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news
Dublin's College Green (source Paddy Smyth on YouTube).JPGCampaigners slam iconic Irish TV show after anti-cycling rant
Iconic Irish TV programme the Late Late Show has been slammed by cycling campaigners following an anti-cycling rant during Saturday evening’s transmission.
One guest on this week’s programme, an institution on TV in the Republic of Ireland since it was first broadcast by RTE in 1962, likened cyclists to “farm animals.”
Another compared cyclists to “trash.”
Dublin Cycling Campaign has now lodged an official complaint to regulators over comments of guests Maura Derrane and James Kavanagh in the segment, and against the show’s host, Ryan Tubidry.
Derrane, who also works at RTE, had said: “I like cycling, but one thing that really bothers me is three or four cyclists abreast ... on a country road where there's no need.
"Because I mean, are you in competition with a car? You're never going to be faster, and it's almost to piss people off that they do it. I know that."
In their complaint, Dublin Cycling Campaign said the comments made in the show were in contravention of Principle 5 of the Code of Programme Standards of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which says “programme material shall not stigmatise, support or condone discrimination or incite hatred against persons or groups in society.”
They added: “We also expect the Late Late Show to broadcast a public apology on its next show and counter the misinformation that it broadcast, specifically about the issue of cycling two abreast which is perfectly legal behaviour on Irish roads.”
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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119 comments
??? What on earth are you talking about
Perhaps if you'd learn to use the quote facility, we'd have the faintest idea what on earth you are talking about.
Ohh get you, you're a sassy one. This ok for you? sorry for breaking any forum etiquette.
So you disagree with me and feel the need to pathetically suggest I need to visit a prostitute??? I repeat what on earth are you going on about?
Whoosh. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
I’ve had plenty of incidents I can assure you. I’m pretty sure the person that ran you off the road picked up the line from Clarkson but not the behaviour
We're now talking about cognitive bias and that's a huge rabbit hole I'm not going down. I'm not offended by what the morons on that show said nor do I feel threatened by it is all I'm saying
But peddling bias against a group of individuals is not supposed to be the role of mainstream stations or media. You not feeling threatened is ok, but you don't represent everybody and also if behaviours are changing to make enforcement more difficult, punishment more lenient and acceptance of cyclists as an out group acceptable then I'm afraid you are becoming more threatened.
I disagree there is always going to be contempt on the road and there has been for some time this is not a new phenomena. In fact I'd say there is more out there now encouraging more respect for cyclists than before. You're right I don't represent others nor do I want to. I just don't see the big deal here sorry for going against the tide on this one
And yet the amount of car use continues to increase, while other modes remain stagnant. Seems like this 'more out there now encouraging more respect' doesn't seem to be as significant as you think.
Nobody's going to gulags, but there might be a small increase in aggression from motorists and hence injuries among cyclists, and more importantly, such attitudes, if unchallenged are hardly going to help in reducing car-dependency and all the adverse health concequences that stem from it.
Excessive car-dependency is a serious health problem, so those who further it are doing harm. Whether you personally feel 'threatened' by these comments is irrelevant
And your point is...?
? It's quite clear what my point is I don't see the big deal about two twats on a couch having a go at cyclists
What's your point here?
Nope you don't appear to have a point.
I do people are over reacting. Don't try and resort to pedantics
I suspect your only point is that you are someone who dare never admit they might be vulnerable to the actions of others when on the road...But I fail to see what that has to do with the need to get more people out of cars for the good of public health and the environment...carry on emphasising your toughness if it makes you happy, it's just entirely irrelevant to the topic.
Nope. The article is about an anti cyclist rant on a TV show. It had nothing to do with public health or the environment or does that have to be shoehorned in to everything
An anti-cyclist rant is defacto a pro-driving rant. That has everything to do with public health and the environment.
Really? What about rants about Sunday drivers or white van drivers
What about them? Are those groups vulnerable to aggression on the roads or are they safely inside metal boxes? Is there a need to get more people to take up Sunday driving or becoming white van drivers, so we don't want to dissaude people from doing that?
