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It’s sad @roadcc know only 1 way to get their way. Complain at honest people who believe cyclists should adhere to the rules of the road & ignore fact. Drivers are fed up with a renegade bunch of cyclists who ruin it for all road users @David_Churchill https://t.co/OP7teW7NcT
— Howard Cox (@HowardCCox) September 5, 2022
Does this mean I’m famous now?
Yesterday evening, everyone’s favourite motoring mouthpiece Howard Cox, founder of the esteemed pro-car lobby group Fair Fuel UK (once again, Laura K, I’m being sarcastic), tweeted his frustration concerning a road.cc story from the weekend.
Written by yours truly (so you know it’s good stuff), the article reported on Cycling UK’s complaint to press watchdog IPSO over what the charity described as a “misleading and unreliable” MailOnline piece which suggested that there is wide public support for tougher cycling regulations such as mandatory registration plates for bikes.
> Mail’s cycling number plates poll story “misleading and unreliable”, says Cycling UK
So, why’s Howard getting all gammony about that, I hear you cry?
Well, because the online survey of 1,500 people used by the Mail to determine that the majority of drivers on the road were categorically in favour of cycling number plates was conducted by none other than, you guessed it, Fair Fuel UK.
As the poll was shared widely by Cox and his band of merry men, Cycling UK said that “it is more than likely that poll respondents also support the views of Fair Fuel UK meaning results may be affected by self-selection bias” and therefore can’t be said to represent all drivers.
Out on Highway 61, poor Howard wasn’t too happy that a cycling charity complained to the press regulator about a potentially misleading Daily Mail article, and directed his anger towards the obvious culprit: the messenger.
“It’s sad road.cc know only one way to get their way,” Mr Cox tweeted yesterday, in what can only be described as a Trumpian style. Sad!
He continued: “Complain at honest people who believe cyclists should adhere to the rules of the road and ignore fact. Drivers are fed up with a renegade bunch of cyclists who ruin it for all road users.”
The Fair Fuel UK head honcho also tagged his apparent partner-in-poll-related-news-stories, the Mail’s Transport Editor David Churchill, as part of his rant (Churchill, as of this morning, is yet to publicly respond).
Howard, it must be said, didn’t quite get the reception he might have hoped for with his tweet.
Some users were quick to refute Cox’s accusation that “renegade” cyclists are at fault for the dangers on our roads:
I drive a lot. I’m fed up with crap drivers.
Cyclists – they’re fine. They’re not going to tailgate me aggressively for doing the limit in a residential area. They don’t threaten me with 2 tonnes of metal. And they don’t hog the middle lane on motorways.
Drivers are the problem.— Rich Warner (@rgwarner) September 5, 2022
Have you ever stood at a set of traffic lights and counted the number of drivers not wearing their seat belts?
As with the most drivers, most cyclists are law abiding… We just want to be allowed to cycle in safety…
— Tim Schofield 🏴 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@chiefoldmist) September 5, 2022
They weren’t complaining at honest people, they were complaining about dishonest ones.
— Pudsey Pedaller (@PudseyPedaller) September 5, 2022
Shame @HowardCCox only knows one way to (try and) get his way – be dishonest
— rdekanter (@rjdekanter) September 5, 2022
Others, however, pointedly advised Howard to actually *read* the articles he chooses to publicly criticise:
They didn’t complain, they’re reporting on a complaint that was made, helps to criticise if you read what you want to criticise first
— ReCyclingDave (@cycling_dave) September 5, 2022
Is FairFuel a British Polling Council member, Howard? CUK (not rCC) complained on the basis that publishing an unscientific, self-selecting and unweighted survey is misleading. I haven’t seen this poll but having seen previous efforts they’re full of loaded and leading questions.
— Black Country Ste 🇺🇦 (@CCSteV) September 5, 2022
Seems a fair criticism of any poll on #twitter as not representing the wider population.
As for @MailOnline Wikipedia has it similar to RT but a less reliable source than China Daily.— EastbourneEcoTransport (@EcoTransportEB) September 5, 2022
Either he’s not read the article he’s posting, or Howard needs to work on his comprehension skills… https://t.co/ShY3QSm61I
— Cycling in London (@Cycling_In_LDN) September 5, 2022
That or he’s purposely missing the point of the article to push his anti cycling point, but that doesn’t sound like him…
— Cycling in London (@Cycling_In_LDN) September 5, 2022
Nope, doesn’t sound like him at all.
Right, I’m off to the framers this morning…
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