Dec 5
- 14:08
- Posted by Nigel Wynn
- comments (59)
Comment: Is there really a War on Britain's Roads?
The BBC's 'War on Britain's Roads', purportedly showing the friction between two and four-wheeled road users, stirred up emotion and anger before it had even been aired on Wednesday night.
It didn't help that the title looked very much like the issue was going to be over-sensationalised. "From everyday incidents that get out of hand between cyclists and motorists, to stories of near-death experiences and fatal collisions, this timely documentary shows the battle between two wheels and four has never been so intense," said the accompanying blurb on the BBC website.
Did it turn out to be, as Ian Austin MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, described it: "stupid, sensationalist, simplistic, irresponsible nonsense"?
The programme opened with a shot of Bradley Wiggins, on his way to winning the Olympic time trial in the summer, with the voiceover reminding us that even the flag-bearer of the surge in popularity of cycling in Britain wasn't beyond being knocked off his bike. Wiggins was hit by a van whilst out on a training ride in November, and spent a night in hospital.
We were then shown footage filmed by Gareth, 24 (web developer) on his helmet-mounted camera. If his edited footage was anything to go by, he is cut up and sworn at with alarming regularity. It has to be said that Gareth wasn't adverse to a bit of confrontation himself in his quest to maintain his space on the road. In one segment he banged on the side of a cab that he deemed to be passing into his lane. The driver stopped, and berated Gareth using words that assured him of some airtime on BBC after the 9pm watershed.
To give a balanced view, there were also segments with taxi drivers and lorry drivers giving their take on cyclists' behaviour. In particular, they quite rightly despised those riders who jump red lights and weave dangerously through traffic.
In between the shaky clips of verbal and physical fisticuffs, there was footage of police officers trying to sort out both sides, all the while being on the roads as cyclists themselves. Much of their duty seemed to involve getting people to simply calm down and be nice to each other.
Sure enough, when everyone had calmed down a bit, got off that ribbon of tarmac and sat in the studio, most turned out to be perfectly reasonable human beings. (Although the programme makers obviously asked the cyclists to wear a cycling top and the car drivers to wear 'normal' clothes in a clumsy move to reinforce which side of the 'war' the speaker belonged to.)
The film made much of its use of head-cam footage shot by 'real' cyclists. However, it has come to light that the footage of cycle messengers flouting the rules of the road through London used at the end of the broadcast was actually shot in 2006 by an American film-maker, Lucas Brunelle.
On the Moving Target messenger zine forum, Brunelle was contacted earlier this year by the programme's maker, Leopard Films, but says that he did not give full consent for the footage to be used. Either way, it was hardly the behaviour of your everyday cyclist in the same way that showing footage of a joyrider cruising at 90mph down the High Street would be representative of the average behaviour of a driver.
The most thought-provoking contribution in the whole film was in stark contrast to the van-side-banging, expletive-fuelled rants of a large portion of the footage. Cynthia Barlow's daughter was killed whilst cycling after she was hit by a cement lorry in London. "What happened to my daughter was not an accident, it was a preventable tragedy," she said.
Barlow is now the chair of RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, and has campaigned tirelessly and effectively to improve safety for cyclists, and other road users. This is someone who has coped with a great and unnecessary loss, and come out of it determined to make the roads a safer place for everyone. She bought shares in the cement company that owned the lorry that killed her daughter, and attended its AGM, where she spoke about the dangers posed by its vehicles leading directly to awareness training for drivers and safety measures being installed on their fleet.
What did the programme really tell us? That it doesn't matter whether you're a cyclist, taxi driver, lorry driver, bus driver or pedestrian - there are people on the roads who don't pay attention to other road users regardless of their mode of transport, and that there are some angry people out there. The overwhelming majority of us, though, just want to get where we're going posing the absolute minimum of danger to ourselves and others. It turned out to be less of a war, and more of a misunderstanding.
