Cyclist "collided with car" again.

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PBancroft

Senior Member
Location
Winchester
User said:
Yep! Such sloppy reporting, where the inference always appears to be that the cyclist is at fault, really pisses me off too.

Contact the BBC and complain.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I see it now says "was in collision with" which is rather more ambiguous... Has it changed since people complained? If so, result.

It is of course possible that the cyclist did collide with the car, although perhaps less likely than the other way about. But "was in collision with" is better on such skimpy information...
 

PBancroft

Senior Member
Location
Winchester
Arch said:
I see it now says "was in collision with" which is rather more ambiguous... Has it changed since people complained? If so, result.

It is of course possible that the cyclist did collide with the car, although perhaps less likely than the other way about. But "was in collision with" is better on such skimpy information...

I contacted the BBC as well. I said the phrase "he collided with" does not suggest that the Police are still investigating, or even that the driver of the car collided with him (more likely considering the grave injuries, but it would still be unfair to make assumptions).

I received the following response...

BBC NewsOnline Errors said:
Peter,

As a cyclist, I couldn't agree more, and it's certainly not our style to
use the term in this way. I've asked for it to be corrected.

Kind regards,

Ian Jolly
News website

So, thank you Mr. Jolly. Give that man a promotion!
 
OP
OP
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spindrift

New Member
Good work lasses and lads.
 

jmaccyd

Well-Known Member
Good result. I have noticed this type of wording in the local press a few months ago when a cyclist was killed after a collision. It enraged me at the time but it didn't really occur to me that complaining would do any good. I will not let it slide next time!
 

goo_mason

Champion barbed-wire hurdler
Location
Leith, Edinburgh
bonj said:
don't get it - so is "collision" not a politically correct term now then?

Nah - it makes it sound like the cyclist pedalled into the car, rather than a car driving into a cyclist. The fun of semantics. Try saying "a car collided with a cyclist" - that makes it sound like the car was the active participant and the cyclist the passive receiver.

Or replace 'collided' with 'crashed into' and see the meaning change even more clearly.
 
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