The Supposed War on the Roads

The only thing worth doing directly with the quite short sighted and sensationalist BBC programme, in my view.

Complain to BBC under their Guidelines 3.4.6

You should use your own words. Mine were as the following section.

Footage of the "Alley Cat" race was not marked up as:
- professionally created "danger" footage
- over 6 years old

It was passed off as "normal" cyclist behaviour by associating it with the overall editorial concepts of the current rise of the helmet camera cyclists.

Why don't you produce something positive for all road users. I'd approach Chris Boardman to work on a programme on the benefits of cycling that would show people how safe roads are most of the time, how there is no "war", and how the more people do it the less our cities are congested (for all road users) and become liveable in.

Better still join a group you feel fits with the promotion of cycling you want. Like British Cycling, CTC, Sustrans, The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, or local groups like London Cycling Campaign or Camcycle.

If you have time, promote the cycling you want using local connections at your councils and/or police and/or local political campaigners.

!! UPDATE  !!  !! UPDATE  !!  !! UPDATE  !!  !! UPDATE  !!  !! UPDATE  !!

I've had a reply from my complaint that reads as follows.

Thanks for contacting us regarding ‘The War on Britain’s Roads’ from 5 December on BBC One.

I understand you were unhappy with this programme as it used footage which you felt misrepresented cyclists.

Executive Producer on ‘The War on Britain’s Roads’, Samantha Anstiss, has written a blog following discussions on the show, including the segment on the Alley Cat footage you’ve mentioned. This can be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogaboutthebbc/posts/A-range-of-opinions-and-perspectives-in-The-War-on-Britains-Roads

I hope this can go some way to reassuring you and I’d also like to assure you I've registered your complaint on our audience log. This is an internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily and is available for viewing by all our staff. This includes all programme makers and commissioning executives, along with our senior management. It ensures that your points, along with all other comments we receive, are considered across the BBC.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Well, in terms of reassurance, it makes me feel pretty angry. To palm off a complaint about failure to adhere to the BBC programming guidelines with a blog post by the excutive producer misses the point of the complaint entirely. The complaint requires investigation of the producer not a reply from them, it was them that broke the guidelines.

I've replied asking for them to actually reply to the complaint properly.

Previously I asked you to respond about the footage of the "Alley Cat" race, which was not marked up as:
- professionally created "danger" footage
- over 6 years old

These break your guidelines under point 3.4.6. Your response does not address this failure at all.

Again, join a group you feel fits with the promotion of cycling you want. Like British Cycling, CTC, Sustrans, The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, or local groups like London Cycling Campaign or Camcycle.

If you have time, promote the cycling you want using local connections at your councils and/or police and/or local political campaigners.


!! SECOND UPDATE  !!  !! SECOND UPDATE  !!  !! SECOND UPDATE  !!

I've had a second response from the BBC.

Thanks for contacting us again regarding ‘The War on Britain’s Roads’.

I note that you still believe that viewers were misled by the footage of the so-called ‘Alley Cat’ courier race because the programme did not state the age of the footage or the fact that it had previously been released as part of a commercial DVD. We do not believe it was in any way dishonest to include the footage for the reasons that have already been explained in the executive producer’s blog.

The programme aimed to show many different types of road behaviour and this short extract was just one small element. We never suggested the clip showed normal or everyday activity, but the fact remains the footage depicted the real behaviour of couriers engaged in a real event. The blog explained that this was authentic footage shot by one of the cyclists involved in the race and that it had been subsequently posted online and released commercially.

If you would like to take the matter further, you can contact the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit at Stage 2 of the complaints process and they will carry out an independent investigation. You must do this within 20 working days. You can email them at: ecu@bbc.co.uk , or alternatively write to them at the following address

And again, the response makes me feel pretty angry. Well, tired and angry. Tired because it feels like banging my head against a brick wall. Angry, as it's just the same fob off.

I'm sure that the BBC manages to get a drop off of complaints as a result of continuing to make people jump through more hoops to get the complaint genuinely reviewed. Alternatively, they may just feel they have to stick to their guns now, or it begins to look bad that they let the programme through in the first place.

There are two critical phrases. The first is as follows.

We never suggested the clip showed normal or everyday activity

But by not labelling as any different from the other headcam footage (specifically footage from a 3rd party depicting a paid for race) it IS saying it's the same. This is one reason why it should have been labelled, as specified in the BBC guidelines.

The second phrase is in the same sentence.

but the fact remains the footage depicted the real behaviour of couriers engaged in a real event.

We'll gloss over the fact that this conveys a completely different and contradictory meaning from the first part of the sentence. This does NOT depict everyday courier behaviour. It depicts a road race trying to break the rules. Saying it does is grossly misleading.


So, I have to work again, to follow through on the complain. The email left my outbox just a few moments ago.

I would like to complain about the BBC programme “The War on Britian’s Roads” broadcast on Wednesday, December 5th 2012 at 9pm on BBC1. Both replies to date fail to address the complaint.

Specifically the footage of the "Alley Cat" race towards the end of the programme. This was a race professionally created, specifically to look dramatic and reckless. Sources describing the interaction between the programme creators and race creators exist here (in case you didn’t already know!).
http://buffalobillbikeblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/lucas-brunelle-the-king-of-new-york-and-the-war-on-britains-roads/
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/bbc-doc-portrays-dvd-stunt-cycling-footage-as-standard-behaviour/014036

This was not marked up as:
- professionally created footage
- over 6 years old
- specifically set to break all the roads on the road

It was passed off as "normal" cyclist behaviour by associating it with the overall editorial concepts of the current rise of the helmet camera cyclists.

This clearly breaks BBC Guidelines 3.4.6.

Again, join a group you feel fits with the promotion of cycling you want. Like British Cycling, CTC, Sustrans, The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, or local groups like London Cycling Campaign or Camcycle.

If you have time, promote the cycling you want using local connections at your councils and/or police and/or local political campaigners.