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Video: CTC's SMIDSY the lion(ess) speaks out on cycle safety

road.cc has a word with the lion(ess) fronting the CTC's campaign to improve road conditions for cyclists...

“Sorry mate I didn't see you” is a phrase sadly familiar to cyclists across the country: it's the stock phrase of the motorist who has just been involved in a near miss with a cyclists. Cycle safety campaigners long ago shortened it to the acronym SMIDSY, and now, as we reported earlier this month, the CTC has decided to use SMIDSY to raise public awareness of poor driving and road design.

The campaign is called Stop SMIDSY! Although in person SMIDSY seems a rather safety conscious lion, or possibly lioness with his/her own website www.stop-smidsy.org.uk on which cyclists or members of the public can report instances of poor or unsafe driving, and particularly near misses. Although SMIDSY is a humourous and non-confrontational lion the campaign does have a very serious purpose as SMIDSY and the CTC's Campaingns co-ordinator, Debra Rolfe and the woman behind SMIDSY, explained to road.cc when we caught up with her at the London Cycle Show.

 

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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