Panorama, BBC1 tonight. 8.00pm

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Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
Maybe they should have asked what they thought of horse riders - I has some pratt on Sunday stuck behind me briefly and could not wait to over rev pass in completely the wrong gear using up too much of that expensive stuff they run on.
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
No-one watching that will be encouraged to cycle.

As for cycling infrastructure, I'm torn. It shouldn't be needed at all, if drivers would play nice. But they don't play nice, so we get some half baked useless "facilities" which we are then expected to use, and incur the wrath of drivers if we don't.

Some proper enforcement of the law, and deterrent sentences for law breakers would help, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
 
I saw this as going to be on and immediately sighed. Had to switch Radio Norfolk off this morning as they were basically just inviting people on to have a pop a cyclists. I just don’t get what it is about the simple act of jumping on a bicycle that enrages so many Brits- it really is very odd.

At a guess, perhaps it’s jealousy. They’ve bought into this mythical freedom dream, egged on by ridiculous car ads, of empty, open roads and nothing in the way, spending absurd amounts of cash on vehicles they can’t afford, only to get stuck in gridlock. Then they spot us, whistling past them, wind in our hair, barely a care in the world, and they feel (quite rightly) they’ve been had. Shame.

Folk don't like anything that's different its just closet racism. I hate programs like tonight's they just stir it all up again and divide society more; they do nothing to make folk think about other people and lives.
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
Seen enough.
-Are you glad they ripped out the cyclie path he asks a driver stuck in gridlock -“ yeh cos it keep the traffic moving”:wacko:
-Driver - “That cyclist should be in the bus lane” - camera pans across to lane rammed with parked up buses.
The gammon is way too strong on this one.

Yeah I know right! The guy was sitting/stopped/stuck in traffic while saying "it's good they ripped up the bike lane which gets traffic moving" (paraphrased). I thought Richard Bilton was going to nail him right there and say "errr, but you are stuck in traffic." I would love to have seen the look on the driver!

I cringed at the "MAMIL" reference but I guess it's in the British psyche (thanks, media) so that's us now.

On the whole though, just having 30 minutes of air-time, I thought they done a reasonably good job at giving both points of view. They had to give the car drivers air-time to bash the cyclists, and vice versa. Richard should have questioned that newspaper guy (whatshisnameagain) a bit more on his views.
The car drivers should have been challenged with their opinions but then there was that lady who went the wrong way across a roundabout. Regardless of my mode of transport, I can see that lady done the wrong thing and caused a crash but I wonder how many driving-only viewers can open their minds and say "Hey, that driver was clearly in the wrong."

If Richard Bilton could get an hour of air-time for this program, it might have been able to challenge some of the misguided opinions of the car drivers. Or perhaps someone with a stronger "I'm not taking this crap" personality. On the whole, I thought it was pretty ok.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
But what was the point?

you expect anything from the mainstream media to actually change anything ?
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
Folk don't like anything that's different its just closet racism. I hate programs like tonight's they just stir it all up again and divide society more; they do nothing to make folk think about other people and lives.

I wonder how many punishment passes (just for being a cyclist), verbal abuse (for being a cyclist), or even cyclists being deliberately knocked off their bikes will happen as a direct result of last night's programme.

There are bound to be some knuckle draggers who watched that and thought " yeh, they're right, I hate cyclists too. And if I hit one at a roundabout, or even kill a couple of 'em on a country road, I'll walk out the court with a fine and a ban (that I will ignore and never get caught anyway)."
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
I had a look at a Panorama Twitter feed, a lot of support for cyclists and one motorist saying it had made them more aware of cyclists issues.

Good that something positive has come out of it. But it's unlikely that the knuckle draggers will post THEIR feelings. And as we are well aware, it's already the case that 99.99% of drivers are fine with cyclists, or at least tolerate us. It only takes that one idiot to cause a close pass, or worse.
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
Good that something positive has come out of it. But it's unlikely that the knuckle draggers will post THEIR feelings. And as we are well aware, it's already the case that 99.99% of drivers are fine with cyclists, or at least tolerate us. It only takes that one idiot to cause a close pass, or worse.

I think that Panorama is unlikely to be what the "knuckle draggers" watch in the evening.
 
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