


It could have been an intelligent kick start to the debate this country has to have, because people are KILLED DAILY, on the roads.
Instead we get the lowest denominator, just to get everyone (myself included) frothing at the mouth with rabid anger.

Completely agree.

A couple of salient points lost among the BBC's current remit of a sensational story at any cost and be damned with intelligent thought and journalistic integrity.

Peddle Up!

Postie John wrote:

I think the programme was more a reflection on the sad decline of the BBC, which I love.

It was basically an hour of x-rated bicycle You've Been Framed....

Trimmed to save space

First class summary. I suppose this might be the first in a series highlighting the points you raise, but I doubt it. Have you thought of writing to the BBC (Trust?) making these points? They might enjoy reading a sensible proposal instead of the usual foaming rage from Daily Mail readers.

brit66

I thought it was sensationalist and would undoubtedly put off many considering taking up cycling.

I also thought the cyclist at the start of the programme was a complete tool - just the sort that gives us all a bad name.

Peddle Up!

brit66 wrote:

I also thought the cyclist at the start of the programme was a complete tool - just the sort that gives us all a bad name.

I thought he was a bit like Nap D. The movie Nap D, not our Nap D, of course.

frazered

complaint submitted to BBC on this sensationalist rubbish that will likely result in more entrenchment and conflict between cyclists and other road users

cyclegaz on twitter looks to appear to regret appearing on the programme and it looks like he feels that he was misrepresented / portrayed incorrectly

durhamwasp

The guy with the glasses who cycles round with a camera on his head in the middle of the road banging on the side of cars did us cyclists no favours at all. If i saw him doing that, as a cyclist i would like to punch him, never mind what the person in the car wants to do.
Kept talking about how he does "30mph" to work. Yeah, right.

Blacktemplar

durhamwasp wrote:

The guy with the glasses who cycles round with a camera on his head in the middle of the road banging on the side of cars did us cyclists no favours at all. If i saw him doing that, as a cyclist i would like to punch him, never mind what the person in the car wants to do.
Kept talking about how he does "30mph" to work. Yeah, right.

Mrs BT - a saintly woman without an aggressive bone in her body, on listening to CycleGaz observed (mildly) that even if she knew nothing about his self-righteous cycle-video tw@ttery she'd just want to "punch the fecker's lights out" anyway....

RDW

Dr Hutch and Jan 'Everything We Hate About Cyclists' Etherington discussed it on Radio 4 this morning:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01p3n07?t=2h42m48s

Postie John

Peddle Up! wrote:

First class summary. I suppose this might be the first in a series highlighting the points you raise, but I doubt it. Have you thought of writing to the BBC (Trust?) making these points? They might enjoy reading a sensible proposal instead of the usual foaming rage from Daily Mail readers.

As I'm still pretty peed off with the waste opportunity of a programme, I have done just that.
Using my post here as a template.
If I receive a reply that isn't just a fob off, I'll be sure to post it here.

Kieran_Burns

Frank the tank wrote:

Just to concur really, it highlighted the fact all road users make mistakes and there are good/bad examples on all sides.

The cycle couriers (featured) really do the cycling community no favours at all absolutely shocking behaviour.

I thought the lady who's daughter was killed by the mixer was brilliant though.

That was a commercial film made 6 years ago. A point completely missing from the program.

willhub

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Frank the tank wrote:

Just to concur really, it highlighted the fact all road users make mistakes and there are good/bad examples on all sides.

The cycle couriers (featured) really do the cycling community no favours at all absolutely shocking behaviour.

I thought the lady who's daughter was killed by the mixer was brilliant though.

That was a commercial film made 6 years ago. A point completely missing from the program.

Does that mean it's fine? Were the authorities notified in advance to the filming?

Kieran_Burns

willhub wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Frank the tank wrote:

Just to concur really, it highlighted the fact all road users make mistakes and there are good/bad examples on all sides.

The cycle couriers (featured) really do the cycling community no favours at all absolutely shocking behaviour.

I thought the lady who's daughter was killed by the mixer was brilliant though.

That was a commercial film made 6 years ago. A point completely missing from the program.

Does that mean it's fine? Were the authorities notified in advance to the filming?

I think you have misunderstood my reason for pointing this out. It was to highlight the massive misrepresentation apparent in the program.

natrix

As a bit of an aside, I thought that the ready-mixed concrete company came over quite well. At least they made a positive effort (and spent some money) to reduce cylist accidents.

Peddle Up!

natrix wrote:

As a bit of an aside, I thought that the ready-mixed concrete company came over quite well. At least they made a positive effort (and spent some money) to reduce cylist accidents.

Yes. Best outcome.

Jez mon

Having spoken to a friend who is somewhat of a boy racer at times, and whose only connection to cycling is me...

I think as a community, we're in danger of being somewhat over-sensitive about the portrayal of cyclists as a group. Yes, he thought Gaz was a bit of a plank (also known commonly as, a young immature male of the species) but he also thought that what Traffic Droid did was often reasonable. He also commented that body panels can be replaced a lot more easily than the pink squishy bit on top of a bike and that anyone with half a brain could see that the show was sensationalised.

It's not going to do anything to placate the stereotypical Daily Mail reading scumbags who think that cyclists have no place on the road...but I think nothing short of a lobotomy would.

TLDR: Wasn't as bad as most here are making out, most reasonable and intelligent drivers will have seen the show for what it was and it's nigh on impossible to convince the others.

ben@31

durhamwasp wrote:

The guy with the glasses who cycles round with a camera on his head in the middle of the road banging on the side of cars did us cyclists no favours at all. If i saw him doing that, as a cyclist i would like to punch him, never mind what the person in the car wants to do.

In my opinion the most true to life quote in the whole tv programme was from the driver of that taxi he hit:

"No way am I going to put my job on the line and start punching some guy [cyclist], it's never going to happen. I do say one thing though... That this guy [cyclist] will meet that kind of driver some day."

durhamwasp wrote:

Kept talking about how he does "30mph" to work. Yeah, right.

Was he Mark Cavendish?

mjbennett

It just made London look like an absolute bloody nightmare on two wheels and re-enforced stereotypes lots of people have about cyclists, like not paying road tax, not having registration plates, going through red lights, wearing headphones. The mother of the poor girl killed by the mixer was an inspiration and her work in the memory of her daughter is already saving lives.
I tend to agree with the police officer about the couriers in that they are just criminals rather than cyclists. I was disappointed that there was no mention about how the majority of drivers regularly break the law by speeding etc, but that is somehow acceptable, whereas a cyclist not in a cycle lane is not illegal but makes drivers treat you like scum. This behaviour really has to stop.