"We're just people, sometimes people on bikes, other times people in cars, often both in the same day," said Martin Gibbs, British Cycling's Policy and Legal Affairs Director, in a statement issued before the programme was broadcast.
"We all bear a responsibility for the culture on the roads."
War on Britain's Roads: Watch the film on BBC iPlayer (external link)>>
Did you watch the 'War on Britain's Roads'? Tell us what you thought of the programme in the comment box below.
Related links
MP condemns 'sensationalist' BBC cycling documentary
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mark smith
December 07 17:37
The highway code says vehicles should give cyclists a "vehicle's width" of clearance when over-taking. This never happens on main/city roads. How the taxi driver at the start of the clip could defend being a bit close when he was 6 inches from a cyclist is inexcusable. Cyclists cannot always be in the cycle lane if they need to make a right turn at a junction or if there's a bus/delivery vechile blocking the cycle lane. The guy Gaz while infuriating cars is perfectly entitled to be in the middle of the road as much as a car is if he's not holding up traffic significantly (he said he was often riding at 25-30mph). In the clip shown at the time there was a double-white line in the middle of the road meaning it was not safe to over-take - even a cyclist! A driver going too slow and taking a driving test in the same way you would get a small tick on your driving test (not a fail) if you were not keeping up with other traffic where it was safe to do so. But this guy seemed capable of keeping up with traffic.
Colette
December 08 21:43
I did notice the next day after the programme aired on BBC that during the morning on my normal rural commute the drivers seemed enraged. I normally do not have any problems but it seemed that it had really irritated most drivers. They seemed really aggressive. The evening cycle ride home I got tooted twice - really very unusual. I often find on a Friday evening many car drivers can pull some scary stunts and I have been shouted at for no reason and tooted at to get out off the road. I think more cyclists needed on rural roads and then the driver may go the longer way around in future rather than the cut through rural 'rat runs'.
Fred
December 09 14:14
I could only watch some of this 'documentary' as it made my blood boil, not just because of the aggressive drivers and their clear hatred of cyclists (so many were cabbies and truckers - what a surprise!), but because of the programme being deliberately sensationalist. It was the TV equivalent of trolling. A more sensible documentary would look at practical means to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians alike, with particular reference to countries such as Denmark where cycling is a standard way of getting around, and not seen as a pathological intrusion onto the roads. I was recently in Copenhagen where everyone and her auntie rides, because the road system is designed for cyclists and pedestrians as well as motor vehicles. Cyclists have their own lanes and traffic lights, and have equal rights with other road users. As a result, they feel safer, and it was noticeable that all ages and abilities were on the roads, from kiddies to grannies and all folk in between. It was also noticeable that helmets (whatever you think of them) were worn by a minority of cyclists, again because the roads were safe. Compare Copenhagen to London. Would you see children on bikes on London roads? Would you see old folk? Rarely. Because London roads have become the province of aggressive drivers and hard nut cyclists.
Geoff Powell
December 09 19:35
This would be a good time for the 95% of cyclists (myself included) that are car drivers to educate those cyclists who are not car drivers about what car drivers find frustrating, and downright dangerous about some cyclists actions. As a start, I'd like to state that I am scared sh*tless by cyclists who undertake me at 15mph or faster as I slow down to turn left, even when I'm indicating. I'd remind cyclists to be aware of their braking distance when travelling at that speed through traffic, it's part of the driving test for car drivers and motorcyclists but seems to be ignored by some cyclists. Cars driving at 15mph can and will stop on a sixpence so don't slipstream them. Car drivers aren't angels, but they don't have eyes in the back of their heads, it's easy to miss you at 15mph. I don't care if you go through red lights and get wiped out, but I do have sympathy for the car driver who has to live with the guilt killing someone with a death wish. I also have little sympathy for cyclists who ride up the inside of moving cars that are indicating left, use your common sense! These are just two examples of the actions of cyclists who seem to have no regard for their own safety. I see both of these, regularly. I cycle daily in Oxford, where most students have no lights and no road sense. I'm surprised there aren't more serious injuries than there are. I agree with the comments from Usman, and Nick Cavill. Look after yourself first, cycle defensively, listen for the car with the loud stereo, watch the guy who is in a hurry, slow down a little and turn down your ipod, better still turn it off. The guy who punched the cyclist will punch the next car driver who objects to his driving, he'll always be a prat and he'll always be there. Take care and look after yourself first.
