Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been slammed by cyclists after someone in charge of one of its division's Twitter accounts said cyclists riding bare headed are "asking for trouble" before comparing speeding while driving with cycling helmetless.
Cyclists who spotted the "asking for trouble" tweet by GMP Radcliffe, which appears to have now been deleted, questioned the statement, to which the GMP Radcliffe account added a comparison with not wearing a seatbelt in a car and the hash tag #dicingwithdeath.
When cyclists raised their concerns about comparing illegal activities such as not speeding and not wearing a seatbelt with not wearing a helmet, which is legal , the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police tweeted “both are clearly dangerous”. The tweet, and follow-up responses from GMP’s twitter account have raised concerns about prejudice against cyclists among police officers.
Greater Manchester Police under intense criticism as they host Twitter chat about cycling
The person behind GMP Radcliffe account later admitted the original tweet was ‘worded badly’.
A number of cyclists raised concerns about comparing illegal activities with legal ones, and about officers tweeting personal views, as opposed to taking a more evidence-based approach founded on what the law does and doesn’t permit.
At one point the GMP Radcliffe excused the comparison with the rationale cycle helmets are mandatory in some countries.
When Twitter users raised concerns about the links officers were apparently making between speeding and not wearing a helmet during the during the GMP's #askthechief Twitter session on Wednesday afternoon they were told "both are clearly dangerous".
Some in the twittersphere have called the views victim blaming.
Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment.
"but I had just been stuck for 50 mins, I didn't want to be held up any further"
You had a frame!!?!! Luxury. I started out with 4 twigs and 2 tennis balls...
If that driver still has a job after that then Sainsbury's should be held criminally liable when he inevitably kills someone...
We used to have one but the wheels fell off...
I haven't visited the tweet about this, I suspect it would make me very angry at these people and I would not be able to avoid taking issue with...
Unfortunately effective negative reinforcement is even more lacking than positive reward for Doing The Right Thing......
if only they would stick to burgers, insted of getting involved in town planning.
I doubt the horses in the new forest or dartmoor get cyclist training. But they seem completely indifferent to cyclists. So what are the horse...
exactly. Unless there's something that stops them (oh, wait, black boxes..)
You're right about the bypass though, it makes it much more pleasant to ride through the town at any time of day, including the old road north out...