Sign of the Times

Sign of The Times? Does the media have a morbid fascination with cycling? http://www.etatrust.org.uk/2012/11/why-does-the-media-have-a-morbid-fascination-withcycling/

As The Times announces this week that it is to fund a report into why more people do not cycle, might it be that the newspaper’s own campaign to improve road conditions for urban cyclists is both a hindrance as well as a help? Cycling infrastructure is the nuts and bolts of a bicycle-friendly city. Well-designed roads and frequently-maintained cycling facilities are a joy to use and have been shown to encourage people to embrace life on two wheels. However, when it comes to reasons why people don’t cycle, the absence of good infrastructure pales in comparison to the commonly-held belief that cycling is a hazardous activity.

Coverage in The Times this week By its own admission, the Times was prompted to start a cycling safety campaign on a personal basis; following a serious road traffic collision between a lorry and the bicycle ridden by Times correspondent Mary Bowers, the paper launched Cities Fit for Cycling. The initiative was no a flimsy, knee-jerk reaction. Following

consultations with cycling organisations and safety campaigners the paper issued the following manifesto:

Cities Fit for Cycling • Lorries entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible lorry-turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under wheels • The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side • A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety • The highways agency should earmark 2 per cent of its budget for next generation cycle routes, providing £100m a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision • The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test • The default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes should become 20mph • Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling superhighways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London • Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms These reforms are laudable, long overdue and the momentum generated by the campaign has been impressive. The manifesto has been discussed in parliament,

all three major parties have pledged support, tens of thousands have signed a petition and the story continues to enjoy unprecedented levels of newspaper coverage. And there’s the rub. The alarmist headlines that accompany the coverage risk reinforcing the fear that stops people taking to two wheels in the first place. Of even greater concern is the possibility that newspaper articles in which the tiny statistical risk of being killed on a bicycle is over-played become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The greater the number of cyclists on the roads on bicycles, the safer it becomes. Only this week, The Times newspaper’s coverage of the campaign makes a rather surreal and unhelpful comparison between the number of British soldiers killed and injured in Afghanistan and cyclists killed on our roads.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself The front page headline that heralded the start of the campaign screamed, Save our Cyclists, but according to the statistics buried inside the same edition of the paper, the casualty rate for cyclists is one killed for every 88 million miles travelled; a figure that equates to over 35,000 years of riding for a cyclist riding 10 miles a day. The Times deserves praise for taking a proactive and rigorous position in support of the bicycle, but given the degree of irrational fear felt by those who never, or very rarely, ride a bike, perhaps we cyclists should issue the a manifesto of our own to encourage the media to portray cycling in a positive light. How about the following as guidelines for newspaper editors? • Avoid inadvertently communicating only the risks of cycling – campaigns for safer roads are vital, but remember that they are to the benefit of us all, not only cyclists • Avoid banging on about cycle helmets. Or in the interests of fair play, lobby for pedestrians to wear them too • This one is controversial, but how about some positive stories about cycling? We realise that good news doesn’t sell papers, but even more important than changing

road layouts is changing minds. The coverage doesn’t have to evangelical. In fact, any tone other than morbid would be a relief • The portrayal of all cyclists as lycra louts is lazy – not every car driver is a boy racer • Portraying road danger as something that affects only cyclists reinforces the notion that cycling is too risky to be considered a viable alternative to taking the car, bus or train. Please stop doing this. Why does the media have a skewed view of cycling? What would you add to our media manifesto?