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Truth the first casualty in BBC's War on Britain's Roads?

Balance and objectivity also reported missing in action as BBC airs controversial documentary

BBC One yesterday evening aired its controversial documentary The War on Britain’s Roads. By inaccurately presenting cyclists and motorists as polar opposites in a bid to sensationalise the issue, the broadcaster missed an opportunity to make a constructive contribution to the road safety debate that is being pursued elsewhere – most notably, in the press, led by The Times, and Parliament, due to the efforts of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group with support from cycle campaigners.

Much of the footage will already be familiar to road.cc users, having been widely viewed on sites such as YouTube for several years in some cases. For the vast majority watching, however, it would have been the first time they’d seen it.

Less than a month ago, AA President Edmund King had called for an end to the ‘two tribes’ mentality that polarises the cycle safety debate between cyclists and motorists. If anyone from the programme’s makers, Leopard Films, read his comments, it didn’t show.

There was no acknowledgement that most adult cyclists also drive cars. No hint that millions of motorists also ride bikes. Cyclists and motorists, it appeared, were enemies, as the programme’s title suggests, though even that was misleading – if there was a combat zone anywhere, it was largely on London’s streets.

We already knew, through feedback from those who’d been given the opportunity of previewing the whole show, that it was likely to be a piece of sensationalist programming that deliberately focused on polarised extremes rather than trying to present a balanced picture of the everyday reality of cycling.

In the past days, the BBC was urged to review some of the programme’s content, in particular a segment of six-year-old footage, which as road.cc recently revealed was shot by professional American documentary maker Lucas Brunelle, of alleycat racing through London’s streets. The footage was released commercially as a DVD through his website after originally being posted to YouTube.

In the final version of last night’s documentary, the programme makers mentioned in passing that it reflected “extreme behaviour” – certainly well short of the kind of clarification that had been sought and that use of the footage warranted.

Among those who pressed the BBC to review the content of the documentary, efforts intensifying yeterday as transmission time approached, was Carlton Reid, executive editor of BikeBiz, who in an article on that site catalogues those approaches made to the broadcaster to have the show’s content toned down. Handily, he sets out how you can complain, and provides some of the BBC guidelines the programme is said to have ignored.

We don’t know whether the London cyclist shown weaving in and out of a queue of near-stationary traffic at speed, before aiming for a non-existent gap between a double decker bus and a pick-up truck – it seems a miracle he wasn’t killed – was playing out exactly that kind of alleycat scene in his head. The BBC’s editorial guidelines, citing Ofcom rules, are clear though that reckless behaviour some might be tempted to imitate is out of bounds.

The single most powerful moment in the programme was also the one that gave its makers the opportunity to explore, briefly and inadequately, the road safety angle without resorting to sensationalising it.

Stop-frame CCTV footage showed the moment when cyclist Alex Barlow was killed by a cement mixer on London Wall in 2002. It was chilling viewing. The programme focused on the efforts of her mother, Cynthia, who had given permission for that footage to be used, to improve lorry safety, beginning with the company that owned the truck that had killed her daughter. Those segments gave a glimpse of what the programme could have been.

A surprising moment came at the end, when a taxi driver of five decades’ standing, who during the programme had pointed out various pieces of misbehaviour by cyclists such as jumping red light, revealed that he had actually come to realise just how vulnerable cyclists are on the city’s streets after his own grandson lost his life.

That vulnerability was clearly shown in the helmetcam footage provided by the likes of Cyclegaz, Magnatom and Traffic Droid, who have each developed a strong following among cyclists on YouTube, with near miss after near miss shown.

But constant references to cyclists ‘taking matters into their own hands’ made it sound as though it was the bike riders themselves who were doing something wrong.

Also lost was the reason why the likes of Cyclegaz perhaps come across as a bit shouty – any rider who has had a large vehicle pass that close to them, where a couple of inches nearer could result in serious injury or worse, will have experienced that rush of adrenalin mixed with shock and fear.

Pedestrians - whose casualty numbers far exceed those of cyclists, with more than four times as many killed last year in rioad traffic incidents, itself a 12 per cent increase on 2010 - were hardly acknowledged, other than one woman shown being hit from behind by a bicycle on a shared use path when without looking, she suddenly moved sideways and into the path of the cyclist who had changed direction to go round her.

By pure coincidence, the programme that preceded War on Britain’s Roads, an episode of the documentary series Supersized Earth contained a segment about a London bike courier called James. No footage of him weaving in and out of traffic, no angry encounters with motorists.

In fact, the only thing anyone could begrudge him was the fact that due to the 50 or 60 miles he reckons he puts in on a typical day, he can eat like a horse without putting any weight on. Cyclists, eh?
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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69 comments

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Roberj4 replied to NorthEastJimmy | 11 years ago
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NorthEastJimmy wrote:

"other than one woman shown being hit from behind by a bicycle on a shared use path when without looking, she suddenly moved sideways and into the path of the cyclist who had changed direction to go round her."

