How we talk about bicycling crashes, new episode of ‘Do The Thing,’ magazine photoshoot
Well look who decided to show up… WINTER! Buuuuuuur! It was a cold weekend. This week didn’t start off much better. I had to cancel two bike rides because the weather was just not cooperating.
If you have the luxury of only riding bikes when it’s nice and wonderful outside, then consider yourself lucky. The last census puts just under 17% of the population in East Baton Rouge Parish below the poverty line. Additionally, the average HOUSEHOLD income is about $54k. That’s a lot of people who cannot afford a nice, warm vehicle for transportation.
Most of us think of bicycling as a thing to do for fun, but for so many people it’s their only true mode of transportation out of necessity. Let’s face it, public transportation in this parish is unreliable. A bike can get someone most of the places they need to go. But will they get there safely?
When reading about crashes involving bicyclists and vehicles, you’ll often read or hear something like, “the bicyclists was wearing dark clothing.” It feels like they are blaming the victim, and in a way, they are. To investigators, it’s relevant information about how the crash occurred. To the rest of us, it’s an indictment of blame.
As a former member of the media, I can tell you that every press release includes information about what the bicyclist was wearing, whether or not the bike had working head or tail lights (a requirement under Louisiana law), and whether or not the person was wearing a helmet. Again, this is all part of the investigation and the press release was written by a member of law enforcement. The person assigned to write the story is simply rewriting what in the press release with little deviation.
This is where the conversation gets tricky. Should the media simply churn the story out as it was relayed to them, or should there be some consideration for the material that was presented? Should the person working for the media adapt the message by expanding the facts?
For example, where did the crash occur? Is the road equipped for pedestrians? Where was the individual going?
My belief is a mixture of the two things. Because we live in a time where there are a plethora of ways for people to obtain information about daily occurrences such as a crash involving a bicyclist, is it even necessary for a rewritten press release to be published by that media outlet? Essentially, if that member of the media isn’t going to take the time to ask questions, is it even a story worth reporting?
My great objection to the way information is currently reported is that the average reader has a very romantic idea of the way stories are reported. I believe the average person sees a story like that and assumes that the reporter was actually out on the scene, asking questions and getting answers. The truth is that the story was written by a young, inexperienced producer who likely has little to no background in media.
The resulting story portrays the bicyclist as an irresponsible person who died as a result of their actions. This allows everyone involved to avoid asking the hard questions. This prevents us from having to understand how the tragedy really occurred and remove any association we as a community might have to how it happened.
When something tragic happens in our community, we need to ask more questions, not less. This applies to more than just crash reports. It’s questions we should ask about every story we read. What are we not reading that should be in the story?
DO THE THING
As mentioned earlier, bikes are required to be equipped with working head and tail lights. There are a lot of different versions of lights out there and a lot of people don’t think they’re all too necessary.
On this episode of “Do The Thing,” I share a little story about an accident I had that potentially could have been avoided. At the time, I did have a light, but it was a cheap one I bought at Walmart. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
Along with that lovely story, Mika explains the difference between various lights out there and what you should look for. We also talk a bit about the Light Up the Night program we started with Bike Baton Rouge. This is one of the many things your annual membership goes to fund. So sign up! It’s easy and it only costs $15 a year!
COMING UP NEXT
Assuming the weather cooperates, we’ll have a guest at the next Monday bike ride. A photographer from 225 Magazine is going to take a picture of the group for an upcoming feature!
If you would like to be part of the photo, please join me on Monday, January 31 at the Electric Depot at 5:30 p.m. We’ll take the picture and then go for a ride. The length of the ride will all depend on how damn cold it is outside.
Then, mark Saturday, February 5 on your calendar. That’s the date of the rescheduled Yellow Book Bike Tour. This is the ride that was supposed to happen Saturday, but I had a feeling no one would be too interested in riding during freezing temperatures.
LAST CALL!
We’ve almost reached the goal for the Little Free Library in Downtown East. I hope to have it put in place within the next week or two (weather depending).
Once it’s in place, I’ll also need some inventory! In particular, I would like books for kids in the neighborhood. We have several kids ranging from elementary to early high school. Most are in the middle school range. We will devote a Monday ride to stock the Free Little Library and if there’s enough, we’ll take overflow to the one located over on South Blvd.