Fran
December 11 15:45
Has anyone noted an increase in road rage since the programme aired? I had never been involved in any unprovoked incidents until this week, when a driver suddenly took a disliking to me, and came speeding, honking and shouting after me. pretty scary stuff!
Simon
December 11 17:38
"quite rightly despised those riders who jump red lights and weave dangerously through traffic." Not sure I've ever seen anyone "weave ... through traffic" who wasn't filtering through stationary or very slow traffic. Which isn't dangerous, and is perfectly legal.
Eric D
December 12 06:12
Good programme. Valid points that need to be made. Statistics can only provide so much comfort when someone is driving at you ! Yes, there is scope for programmes showing glorious sunny days on traffic-free roads; looking at ways of making lorries safer; highway engineering; educating motorists of the 'primary position' 'taking the lane' (aka middle-of-the-road) ; comparing UK, France, Netherlands and Germany; debunking Road-Tax etc. But you can only do so much in an hour, and presenting the problem is the essential starting-point. I think it is clear that attitude and animosity are a large part of the problem, and worth stating that explicitly. LOL at the universal 'I was nowhere near you/completely past you when you smacked my cab' - how long do you think my arm is ? 'A miss is as good as a mile', or 'as much room as a car would take' ? http://www.rudi.net/node/16395 leaks a TFL internal report suggesting it's best not to stop at the stop line. Not clear whether the guys stopped eventually (like the 'Thanks for stopping' PC) or shot the junction if 'safe' to do so. I think Advanced Stop Lines and Feeder Lanes are a trap for the unwary. Now if we had Early Green Lights for bikes only, then they might help.
suzanne
December 12 22:56
Trying to find this documentary online as I missed it last week. It's no longer available on the iPlayer. Anyone know if it's still available online. Thanks
David
March 06 11:33
Vicki's comment is just plain trolling so this is all she is going to get from me. Put down the glass dear. The mere act of riding a bicycle on GB's roads is dangerous as we are forced to save our lives by riding to the far left which is treated as an invitation to pass us even when the drivers themselves think it is a risky thing to do. They see a helmet and think that person knows what they are doing and are not going to deviate from their line. What the drivers do not take into account are the pot holes, oil slicks, glass patches when they pass us so when we have to swerve and get taken down it is all of a sudden a matter of he swerved into me and you have no witnesses when they should have given us room and make allowances for such eventualities. Which is why lots and lots of us are now wearing camera's. Myself included. If this simple act raises car insurance rates then so be it. Price the bastards out of driving and maybe then they will see what we have to go through when they are the ones that have to drive a bike to work. I am tired of you ignorant drivers on your phones, while you expect us to obey the law, and the police not being a presence on the road to enforce the law. Bringing footage to the police is a friggen joke as they won't do anything with it so no wonder why some of us take the law into our own hands and start bashing wing mirrors off. While this act is never justified i might say that some of you drivers actually deserve it for putting our lives at risk because of your impatience. Sometimes i feel like doing it. SMIDNSY, or, sorry mate i did not see you, is not good enough when the person you hit is dead on the floor. But then again the law here in Britain does not think too much of us being dead on the road or some of the perps would get more than a 6 month suspended jail sentence and three points on their license for killing a cyclist. Sentences like that for dangerous and driving without due care are only an insult and put people off of cycling. Rightfully so. If you want to live in the UK then do not cycle. It's that simple. The infrastructure is not there and neither is the political will to change it. A year from now this "issue de jure" will be kicked into the long grass and will have been forgotten about. And another 100 cyclist will have been killed........................................