Not That Smart

CyclingMikey on Twitter tweeted about a website that was ripping off his video content so I took a look. [ride-smart.org] Frankly the site is a vile, victim-blame-fest with such gems as:

if you can’t hear the lorry that’s about to run you over, you have little or no chance of avoiding the lorry that’s about to run you over

So what about deaf people? Should they just be killed then because 'a lorry is about to run them over'?

How about this little ditty:

There once was a cyclist named Keith,
he rode a fixed, lived out East
a car smashed his head,
when he went through a red,
now he's down in the ground deceased.

Nice. Wonder how the family of Keith Carr, aged 60, who was killed after being hit by a van on the A17 in Swineshead, Lincolnshire on the 24th September 2010 would feel about that?

Not maybe been 'smart' themselves, it was straight-forward to look up their domain registry information.

Registrant Name:Chris Michael
Registrant Organization:Hicklin Slade & Partners Ltd
Registrant Street1:20 Farringdon Road
Registrant Street2:Farringdon Place
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:London
Registrant State/Province:LIN
Registrant Postal Code:EC1M 3HE
Registrant Country:GB
Registrant Phone:+44.2033012189
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:mat.dunning@karmarama.com

Which, after a short web search, turned up this guy Chris Micheals [http://www.dtechd.com/about-me/] and here he is as cjemichael on Twitter too [https://twitter.com/cjemichael].

Now the 'site' really just comprises of some stolen videos from YouTube with a voice-over making comments about the riders such as "What a twat" and "Fuck me, a cyclist".

Sure they'll say it's about "stimulating a debate about cycle safety" or some 'clever guerilla marketing' but I can't help thinking it's just a victim-blaming, cry-rant by a two-bit 'marketing company' probably dreamed up by somebody that has hassle driving his BMW into London because the traffic is bad, so he blames cyclists.

Who knows...

UPDATE:

This evening both he ride-smart.org page and Chris Micheal's bio page was pulled. But, being a technical director of a tech-savvy company I'm sure it's not a surprise that as soon as you put something on the Internet, it doesn't go just by pulling the site.

Here is the original site (click image for larger version).

...and here is Chris' bio page:

UPDATE 2:

road.cc have published an article: "Don't be a stupid twat", says new 'safety campaign'

UPDATE 3:

road.cc have published an article on this spectacular foot-shooting 'Stupid twats' website taken offline after backlash - we look at the company behind it

...and more to the point, how things like this really affect people:

Dear Karmarama,

I am contacting you to suggest that you immediately remove your “Cycle
Smart” web page and any signs which you may have put up in London which
suggest that cyclists who get killed deserve it because they’re twats.
As a cyclist in London, I am all too aware that I could be “squished”, “crushed”
or “smashed” by a lorry, bus, van or car. I do not need a billboard gleefully
telling me that this would probably be my own fault.

I work as an anaesthetist and have recently had the unpleasant task of being
part of the team which desperately tried to resuscitate a young woman who
was crushed by a lorry. She was an experienced and sensible rider. She died
on our operating table. The lorry driver was later jailed.
Perhaps you’d like to write a limerick about her?

Another recent example of a non-twat who was extremely seriously injured by
a lorry is Mary Bowers. You may be aware of how passionately her
colleagues at the Times have been campaigning for a greater culture of safety
on our roads.
Your billboards and website aim to undo some of this good work by
reinforcing the prejudices of drivers who feel that cyclists are invisible, foolish
menaces on the road, so it could hardly be their fault if they hurt them.

I assume that this is an attempt to increase the visibility of your brand rather
than a campaign commissioned by any group interested in road safety.
Either way, it has been ill-conceived and poorly executed.

Dr. Tabitha Tanqueray.