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Ford’s ‘Share the Road’ campaign leaves cyclists unimpressed

Car manufacturer trying to encourage “a spirit of understanding”

It’s always tricky for a car manufacturer to pull off a cycle safety campaign and Ford doesn’t seem to have got off to a tremendous start with its Share the Road campaign.

Ford says it is trying “to encourage a spirit of understanding and respect between every road user, whether they’re travelling on four wheels or two.”

The launch featured, among other things, a virtual reality experience that allowed those drivers and cyclists who aren’t in the overlapping part of the Venn diagram to experience the roads from one other’s perspectives.

It’s called WheelSwap and Ford says it has been found to “breed empathy and defuse antagonism between cyclists and car drivers”.

However, the campaign’s central message – that if we all ‘Share The Road’ we can make every journey safer, whether on two wheels or four – has left many unimpressed.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker, tweeted:

He also took issue with some of the campaign material.

London Cycling Campaign’s Simon Munk added:

And he was particularly unimpressed by this element of the launch.

President and CEO of Ford Europe, Middle East and Africa, Steven Armstrong commented: “As someone who frequently travels on both two wheels and four wheels, I have experienced first‑hand many of the frustrations – and dangers – that drivers and cyclists encounter on our roads today. The safe integration of increasingly diverse modes of transportation is key to how we make our cities safer and easier for everyone to get about in, now and in the future.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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