Advocacy groups actually advocating: An open letter from BN (aka BV)

[Thoglette]

https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsr ... the-media/

14 DECEMBER 2018
An open letter to the media

An open letter to The Age, Herald Sun, Channel 9, Channel 7, Channel 10, the ABC, 3AW and Police media

Dear media,

This year, six people have been killed while riding a bike in Victoria. With 18 days still left in 2018, everyone is hoping no-more lives are lost.

In at least five of those cases, the media has reported the tragedy in a way that either de-humanises the person killed or could be viewed as victim blaming.

The way bike rider fatalities are reported upsets and angers many people. Clearly the person who has lost their life deserves to be treated with more dignity and respect. It’s time for the Victorian media to change and lead the way.

There are three small changes you could make when reporting on the death of a person riding a bike that would make a massive difference.

The first is stop using the word accident. It makes it sound inevitable: like nothing could’ve been done to avoid it. Until the authorities have sorted out what happened, best practice is to use the word crash. Of course, if charges are laid, then the language can change to reflect the crime.

The second is stop referring to the person killed as a cyclist. It makes it sound like they were a sub-species, perhaps not even human. If it’s not appropriate to identify the person by name when the fatality is reported, it’s far better to describe them as a person riding a bicycle. We are all people first, how we choose to get around should be second.

The third is reporting that ‘a vehicle hit a person riding a bike’. It’s even worse to say a ‘cyclist hit a car’. There was a person driving the vehicle. Our vehicles can’t drive themselves —yet. It’s much better to say the other party to the crash was ‘a person driving a car’.

You could dismiss this as mere semantics. You could just keep doing the same thing and think that actions speak louder than words. But when you work in media you know better than anyone that the pen is mightier than the sword.

To put it simply, all we’re asking that instead of reporting that “a cyclist was killed in an accident when they were hit by a car”, you write “a person riding a bike was tragically killed in a crash with a vehicle driven by a person”.

Of course, even when reading the modified report of a fatality, the pain, loss and despair of losing another person riding a bike on our roads is still there.

But changing the way we report it, adding some compassion and sensitivity helps take away some of the anger towards the media. It’s just one less thing to cope with at an awful time.

Regards,

Craig Richards, CEO - Bicycle Network

Anthea Hargreaves, General Manager Public Affairs - Bicycle Network

This letter has been circulated to all major media outlets in Victoria.

[Thoglette]

Two in one day. I'm going to have to have a little sit down.

Mind you, Craig Richards lets the plod off rather lightly, given what was been unearthed by Cameron Frewer and others


https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsr ... cing-unit/

14 DECEMBER 2018
Calls for a special passing distance policing unit

Bicycle Network is calling for the introduction of a special policing unit to enforce the safe passing of people who ride bikes on the road.

A key ask of Bicycle Network’s pre-budget submission for 2019-20 in New South Wales and Victoria is not only the introduction of the law in Victoria but a program of active enforcement and widespread education.

Bicycle Network would like to see state governments in both states invest in an enforcement program that mirrors the successful Operation Close Pass by West Midlands Police in the UK.

The award-winning program involves plain clothes police officers on bikes equipped with cameras that alert uniformed colleagues of close passes or other instances of poor driving. Drivers are then offered road-side education but repeat offenders, or dangerous drivers can be prosecuted.

Since the introduction of Operation Closs Pass in the UK, the number of bike riders killed or seriously hurt on the region’s roads has dropped by a fifth, with almost 200 drivers stopped, 13 prosecuted and an additional 350 fined through a review of helmet and dash-cam footage.

Implementing a similar program in Victoria or NSW would require the police to set up a special traffic policing unit to target driver behaviour towards bike riders. The unit would also be responsible for establishing an online portal and processing online reports of close pass drivers.

Recently revealed data in NSW found that between March 2016 and May 2018, only 65 traffic infringement notices were issues for unsafe passing. This is despite a survey conducted by the Dulwich Cycling Club which found that many bike riders in NSW encountered drivers disregarding the safe passing distance rule.

A current petition of state governments across Australia has nearly 12,000 signatures of people who believe that more can be done to enforce minimum passing distance laws.

Sign the petition here

Bicycle Network was also recently overwhelmed with a large number of alarming close pass videos sent in by both members and the general public.

Bicycle Network CEO Craig Richards sympathized with under resourced police in both states but acknowledged that more can and must be done to protect people who ride.

“The risk from a close passing vehicle to a vulnerable person on a bike is something our governments can’t continue to ignore.

“It’s clear that police are facing a number of challenges enforcing safe passing or minimum passing distance laws.

It’s time we recognised that this is a specialist area that requires a dedicated team within our existing police force to the lead the way,” Mr Richards said.

“The successful West Midlands Police program shows that active enforcement and education is possible with the right investment and resources.”

In addition to an enforcement program, Bicycle Network also asks for funding for a state-wide Ride2School program, a bike infrastructure fund and support for cycling tourism.

Read Bicycle Network's state budget submissions.