Disappointed with this comment as I feel it's down to the cyclist to make others aware of your presence, in this case the cyclist didn't use a bell or politley shout out. You can't expect everyone to walk in straight lines, we're not robots.

I cycle both roads and various types of shared cycle paths and it really frustrates me when I see other cyclists just bomb it without regard to others...kind of how some car drivers can be around cyclists on roads.

Well said sir! This cyclist was in the wrong again riding to fast and should have shouted out, the same situation when you've horse riders ahead of you, make other pedestrians etc in front of you aware your behind.

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a.jumper replied to Littlesox | 11 years ago
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Littlesox wrote:

Comments about being brave and taking a strong position in the road smacked of the sort of idiotic antics performed by 19 year olds in hot hatch-backs.
[...]
Some of these clowns need to understand road-craft, the Highway Code and human nature.

You are a clown AICM5P.

So-called "taking the lane" is recommended road-craft, isn't it? The programme was wrong to make it sound anti-social. Another way it stank.

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pralston | 11 years ago
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Two journos in the same room couldn't agree what colour the ceiling is... a lot of noise about nothing, the program was a "good effort".
PaulR

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dave atkinson | 11 years ago
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a "good effort"? or a good effort?  3

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CycleGringo | 11 years ago
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I thought the documentary was well balanced overall. In my personal view however as a cyclist I do think that some cyclist that post videos on YouTube do so for the notoriety of it all. Not all of them but some.

If anything it was a good bit of PR by the cement company who at least are doing something about the issue of large vehicles having a blind spot. If more firms could follow then that would be great but I guess like anything its down to money to invest in the changes needed.

With regards to alleycat racing on the bikes going in and out traffic they just give cycling a bad name. I understand the BBC may have used it out of context. However what is the idea about riding like that about a city? Sure it looks fun but personally the whole fixed cycling with no brakes idea on the road is just asking for trouble...I myself leave it to the velodrome.

Quite an educational bit from the BBC, so thumbs up to all involved.

Just to mention it is mad out there on the bike , car or foot lol. You just have to deal with it and smile, keep the head and get on with it or maybe move to Copenhagen  3

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Stumps | 11 years ago
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I enjoyed the programme as it showed we, as cyclists, are not all angels and likewise for drivers.

Hopefully this will have started other tv companies thinking and we will have similar ilk style programmes.

We have to face facts though and that is drivers will always come first until someone "famous or important", and i'm talking about the likes of a politician or major celebrity, gets seriously hurt before things will begin to change.

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Posh | 11 years ago
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Can everyone stop using the "W" word. It just perpetuates the us and them mind set, these are all "road users". This program was as series of bad practice by both cyclists, motorists and the occational pedestrian. Not a balanced view of the roads as a whole.
Although this is unlikely to get beyond this column perhaps it's time that everyone reviewed the highway code and then applied the rules (when was the last time you read them?). Working to a common policy means that all others know what to expect and not have to interpret manouvres as they occur often in a split second.
Being both a cyclist and motorist I'm fully aware of who feels and IS the most vulnerable.
Perhaps Aunty Beeb can now put together a documentary showing the delights and benefits of cycling?
Ride/Drive safely.

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johnnycookie | 11 years ago
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Its not al bad - the evening of the show I was out on a ride. Firstly I encountered an extremely agressive bus driver who decided that turnig left into a cyclist was a "clever" idea. He then gave me "the finger" ( albeit well concealed from his on board camera ) which unfortunately I replied to! Two miles later he "calmly" asked me why I had given him sign language. I swore at him but luckily quickly realised he had his camera on me. Very cunning - some people are so brave when surrounded by three tonnes of metal.

Five miles later a car was across the cycle path ( legally as he exited a side street ). Upon seeing me he reversed to give me right of way. I thanked him with a wave of my hand and he beeped his acknowledgement - a real gentleman.

POINT - it is balanced out there but be careful we as cyclists are VERY vunerable. Don't provoke anyone - it could end up with you in hospital.

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Roger Geffen | 11 years ago
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I've posted two blogs about this:

* The first was written before the show was broadcast, based on the preview version I had seen:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/roger-geffen/war-on-britain%E2%80%99s-roads-m...

* The second was written immediately after it had been broadcast, with some quite important amendments. It suggests how we can best respond, given that all but one of the most serious bones of contention were edited out of the final broadcast version, thus averting a number of potential complaints under BBC's editorial guidelines:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/roger-geffen/bbc%E2%80%99s-war-on-britain%E2%....

As you'll see, we have instead urged people to write to the BBC calling for them now to put together a positive programme, about the joys of cycling and the very real progress now being made to start a revival of a cycling culture in the UK.

To road.cc readers: do please join in!

Roger Geffen
CTC, the national cycling charity
www.ctc.org.uk/campaigns

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