I don't think every criticism of cyclists is pro car anti environment driven sometimes people get pissed off because the see you as an inconvenience or because they are just a shitty person
It wasn't a criticism, it was an unsubstantiated bias rant, that's the point. To take it back to other points you seemed not to like (i.e. comparing it to racism) if the 2 panellists had said "sharing an office space with black people is not appropriate as they're all criminals"; would that be ok?
The reason I don't like that comparison is because in my opinion it's utterly ridiculous. Some things can't be compared it's not like for like
How are people over-reacting? There was a national talk show that was used to spout a hateful agenda without any attempt at impartiality or balance and people are calling them out for it. That sounds like exactly the right reaction to me - if they'd responded with violence, then that would be over-reacting.
It may not define who you are but it can define the way others see you and treat you, when this group is portrayed in a certain light then you can be perceived as different and/or a menace, less value to society, less important etc.
We are all potentially guilty of it, I don't have many friends who are church-goers but if one was to come on a bike ride with us I may feel they were less tolerant of swearing, may not party hard down the pub etc. Not necessarily true, but my ignorance will have been established by external influences over a long period of time...
There have been some good campaigns about seeing a cyclist as a mother, sister, daughter etc. rather than an 'inconvenience'...
I ride a bike it doesn't define who I am. I don't box myself or anyone else. I don't like what they said but it doesn't bother me I don't feel less safe because of it in fact i'd be disappointed if they apologised for it. Or maybe the solution is to publicly shame them and make sure they lose their livelihood that seems the way forward
It doesn't matter whether riding a bike defines who you are, to you.
To some but not all motorists, if they see you riding a bike then you are A Cyclist. They are not to know that the rest of the week you drive a car and are therefore 'one of them' - at that moment, when they see you riding a bike, you have become a member of an out group and some but not all motorists see that as reason enough to punish you.
(I suppose you could buy a tabard with "My other bike is an Audi" on the back or something to avoid that happening...
)
Errbud, well done on dropping in that you have a bike, some would question you as a cyclist if you think things are ok on the roads because clearly they are not.
BTBS made a brilliant point about the victim blaming element and changing terminology from cyclist to homosexual; you seem to ignore it.
There are all kinds of subtle messaging in the media you are faced with every day, Mo eats Quorn thus if Joe Average does he'll be an athlete... Think ofprogrammes like 'Benefits Street' where they show out of work people not looking as disabled as they claim, not seemingly actively seeking work, smoking drinking etc. Then when you walk past the job centre the next day, see if it annoys you when you see them. Or receive a phone call about an elderly relative in ill health as thei op has been cancelled yet a benefits receiving alcoholic gets a new liver, annoyed yet? Painiting the worst of a group as the norm is ridiculously dangerous.
Can you be sure that not one of the motorists that watched this programme behaved slightly differently on the roads the next day asm they'd been informed about these 'bloody cyclists' being a menace?
Some people on the road are going to act like an arsehole regardless. Motorist v motorist aggression is at an all time high which is strange as they're both 'team motorist' right? I've had abuse on my bike and whilst driving my car big deal.
Motorists abusing cyclists does have an impact on less confident cyclists and can often persuade them to not cycle anymore. I appreciate that you're so strong and hardy and magnificent that you just laugh in the face of danger, but maybe you should be using some of that strength to protect more vulnerable people? After all, it can be a big deal to some people and even when it's not a big deal, it's still bullying behaviour from the motorists and should not be put up with.
Stand up to bullies - don't make excuses for them.
Haha ignorant? I don't throw a hissy fit because someone made a shitty comment on a shitty chat show? People equating it to racism??? wtf! relax and get a grip. Find an actual outrage to be outraged about
Going off on a bit of a tangent, I passed a group ride yesterday that were riding three abreast. They were heading in the opposite direction to me (I was in a car) and because they were taking up so much of the width of their carriageway it resulted in technically a close pass on my behalf (though there was nowhere I could have gone).
It shows how strong the 'those people are in my space' instinct is when driving. Maybe just let it go.
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