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

“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.