The ASA say cyclists must ride in the gutter, must wear helmets

Email to the chief exec below – the links do work in the original email… the research articles are the ones in Stoner’s post

Dear Guy,

Your recent ruling that “cyclists should ride in the gutter” referenced in this Bikebiz article appears to be at odds with UK-wide national standards for cycle training, which are backed by the UK and Scottish Government, and is also in variance with Highway Code rule 163.

Whilst i recognise the ASAs role in ensuring truthfulness in advertising, I don’t believe they have the experience or ability to rule on cycling and road safety. Nor should they be making rulings based on what appears to be nothing more than keeping tabloid readers happy, and ignoring the large amount of research in this area

Research articles
Further research

As chief executive, your role is generally to look at the bigger picture rather than the details. This ruling is an obvious case where the bigger picture – benefits of cycling to health, poor driving standards, etc – have obviously been missed in favour of what appears to be a biased decision that will be detrimental to all road users, encourages the ignorance of the highway code, and is outside of your scope.

Please review the ruling with the adjudicator. Your chairman, Lord Smith is a patron to Sustrans, so this would be an ideal place to start with building up a bigger picture to help in this review.

Cycling Scotland statement

“We are disappointed with the adjudication of the ASA Council and the statement that future ads should always feature cyclists wearing helmets. Our guidance on the issue of helmets and safety attire for adults on bicycles mirrors the legal requirements set out for cyclists in the Highway Code. There is a broad spectrum of research and opinion across the road safety and health communities when it comes to issues relating to helmet use and the ad reflected this diversity by showing cyclists both with and without helmets.

The advert was produced in close consultation with an experienced cycle training instructor who carefully considered the use of road positioning and safety attire required for cycling in the daytime. The road positioning in the advert complies with the National Standard for cycle training, which is referenced within the Highway Code. The driver of the car in the advert also follows the Highway Code, which states that vulnerable road users, such as those on a bicycle, should be given at least as much space as you would give a car when overtaking.

Cycling Scotland fully intends to pursue the ASA Council’s Independent Review process open to us.”

). However, the agency supplying the ad for approval will have been given opportunity to respond and give their side of the story – seems odd that this hasn’t happened, particularly given the irrefutable evidence against the decision. Perhaps they’re holding out for the PR shitstorm?

But they were paid to do a short term ‘awareness campaign’ by either the Scottish govt or Cycling Scotland. The ads were never going to be repeated so why would the ad agency worry about fighting the ruling? Time spent doing this is wasted (for them, from a business point of view).

The judgement is ridiculous. It’s not even primary vs secondary, it’s gutter hugging and kerb scraping vs secondary! 50cm…. To have my wheels within 50cm of the kerb on my MTB I’d have to have my left hand no more than 15 cm away from the kerb line. So that’s ~15cm between the end of the bar and railings and lamposts on the edge of the pavement.

The secondary road position (roughly 1 metre to the left of the traffic flow and not less than 0.5 metres to the edge of the road) may be appropriate if the road is wide enough to allow safe overtaking, and the rider’s safety is not reduced by riding in this position

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cycletraining/article/ct20110110-cycletraining-Bitesize-Bikeability–Part-4–On-Road-Positioning-0

I have just smeared dog plops on an email, and sent it in.

Not my best plan.

*wipes screen*

But they were paid to do a short term ‘awareness campaign’ by either the Scottish govt or Cycling Scotland. The ads were never going to be repeated so why would the ad agency worry about fighting the ruling? Time spent doing this is wasted (for them, from a business point of view).

This is all conjecture, but in the interests of keeping the conversation going… because a) they shouldn’t be creating ads at the clients expense that then get pulled b) they may have a PR arm that can bill for the hours promoting the ruling, indeed the PR may generate more, longer lasting noise than the ‘short term’ TV ads, and c) the ASA could have offered this view at an earlier stage if accurate storyboards etc had been shared.

Don’t hold me to ‘c)’ though – it’s been a while since I’ve been involved in this sort of thing and don’t know how accessible this sort of input is these days.

But let’s not get distracted from the fact that, yes, it’s a ridiculous ruling.

If they are responsible for defining what is socially responsible when it comes to cycling, how did they let the Danny Macaskill S1Jobs advert run for month after month

Looks pretty irresponsible to me. And he reverse wheelies down a pavement. 😯

Willjones: Yes, there could be more to it. I don’t know anything about the formal process though and was just looking at it as a layman. Sound like the people responsible for the ads are fighting it though.

sounds like a shit storms been hurled up – comments form on the website has gone “offline” now…..

Be nice to the ASA

Comments form back up

ASA Contact Us

I wonder if we (cyclists) can crash it again with volume of complaints!

Even worse, she was riding 1m out from the obstacles she could see in the road:

If the potholes weren’t there, I presume folk think riding on the concrete bit on the side is unsafe?

Look how wide and empty the road is – why should she squeeze over? The problem is while there might not be a pothole in one section of the road, if you have to keep weaving in and out it’s more dangerous. Plus the risk of pedestrians stepping out etc.

Fundamentally, though, my taxes pay for the roads, and I’ll be damned if I’ll cower in the gutter just so a car driver isn’t inconvenienced slightly.

