Chris Boardman calls for end to "relentlessly hostile rhetoric" about
cyclists

[Actually, this article is in part a vehicle for Boardman to play the ‘dead mother’ card yet again. The tone of the article suggests that he could benefit from grief counselling.

He also does not fail to use the opportunity to tell us we must ‘decarbonise’. Having fewer children might have set an example of how to reduce carbon emissions.

Seeing that Boardman quotes numbers by wailing about road deaths, the
following might put things into a better perspective:

- There are more than 230 million errors in administering medication in the
NHS each year, new figures show.

- The research, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care,
shows medication errors may be responsible for about 1,700 deaths annually.

It also warns that mistakes may contribute to 22,000 deaths a year - with
the problem costing the NHS an estimated £1.6bn.

Study author Rachel Elliott, a professor of health economics at the
University of Manchester, said: "In a perfect system there would be no
errors. But there are no systems, particularly those involving humans,
where there are no errors.

<https://news.sky.com/story/more-than-1-700-nhs-deaths-from-errors-in-administering-medicines-11262848>]

Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman has penned a comment piece in the Evening Standard (link is external) calling for an end to the "relentlessly hostile rhetoric" about cyclists, arguing that the "hate-mongers offer no solutions".

Referencing his own family tragedy — Boardman's mother was hit and killed
by a driver in July 2016 — the active travel chief said it upset him to
read "certain parts of the media continue their relentless campaign against cyclists", meanwhile "more than 1,700 people are killed each year by motor vehicles".

"In 2016, one of them was my mother, Keith's life partner, gone, crushed to death by a law-breaking driver," he wrote. "A vibrant, elderly woman in
great health because of her passion, wiped off the face of the earth. What makes this even more horrific, if that was possible, is she was one five
people who died on our roads that day. Five mothers, sons and daughters
killed every day, without national headlines or calls for changes in the
law.

"Allowing such uniformly negative, data-barren and blatantly false
accusations to continually go unchallenged does people like my dad, and the vast majority of cyclists, a terrible disservice."

[The inevitable linked article] "Mums, dads, sons and daughters being
labelled as killers. It’s just got to stop": Chris Boardman comments on Telegraph '52mph in a 20mph zone' article as it emerges co-author is former
BBC fact-checker

He later concluded: "At a time we desperately need to decarbonise, to
improve public health and ensure everyone has affordable transport choices,
we cannot afford this relentlessly hostile rhetoric.

"You'll notice the hate-mongers offer no solutions, they don't take responsibility for their actions, they just peddle hate (excuse the pun).
So I for one am going to speak up for my dad and my kids, for the things
that will lead to a better life for them. I hope others will stand with me,
be brave and speak up for their family’s future.

"Whether walking, wheeling or riding, our streets would be a nicer place if
we stopped persecuting the vulnerable and instead directed our energies to ensuring everyone has the choice to be a bit more Keith."

<https://road.cc/content/feature/bike-bedtime-check-out-2012-colnago-c59-disc-295523>

Some comments:

HKR | 15 min ago
2 likes
Chris Boardman is a such an asset to cycling. What an absolutely top bloke
he is.

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hawkinspeter replied to HKR | 7 min ago
1 like
HKR wrote:
Chris Boardman is a such an asset to cycling. What an absolutely top bloke
he is.

Shame that he isn't in the running for Prime Minister.

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