9 News, Crappy "reporting" during Co Bike Month.

As opposed to much of the country, Colorado celebrates bike month during June instead of May. We even get our own bike to work day (June 25th), separate from the National Bike to work day. So as most other states have moved back to ignoring cyclists, news reporting in Denver is still writing articles somewhat tied to the subject of biking.

Enter 9 News. Today they ran a story under the headline "Cyclists at fault for several auto vs. bike crashes".

OMG, several crashes have been deemed to be the fault of cyclists? So is that several of the 113 COLLISIONS between autos and cyclists this year? Does it include the 330 collisions from 2013? How many is several? Is several less than the "dozens" of tickets handed out during a 4/20 rally?

"Dozens" of citations = 63

Well, from the 9 news article we will never know. It's almost like they are unwilling to give actual numbers, or do real reporting, because that might take away from the story, that cyclists should learn how to share the road. They even give a handy list of do's and don'ts for road users, such as (my annotations in bold):

Establish eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them. Don't assume that all drivers will yield. [Even if it is state law]

Allow at least three feet between your car and cyclists or pedestrians when passing. [Because you can get arrested for passing within 3 feet]

Be aware of factors that might impact your driving ability, for example, medications, alcohol, fatigue, weather conditions, and poor lighting and visibility. [Never drink and drive]

This kind of hack "reporting" just gives fodder to those idiots who believe cyclists should "have insurance", or "pay registration" based on the fact that a vast minority of collisions between bikes and automobiles might be the fault of the cyclist. Never is it brought up how cyclists damage the road at a factor of a square of the rate of automobiles, that more than 35,000 road users die every year because of motor vehicles, or the effects on health and the environment caused by personal automobile use. No, instead lets just blame cyclists and then do nothing.

So to recap, 9 News wants to tie in that June is a month where Colorado focuses on cycling. So they bring that in by saying "several" collisions are the fault of cyclists, ignore who's at fault for the vast majority of the collisions, then give some cookie cutter ideas on how everyone should act around each other in such a bland way that they don't even mention the laws in Colorado, or how they affect the rules of the road.

But yay...bike month...right?