NSW pre-budget submission
VIC pre-budget submission

MPDL Enforcement in Tasmania
Learn more about the work we're doing with Tasmanian Police around enforcement of minimum passing distance law and evidence collection.

Read more

[g-boaf]

Must be some pressure on them. Are members threatening a mutiny?

[human909]

Bicycle Network has been moving this direction for a while. Changes in leadership and most likely member and community feedback have probably had a fair bit of influence. Their review of MHLs another indication of a more open minded approach to their previous approaches.

IMO they hit a bit low when they advocated for INCREASED fines for cyclists in Victoria. Which apparently would lead to motorists respecting cyclists more. I'm still waiting...

But from that low they have improved alot. And I'm partially optimistic that they will continue along this path. There are not too many other advocacy groups that regularly fund lawyers to fight court battles on the behalf of cyclists who get fined.

[zebee]

I think you are pushing the brown stuff uphill with the "person" thing.

Why? number of letters.

Ain't no subeditor going to take up column space with a non-quote "person driving a car" when "car" or "vehicle" is fewer letters and reads better. Same same "cyclist" compared to "person riding a bike". A quoted statement maybe but not the actual report.

They want the information in a couple of sentences of few words and those short. Grab the next 100 informational articles (not op ed) in the paper print or online of your choice and see what is in the first 2 or 3 sentences and how they are structured.

If you want the words changed, find terms as short as the ones you want to replace.

[fat and old]

A noble gesture, but doomed to fail. As zebee pointed out, the media will always take the easy route. Evidence:

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australi ... spartanntp

Look at the photo. Supposedly a dodgy roofer, yeah? Dark shades, checked shirt, bit of a gut. On a roof!. Look closer.....smoke haze all around, hose on the roof......it's a pic of some bloke ready to defend his house during a bushfire! I even remember seeing that pic (which is probably staged tbh).


Good luck with the media.

[RobertL]

Must be some pressure on them. Are members threatening a mutiny?

Anne Savage took over as Bicycle Qld CEO earlier this year, and has proved herself to be an absolute human dynamo. I reckon that the other states are being shown up by her and have had to react.

[Cycleops70]

Anne Savage took over as Bicycle Qld CEO earlier this year, and has proved herself to be an absolute human dynamo. I reckon that the other states are being shown up by her and have had to react.

I have to agree with you.
I'm in WA & I've been unsuccessful at getting any support or engagement from either Westcycle or BWA.
But Anne has stepped in to help me out.

It's just shameful that I can't get my own state "advocacy" organisations to assist me, & I have to look to the other side of the country for help.
And I'm a BWA member!

[antigee]

not sure if that letter is actually cycling advocacy?..I would expect a body like BN (exBV) to have reasonable relationships with senior people in media outlets and a few examples of the potential impact of the words journalists choose to use could be discussed over a coffee and/or doughnuts rather than held up in public as a demand...whiffs of self promotion to disillusioned BN members

[AUbicycles]

The move on the media language has been gathering momentum for a while - in the forum it has been discussed for years although this rarely transfers directly to media influence (though media reach out to me regularly, mostly I pass this on to relevant advocacy bodies).

Cycle has also been pushing media for more appropriate language and from time to time, an advocacy body will make a specific point. With journalists known to the outlet, these can take on the messaging though are not necessarily the 'daily report types' who cover traffic emergencies and tragedy. For those, there is a style of language which may take time to shift because they are attempting to convey certain details while refraining from making certain judgements... but there are implications.

Media won't appreciate being told how to report - even if the underlying sentiments and even ethical direction is correct. While I hope that the 'media suggestion' doesn't work against cycling advocates - I understand these as visions to try and propel the organisations efforts into the coming year.

[opik_bidin]

https://www.bicycling.com/news/a2004993 ... rame-them/

“When there’s a crash that involves a bike, it seems to be more newsworthy than a crash involving two cars or even a car and a pedestrian,” Roskowski says. “There’s more attention paid to them.”

And then there’s the victim-blaming that happens almost immediately.

“You see it in the comments, but it also happens more subtly in the coverage of the crash when the writers immediately go to, ‘Were they wearing a helmet, were they wearing reflective clothing?’” Roskowski says. “On the one hand, it’s ingrained to ask those questions, but it’s also insidious because it shifts the thinking to what could the cyclist have been done to prevent the crash. Helmets have some potential role in the severity of the injury, but often the force is so immense that the helmet is not going to change the outcome.”

It’s all part of this idea of shifting the responsibility to the person on the bike before the facts are known, Roskowski says. And where better to do this than immediately—in the article’s headline? We’ve written about this before in our support of the #CrashNotAccident petition.

“The use of the word 'accident' implies no one meant to do anything,” Roskowski says. “We use accident in just three places: car crashes, workplace accidents, and little kids getting potty-trained. We don’t use it with plane crashes, train crashes—but for some reason we jump to absolving the driver of blame with language from the beginning, and then the line of thinking goes right to, ‘that person on the bike shouldn’t have been there.’”