30 July 2010

What is a cyclist, again

And now, robber cyclists!  Yes - not content with being reckless yobs who terrorise motorists and pedestrians alike, cyclists, says the BBC, are into committing armed robberies too.  Whatever next.

I'm sure I don't as often see the label 'motorist' to robberies in which the getaway vehicle is a car (which, I reckon, are the majority).  Or I've yet to see the headline "pedestrian snatches bag and runs away" in cases where that, one could say, is exactly what happened.

I'm not sure what my point is, except that the media, even the oh-so-impartial BBC, seem to have a liking for the label 'cyclist' as a catch-all to be used in conjunction with all sort of negative things.  It wouldn't matter if we were not living in an age in which policy makers have the attention span of a fruit fly (and in some cases less intelligence - eg in the Lords where cycling debates have sometimes descended into outright farce).

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