Joe Bikerider

Bit of a brouhaha in Ireland over comments made on a late night talk show. Seems one of the guests had been inconvenienced by a group of cyclists and compared them to farm animals. I guess like the ones that get out of their fences and block the road. Read all about it:

Campaigners slam iconic Irish TV show after anti-cycling rant | road.cc

FBinNY 

Welcome to the free speech millennium.

We've democratized speech through the internet and open forums like talk radio. We have to accept the consequences, including the fact that any idiot can say anything to the masses, rather than be limited by the height of his soap box and power of his voice.

We can't put this genie back in the bottle, and IMO it doesn't make sense to sanction a radio or TV network for what's said by someone over whom they have no real control.

On the plus side, this exposes sentiments that would otherwise simmer below the surface, and rather than try to muzzle speech (which is impossible anyway) we should accept it for what it is, consider if there's a valid underlying beef, and otherwise provide counterpoint.

As Justice Brandeis said 90 years ago "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."

That made sense back then, and make more sense now because we don't really have the choice.

BTW- I'm not so naive as to believe that there aren't people who hate cyclists just because they do. However, a decent number of people are mostly undecided, and what we do on the road, and how we engage folks publicly on the merits, can swing them either way.

CliffordK

Perhaps the guest speakers need to be reminded that an inline seating arrangement in one's car is far superior to side-by-side seating in the car.




It really bugs me all those people with side-by-side seating in their cars!!! And, can you imagine, they take up the WHOLE LANE

KD5NRH

Having seen what cows will do to even 1-ton pickups, you'd think anyone familiar with them would be a lot more careful in those areas.

mstateglfr 

Some people said some dumb stuff on a show.

Oh the horror- lets all demand apologies and retractions! Lets demand corrections for something that doesnt need any more press!

JoeyBike

I enjoyed the link. Don't care about what ignorant people say, but I gotta admit that I quit a local bike club many years ago because they NEEDLESSLY and with total ENTITLEMENT rode the width of their entire lane on country roads. At times it was warranted and other times, not at all. Even if only two or three riders were present, they spread out without regard, or with disdain, for passing motorists.

In response to this behavior at least one county (parishes in Louisiana) passed a "parade permit" law that made it illegal for more than five cyclists to ride in a pack without a parade permit and a police escort. Served them right IMO.

Leisesturm

It may not make sense, but it can make quite a bit of money for lawyers and plaintiffs. When Janet Jackson's nipple was exposed during a SuperBowl Halftime show, a dozen executives lost their jobs. Fines were calculated per exposure, and went north of $700M before I stopped paying attention. No idea if they are still being calculated because, knowing lawyers, they would want some provision for capturing 'damages' caused by Internet Archival footage being replayed on sites like TMZ and Tumblr. Generate outrage and go after the pockets, not the guilty. Its a great (money) strategy.

FBinNY 

First of all, the situations aren't comparable, in the "wardrobe" incident, the fines were levied by the regulatory agency, not through a civil court suit.

As for whether going for the money makes sense, it may be possible but it's not how I live.

Someone voiced an opinion. I may not like it, I may even think it's outrageous, but it's still his opinion, and muzzling it simply isn't an option for a number of reasons, both practical and philosophical.

MikeyMK

Farm animals are way too well behaved to reflect me.

work4bike

What I found interesting is that aside from the accent and certain unique regional terminology, the discussion was exactly the same as you'd see in the comments section in any U.S. newspaper article concerning cyclists; furthermore, the audience didn't seem to have a problem with cyclists being compared to "trash" or farm animals.

jon c. 

Given the nature of public discourse these days, being compared to farm animals isn't all that bad.

Daniel4

Motorists, when trying to discourage cycling, describe themselves as a sea of sharks.

RidesaJapanese

And yet here they see no problem with farm equipment crawling along the highway, almost impossible to pass. The hypocrisy that has permeated the rural Murikan mindset is nauseating.

noisebeam

Better to be treated like livestock than another driver: