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news
Taff Trail sign (CC licensed by Andrew Bowden via Flickr).jpgCycling UK accuse police of "victim shaming" for urging cyclists to avoid Taff Trail at night
Cycling UK has accused South Wales Police of ‘victim shaming’ after the force advised cyclists to avoid the Taff Trail following a spate of robberies in recent weeks.
The Taff Trail is a major cycle route into Cardiff and is also popular with walkers and runners. However, it is poorly lit in places and police are investigating seven recent robberies, all of which took place in the area between Sophia Gardens and the Tesco Extra near Western Avenue after dark.
Student accommodation for both Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University backs on to the Taff Trail and it is therefore a popular route for those travelling to and from lectures.
Last week Cardiff Metropolitan University informed its students that in light of the robberies, police had recommended using alternative routes in and out of the city.
South Wales Police’s Twitter account retweeted that message and added that patrols would be “stepped up.”
While the spokesperson didn’t explicitly recommend avoiding the Taff Trail, a follow-up message said: “We'd also urge everyone to take normal precautions whenever they're walking in unlit or poorly lit areas. In the hours of darkness, we always encourage people to stick to well-lit, busy roads.”
Echoing the thoughts of many cyclists who responded on social media, Cycling UK Wales' Gwenda Owen told the BBC that police should be addressing the crime rather than discouraging use of the trail in the evenings.
"The police message that went out is unfortunate," said Owen. "It's victim shaming – it's not addressing the problem."
Responding to the BBC article, a police spokesperson said: “Officers have stepped up patrols on the Taff Trail area of @SWPCardiff following a number of robberies.
“At no point are we victim shaming, this article is disappointing and unbalanced. We have asked the @BBCWalesNews to update it accordingly.”
While it could be argued that South Wales Police has stopped short of advising people to avoid the Taff Trail, its repeated advice to ‘take care and avoid dark unlit areas if possible’ is hard to interpret in any other way.
Cyclists who have expressed concern about riding on busy A-roads have typically received a variant of the stock response about ‘exercising caution’.
Anyone who witnesses any suspicious behaviour has been advised to phone 101, or 999 in an emergency.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
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10 comments
Will more lighting improve security or will it just provide a perception of safety, better visibility for criminals, and more light pollution into the environment?
But, remember, if it stops just one incident then its worth it.
and perhaps the Police could also tweet that they have advised the local council to improve the lighting on said stretch of trail?
I'm surprised by CyclingUk's statement here. It's the sort of I'll-informed bilge I'm more used to seeing directed towards cyclists. If the police had said don't cycle there and weren't doing anything to try and address the problem that'd be one thing, but short of putting officers along the entire route I'm not sure what else they can do.
It's literally their job to keep people safe. They could set up a few concealed cameras and move them around from time to time. Random patrols of a plain-clothes officer on a bike would probably be effective. Maybe even a camera equipped drone or two?
The most immediate way to, literally, keep people safe is to keep them from danger. Longer term they can work to elimiminate the danger. But until such time as the danger is eliminated they would be reckless not to warn people to stay away.
I can understand the pragmatism of issuing a warning, but the police have to do more than just that.
For sure, more is required. I just take issue with the facile comments in the press equating warnings with "victim shaming".
The problem is that they can issue a warning in good faith and then later on it turns into victim blaming when people still use the cycling facilities after dark. It's difficult enough to get some police to take crimes against cyclists seriously, but when they've got a "they used the path despite our advice" get-out clause then it's much worse.
Exactly. "Well, yes, I know you've been mugged, but we did warn you about it, sir..."