Truth the first casualty in BBC's War on Britain's Roads?

I was looking forward to this BBC program hoping it would be a good opportunity for the BBC to generate a positive approach to cyclist from car drivers, truck, taxis and bus drivers, after watching it I am not totally sure it has, I ride to work most days and it has make me think twice on any risky manoeuvres as I weave my way through South Manchester streets in the dark, I just hope that anybody who is a vehicle driver who watched the program would take a look at themselves and may be be a bit more patient and respect that cyclist have as much right on the road as they do.

The young man who is first interviewed with his opinion, rides through traffic at 30mph loves keeping up with cars, is openly aggressive to other drivers and their property (car).
Who is he?
To me this person is the worst example of a cyclist who openly feels he has a god given right to rule the roads with no respect to other traffic or the environment he's surrounded by. I've watched the first 6 mins and had enough. Some of the helmet cam footage shows him, the rider going far to fast. I've been riding/racing/training within cycling clubs in the Northeast for 20-30 years and never experienced this attitude amongst fellow sport cyclists. I've started to commute to work again, part of the problem I see is 'Joe Blog's' cyclists who ride to work only, no cycling experience and no bike handling skills whats so ever. Car's kill so at the average of 16mph my ride to work is as safe as I can possible make it.

No headcam footage of commutes on the cold dank wet mornings either
Was it all filmed in summer...?

if your going to show the alleycat racing, why not show the motorcyclist lapping the paris peripherique, or some footage of cars street racing.

It all happens and is equally illegal, only real difference is who and how many get killed if it goes wrong.

I don't get why Brunelle is referred to as a "professional" documentary maker, or why any of the riders involved in the alleycats he films are "professional". Brunelle is a profession IT geek who pumps loads of that cash into making amateur documentarys, and the riders are mostly fakengers whos closest thing to a profession is having a trust fund.

I mostly thought it was a reasonable documentary and agree with a lot of others that the Mother of the killed cyclist, the taxi driver who's grandson had been killed and the Cemex driver all made decent points.

I did have a bit of trepidation going into a few roundabouts on my commute this morning though! That HGV on the glaswegian guy was terrifying!

Arguing on the internet is fun. I'm out. Off to listen to some Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Like airborneyellow I've started in the past few months on country lanes to wave cars on and also give those that wait until it's safe to over take a wave of thanks. It works well. I often get a little wave and a beep back to show that my appreciation of their good sense has been appreciated back. It seems to reinforce in their minds too that I know they're there, I'm trying to help them on their way and I like to think they carry the mutual respect generated on to the next cyclist.

On the local club run we have a 2 lane road at traffic lights that has a right turn lane that turns into a a narrower road. Filtering to the front, as you turn in, quite often in the past I've been deliberately cut up by the first driver - incensed that I've come to the front of the queue got in front of him and added 5 seconds to his journey.

However, turning wide to allow as many cars through in front as you turn right and waving them on works wonders.

Weak? Maybe. But if I want to push in and demand to be recognised as in a hurry and entitled to go first at every set of lights am I not behaving as childishly as some motorists?

It adds 5 seconds to my journey but a line of drivers go home thinking that not all cyclists are self righteous wankers and next time they see a cyclist they expect to share the road again.

It is a war out there but sometimes you don't have to butt heads to get the right results.

Sigh. Where was the footage of the cyclists attacking drivers then? It happens. I've witnessed it.

One positive was the story of the brave lady who after losing her daughter to a left turning cement mixer became a Cemex shareholder and achieved positive changes to improve road safety for us.

It's a lesson in activism - all of us involved in logistics and procurement should, as part of contract requirements, demand minimum standards and improvements in lorry design, proximity warning sensors, cameras and driver training to help reduce the exceptional risks posed by lorries.

Anyone who cites the alley cat footage as meaningless because it is extreme behaviour has their head in the sand. People ride like that all the time. It is part of their "bike culture". It is promoted and celebrated.

Noone is complaining about the other aspects of extreme footage shown last night, like drivers getting out of their cars and assaulting cyclists.

