When Cambridge police employed the #badlyparkedbike hashtag beneath a photograph of a bike locked to a plastic chair, they didn’t intend for it to become a means of documenting poor car parking in the city. Nevertheless, that is what it eventually became after cyclists in the city concluded that the force was painting cyclists in a negative light.

“We’re introducing #badlyparkedbike to encourage people to think about how and where they lock & leave their bike,” said @CambridgeCops on October 18, following it up with this:

 

 

After a few more examples, cyclists started to feel that the hashtag was more focused on inconsiderate parking than security. Concluding that cars were a bigger problem than bikes in this regard, they started to join in with a few suggestions of their own.

 

 

It was also suggested that many of the examples highlighted by the police – such as bikes locked hanging for a tree – merely served to highlight a lack of bike parking spaces in Cambridge.

 

 

But badly parked vehicles remained the main focus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspector Matt Johnson told Cambridge News that the force wasn’t intending to favour drivers over cyclists. “Inconsiderately parked cycles can cause issues for some, particularly anyone with impaired sight or mobility and those with buggies.”