If the potholes weren’t there, I presume folk think riding on the concrete bit on the side is unsafe?

Looks like the start of a bus stop or similar. Either way, not part of the main surfaced carriageway.

Wonder if the bloke who wrote the report drives a white audi and obviously doesnt like cyclists.

ON YOUR BIKE MATEY, you dont make the law,

If the surface was better, I’d be closer to the kerb I think.

If the potholes weren’t there, I presume folk think riding on the concrete bit on the side is unsafe?

Yes, i’d say it was literally the gutter. Can’t be much more than 50cm wide, so to be in it and a safe distance from the kerb you’d be riding the edge of the concrete, right where that horrible gulley is where concrete meets tarmac.

If there were no potholes then I’d be riding where the potholes are in that still.

That is about the widest road IN THE WORLD. It doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference where she is, there is still loads of room to overtake, as demonstrated by the car that overtook and ASA statement that said the car almost had to go into the other lane

The advert was produced in close consultation with an experienced cycle training instructor who carefully considered the use of road positioning

I really don’t think there is a need for this thread to descend into a 10 page argument about whether or not she should have been riding where she was.

What a bunch of nobbers. Emails sent to guyp and indrev
edit and “contact us” page now 🙂

If the potholes weren’t there, I presume folk think riding on the concrete bit on the side is unsafe?

looks like there’s a ridge at the edge of the concrete, dodgy on road tyres so narrowish gap between kerb and ridge, on the whole probably not. I reckon I’d be midway between where she is and the concrete section if there were no potholes, road looks plenty wide. Lots to take into account tho.

Five complainants challenged whether the ad was irresponsible and harmful, because it showed a cyclist without a helmet or any other safety attire, who was cycling down the middle of the road rather than one metre from the curb.

5?

Good to see that they’ve not over-reacted to the ‘barrage of complaints’.

CTC just posted on Facebook that they are supporting the appeal:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/news/advertising-watchdog%E2%80%99s-helmet-ruling-threatens-promotion-of-normal-cycling

They also have a nice list of cycling adverts that are now “banned” if that ruling applies to them too:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/chris-peck/which-ads-are-now-banned-your-examples-wanted

So, we need to start complaining to the ASA when we see a car incorrectly execute a pass on a cyclist in an advert.

“Middle of the road”.

Where the dashed white line is? I can’t see that anywhere, why are the ASA investigating complaints that are based on imagined ‘wrongs’?

Can I phone them up and say “I was watching a Cheesestrings advert last night when Danny Dyer punched the Cheesestring character and called me a ‘fackin mug’. Please ban this advert until it’s changed to no longer have an obscene cockerney in it”?

I think the ASA are right 😉

Complaint about the complaint sent. I’d encourage everyone to write expressing their disgust.

Anyone noticed ASA’s recent Tweet?

Busy job!

Email sent

Whenever a driver in an advert does something which doesn’t comply with any recommendation in the HC (ie the shoulds rather than the musts). That will surely be the majority of them?

It appears Julian Huppert MP (co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group) and the CTC (who will undoubtedly use whatever high powered contacts they have) are on the case, so hopefully we will get the correct outcome to this.

Whenever a driver in an advert does something which doesn’t comply with any recommendation in the HC (ie the shoulds rather than the musts).

Except, the problem (in the ASA’s eyes) with this ad is that the driver DID comply with the Highway Code.

the car almost had to enter the right lane of traffic

why are the ASA investigating complaints that are based on imagined ‘wrongs’?

Think they have to investigate everything that gets complained about? Or possibly more than 1 or 2 complaints. They were asked last year to investigate Rangers because they ran an advert that said they were the most successful club in Scotland. Frivolous complaints imo, but it still got investigated.

scotland – 2nd highest obesity in the developed world

Ill bet the ASA guy who ruled this has never ridden a bike, he probably gets wheezy just opening his emails

anyway email sent

Now that would be an interesting question to the ASA staff who worked in this: when did they last ride bikes?

scotland – 2nd highest obesity in the developed world

Actually obesity levels in Scotland are (just) lower than England.
http://www.iaso.org/resources/world-map-obesity/

England: 42.2% of men (aged 16+) were overweight.
Scotland: 41.6% of men (aged 16+) were overweight.

Actually obesity levels in Scotland are (just) lower than England.

think kimbers may be thinking of glasgow being the heart attack capital of the world, iirc I think salford is just behind in the heart disease stakes.

Actually obesity levels in Scotland are (just) lower than England.
http://www.iaso.org/resources/world-map-obesity/

England: 42.2% of men (aged 16+) were overweight.
Scotland: 41.6% of men (aged 16+) were overweight.

How up to date are those figures as, according to NHS BMI calculator I have just dropped down from being obese to overweight, so that may nudge the figures even further

Off now to celebrate with doughnuts!

sorry I heard it on the news once

seems that us englanders have overtaken them in the last few years!

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/sep/26/health.medicineandhealth

e-mail sent via the contact us section of the ASA website.

Who ever listened to the ASA about anything anyway?

This one must have passed them by then

Some nice work here:

@richardf tweeted:

So, it turns out you can complain about @ASA_UK’s advertising to @ASA_UK themselves… *whistles innocently* pic.twitter.com/cqwrKQOrQe

Win 😀