Turned it off after the first half hour, around the part where the guy in Glasgow nearly got hit by a tanker.

As above - lots of examples of bad behaviour from drivers and cyclists. I found myself giving a running commentary to my other half (who is paranoid about me cycling at the best of times) - "What's he doing up the inside there?" "Why is he stopping to argue, why not just sod off?" "That car's going to pull out, see, told you." "I've seen this bit before, he's going over the bonnet." (At the mini-roundabout). It wasn't helped by the cyclist at the start being so instantly dislikable.

Why can't we all just get along?

This was a poor documentary. Aside from the programme-maker's evident po-faced schadenfreude in presenting these as invariably adversarial encounters, it was overly London-centric, and extrapolated the views of two riders, three motorists (2x taxi, 1x lorry) and a bereaved mother into 'the views of all road-users'. It would be amusing if it wasn't so lazily misleading. For me, the only credible element was Cynthia's moving story.

As a cyclist and a motorist, here's an anecdote: I live in a part of the country with lots of twisting narrow lanes. Approaching right-hand curves, I can usually see much further ahead from my position riding close to the verge than any following motorists can from their driving position in the offside of vehicles close to the centre of the road. If the road is safely clear ahead, I always give the following vehicles an obvious and lengthy thumbs-up. Almost without exception this is acted upon, and almost without exception I get a friendly wave, pip on the horn or flashed indicators as the released motorist zooms off. This doesn't make me a hero, but it does illustrate two facts which it didn't suit the programme-makers to acknowledge: that basic courtesy is usually appreciated and reciprocated, and that different road users aren't automatically antagonistic towards one another.

I missed the start of it but saw the second half. It could have been worse, but could quite easily have been a whole lot better had it been made by a better team.

There were some good moments and the mother of the girl killed by the mixer truck made very poignant comments. This was probably the high point, or it was of what I saw. The taxi driver who re-evaluated his opinions after his nephew was killed also made good points, as did the cement mixer driver talking about cyclists cutting up the inside of HGVs at junctions.

But there was a lot of misrepresentation. Much of what I saw was cheaply produced, sensationalist rubbish.

Had the program been better produced and more honest about the facts, it would have had significantly more impact.

I was expecting worse to be honest, the mothers tribute and efforts in honour of her lost daughter were humbling. What I think the programme missed and would have concluded things well is that whoever people percieve as right or wrong, whatever social sterotypes are made, there is only 1 person in that equation who is in a life threatening position. I think this is a thought that the programme makers could have ended with, whether you're in a car or on a bike it's important to remember

The inclusion of anything like this would have made the programme better from a road-user 'education' perspective:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzL0Kyk4m-8

I was shocked to tears by the fatal collision footage, but the opportunity for incisive 'lessons' identification was largely lost. Unfortunate.

The use of the brunelle alley cat footage gave a false impression of cyclists behaviour in London.

what do you expect from the bbc? very typical, unfortunately.

For me it was an unexpected surprise. Whilst there was of course a sensationalist aspect, there were also some thought provoking moments (from a cyclists and drivers perspective). Overall I felt it was a lot more balanced than the pre-program hype had made out. If it makes one rider or one motorist think enough to avoid a potentially deadly situation then great.

I had to especially admire, the bravery and determination of the mother of the young lady killed by a cement lorry. Her work with the company involved to improve their lorry design and driver training has already saved lives by the sounds of it and it doesn't seem as though she'll stop there. Deepest sympathy to her an her family, but a huge thanks from me as a cycling road user for never giving up on her quest.

Not sure if road.cc have written anything in the past along the lines of a road cyclists "survival guide", but I think it would perhaps make useful reading for all of us. Top tips for riders to improve their own safety on the road. A lot of it may be obvious, but again it only takes one person to read it and learn enough to keep them self safe.

It was sensationalist, and something I would definitely qualify as trash TV.

But if people in cars, lorries, buses and on bikes are just a little more careful this morning, then maybe it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Complete waste of a one hour prime time slot on BBC1. All heat, no light.