Why don't fatal car/cyclist accidents get reported in the news???

[Phill P]

Background



I workmate of mine was riding down a bike lane in Melbourne Australia on a Friday (public holiday) when a car crossed the bike lane to get onto a freeway on ramp, and hit the cyclist from behind. He died the next day (yes he was wearing a helmet).



The driver claims to have not seen him, but by all reports every other car around knew there was a cyclist in the bike lane.



Last year a foolish cyclist who was part of a bunch ride failed to stop at a red light and hit an elderly pedestrian who died at the scene. It was all over the news every day, every news break. During the next two weeks helicopter images of large bunches riding all over the road. They made cyclists out to be a danger on our roads. And it didn't stop for about 2 weeks. Thanks to that unbalanced reporting we now get abuse from cars and people about cyclists being dangerous and a pack of murders.

I even over heard my idiot next door neighbors talking (while I removed our bikes form the back of the car) about how dangerous cyclists are, and they get scared when cyclists are around, and "oh have you seen how they ride down beach road". The bad tv reporting clearly had a public effect on those who don't know better.





Now why when there were 12 cyclists killed on our roads last year and one pedestrian, does the public only hear about the pedestrian? More lives are risked by bad drivers than by bad cycling.



I may go to the extent of writing to the TV companies, the local pollies, and the state bike advocates. The risk to cyclists’ lives by bad drivers should be getting high lighted to the public far more than is currently.

 

[Pharaoh1]

Very sorry to hear about your friend. It seems to be an ever-increasing problem. We've had numerous auto-bike crashes in the Portland metro area recently. Most ending badly for the cyclist of course. Portland is a very pro-cyclist city and in general, the media does right by the cyclists.

That said, the media loves to report on anything that is unusual or different. Just this last week we had an auto vs. cyclist crash where both the driver and the cyclist were drunk. The media ate that one up of course. It's sad to say, but the standard "Cyclist killed by auto" story happens so frequently that it's just not "news" anymore.

Locally there has been a storm of protest about the light sentences that motorists are getting after the killing of a cyclist. If no criminal factors are involved the motorists are just getting small fines. People are working on stiffening the penalty for "careless" driving behavior that injures or kills cyclists, but I'm not holding my breath.

Again, very sorry for your loss.

 

[Retro Grouch]

Uh - aren't you asking the wrong people? Why don't you post that queri to your local newspaper? Asking us is just saying "Ain't it awful" like your unenlightened neighbors were doing.

 

[matagi]

The death of someone close to you is an unfortunate thing regardless of how they die and I offer my condolences for your loss.

This is my opinion only but one reason why car/cyclist accidents might not get reported is because they are not sensational enough. There were 315 fatal road accidents in Victoria in 2005, of these the media reported a handful of them usually multiple fatalities of the "entire family wiped out in horror smash" type. "Cyclist struck from behind, falls to road, suffers fatal head injury" just doesn't have quite the same sensationalist impact. The death of the pedestrian struck by a cyclist was such a freak occurrence the media picked it up and worked it for all they were worth.

 

[Yojimbo_]

Sorry about your friend.

Re the news coverage, let's not forget that it's not about reporting the news, it's about getting ratings so they can sell their commercials / advertisements for more money.

Sensationalism sells. It's that simple.

 

[Bigbananabike]

Very sad about your workmate.

I too(like a poster above) think you're asking the wrong people(look under commmuting section) as you would be better off writing/talking to the media/politicians.

In NZ there was a higher media profile re cyclists for a few weeks last year.
We had 2 cyclists die; 1/ old guy veered out from the side of the road in front of a tourist bus and died. The Asian tourists were particularly upset.
2/ Another cyclist died - a known young racing cyclist. Hit from behind by some looser on a narrow road(and people ask me why I have a helmet mirror....).

There then seemed to be (we don't have a TV, by choice so I miss most of it) some for and against cycling/cyclists coverage.
It seemed to be reasonably balanced; i.e. cycling advocates etc, footage of training cyclists going through a wellknow(to riders) red light(I go through it!!), car drivers moaning, reasons for using bikes etc.

We have this cool thing every year; a race from certain points in Auckland to a central point. What is the best commuting tool race.
Cyclists always win - no matter where from(and no matter how old the rider!). There is a B grade TV guy here who is a fast bike rider(does fun/charity rides etc) who does it which raises the profile but it's always covered by the media anyway as commuting/pollution is newsworthy and something Aucklanders moan about.

I've certainly not noticed any abuse or praise from drivers because of it.

Anyway, that's NZ for you

 

[Phill P]

On the commuting side of things, I rode al over the place in Christchurch, even as a kid. Christchurch is very flat (you wouldn't believe it til you actually see it and think about it), and the roads are pretty wide for the volume of traffic. Add to that the low speed limit on city roads and its pretty cyclist friendly.

I don't ever remember getting the sort of trouble from cars in Christchurch like I do here in Melbourne. Red neck hoons yelling out of windows, horns blewn right next to you, intentional near misses.

I've today written to one of the morning shows here in Australia. They tend to do a lot of "moral" stories and really promoting "global warming" issues. So hopefully they may do something about the dangers on the roads for cyclists. I odn't think the other media out let would be interested because as other have said, its not sensational enough and won't help thier ratings.

Politicians don't like dealing with cycling issues as the end result means spending money on bike lanes. However this didn't help Anton any (he was in a bike lane when hit from behind).

 

[Bigbananabike]

On the commuting side of things, I rode al over the place in Christchurch, even as a kid. Christchurch is very flat (you wouldn't believe it til you actually see it and think about it), and the roads are pretty wide for the volume of traffic. Add to that the low speed limit on city roads and its pretty cyclist friendly.

I don't ever remember getting the sort of trouble from cars in Christchurch like I do here in Melbourne. Red neck hoons yelling out of windows, horns blewn right next to you, intentional near misses.

I've today written to one of the morning shows here in Australia. They tend to do a lot of "moral" stories and really promoting "global warming" issues. So hopefully they may do something about the dangers on the roads for cyclists. I odn't think the other media out let would be interested because as other have said, its not sensational enough and won't help thier ratings.

Politicians don't like dealing with cycling issues as the end result means spending money on bike lanes. However this didn't help Anton any (he was in a bike lane when hit from behind).

==========================================================
Christchurch is a very good place for riding. There are accidents/fatalities but few and there is a history & set up for bikes which counts a lot.

Please write in - it counts. In Auckland we have a cyclists action committee that does as much as they can - they organise the commuting race (above).

We had a very dangerous situation last year. I was in one of our Saturday club races on a windy road in the country. I was in a middle bunch coming back from a turn around when a Holden Commodore ute(probably Mr Macho ) started to overtake us. We couldn't see much ahead as there was a bend coming up. A car came around the corner. The ute dropped behind us. They started to overtake again - closer to the blind corner! One of the following bunches of riders came around the corner....the ute managed to drop back and narrowly avoid them(and by extension us).
It was very bad driving and frightened me and no doubt a number of other riders.
I can still remember their rego number off the top of my head - DUEL. Wouldn't mind torching it in the middle of the night and leaving them a pro cyclists note in the letterbox....but I won't