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news
Jeremy Vine Sainsburys truck tweet.PNGSainsbury's truck cyclist warning increases "fear of cycling"
Signs on the back of Sainsbury's supermarket chain trucks have been accused of "increasing general fear of cycling" by Radio Two DJ and daily London cyclist, Jeremy Vine, as well as a number of other Twitter users.
The words "Alert today... alive tomorrow" found their way into a number of critical tweets on Thursday following Mr Vine's original tweet which offered his own take on the meaning of the phrase.
He wrote: "Translation, 'If I kill you it's not my fault.'"
Translation, "If I kill you it's not my fault." Great way of increasing general fear of cycling @sainsburys pic.twitter.com/AZOMUOIEVm
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 9, 2016
The signs, which have been in use on Sainsbury's trucks since 2014, bear a striking resemblance to the much maligned 2014 Transport for London "cyclists stay back" stickers which the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) called offensive.
Those signs were successfully repealed, and replaced by a non-cycling specific sticker warning other road users of the dangers of truck blind spots following widespread and vocal criticism from cyclists all over the country.
At the time a spokesman for the LCC said "The ‘Stay Back’ message is seen as a prohibition and has been interpreted by drivers as telling cyclists to get out of their way, with the implication that if a collision occurs then it's the cyclist's fault for not having done so."
While the Sainsbury's sign isn't quite as directive, according to Mr Vine there remains a "suggestion that cyclists are unsafe only because of their own bad habits."
Mr Vine offered up that line in the midst of an 'apology tweet' to Sainsbury's for criticising their message to cyclists.
His full apology read:
"Every morning I cycle into work in London in a law-abiding way.
"I am safety-obsessed: mirrors, cameras, a helmet, bright lights even in summer. Every morning, without exception, some arrogant klutz in a vehicle endangers my safety or my life.
"Buses had signs saying CYCLISTS STAY BACK - when bus drivers constantly overtake cyclists and then immediately pull in, which is a mirror image of the very manoeuvre they tell cyclists not to do.
"So Sainsburys - sorry I reacted badly to your warning sign. It's just that I am
- sick of the danger, and
- sick of the suggestion that cyclists are unsafe only because of their own bad habits."
Mr Vine wasn't alone in his views on the matter. Road safety campaigner at Cycling UK, Duncan Dollimore, told iNews that "warning cyclists that they might be in or approaching a lorry driver’s blind spot is sensible, but it should be only a single part of a safe systems approach by any responsible company using large vehicles.
“Sainsbury’s message of ‘Alert today, alive tomorrow’ is just as applicable to their drivers’ behaviour around cyclists and walkers, and in this context it is unnecessary and tantamount to victim blaming.”
Meanwhile a Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "We launched this lorry two years ago with the sole purpose of keeping road users safe. We’ve been leading on this issue and have had positive feedback from the cycling community on our efforts."
We have our own opinions on the matter that can be most effectively summed up in our own stickers which you can buy here:
- Buy: road.cc Cyclists Stay Awesome stickers
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79 comments
I stopped using Sainsburys months ago. Mostly because their products are "bad value for money" if I'm being polite, or a "bloody rip-off" if I'm not. Hopefully others follow suit and a happy byproduct of this is that there will be a diminished need for these trucks to be on the roads!...
Oh come on... they're a supermarket, hardly a bloody ripoff and actually one of the better ones despite this spectacularly stupid tagline. If you don't want supermarkets, that's fine -not necessarily my choice but I respect your opinion - but if you can tolerate them then, believe me, there are far more deserving targets than them.
Dup
Well here is one cyclist that that was "Alert today" which is lucky as this @Sainsburys lorry nearly ran him over:
https://youtu.be/LyJ1k5_Wq6o
Glad you are still here to share the story.
Awful driving and great cycling!
But it just goes to show that when you stay alert and don't cycle like a mindless twat, 99.9% of the time you have time to take evasive action. I think every new cyclist should watch that clip to learn how to position yourself at junctions and how to be ready for the unexpected at all times.
Good stuff.
They have these signs on Birmingham City utility vhicles- my expereince of them suggests an addition worded something like " - because my driver can't be bothered to look". It seems to be an excuse to overtake cyclists on the approach to traffic lights, swerve across to brush the kerb and jam the brakes on.
And the moral point I made was that I wasn't sure holding the moral high ground helps when you are face down on the tarmac - who knows, maybe if I'd moved over far enough I would simply have picked up a fine for riding on the pavement or endangered a pedestrian who wasn't wearing a helmet!
Ah yes, you were the clown. I remember now.
Though that isn't how you told this story the first time around was it? The tune has been changed ....
Willo you gobshite:
"True. I cannot remember which of the many idiots it was, but one of them was talking about a moral victory as he smashed into the tarmac at speed after refusing to give way to an aggressive driver at a roundabout. I just facepalmed and didn't even bother to reply. Just another muppet on here ready for an early extinction".
That was my idiocy, but not quite as you recall.
I said there was an aggressive driver trying to make a pass where there wasn't room to do so, this driver hit me from behind as I took the correct line around the roundabout. I had applied Willo law:
I was wearing hi viz
I was wearing a helmet
I was not on a cycle path
I was not endangering any other road user
The car was also applying Willo law:
To only care about himself and his passengers
Nobody knows how I got hit when we both followed Willo law?
An an aside, I remeber once you said that you beat women and I think that is a heneous act, you should be imprisoned and buggered within an inch of your life - with a helmet on obviously, I'm not an animal!
So where have all the non-cycling dummies been bussed in from?
I ride a bike, value approx £50, no helmet, no lycra. I not only pull up behind artics, but block the road so no skinny git can get past me. I'm also on Willo's side. Treating a huge lump of metal with the contempt you guys think it deserves can only end badly.
Be careful with that.
Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980
137:-
(1) If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence
Having been told, obviously I will never ever do it again. Unless I want to.
I think we can safely assume the only place he's ever done this is in his head.
So you make your own decisions re safety (no helmet) but prevent other people from making their own (when it is safe to pass).
Absolutely. I take the view that riding up the inside of an artic is never safe, indicating or not. When the lights change whatever the truck does will make no difference, and I (and you) have been inconvenienced by one whole truck (sometimes bus) length. I (we) will still be alive even without a helmet. You will be annoyed. That will please me.
So if a groups of helmet enthusiasts blocked you from riding without one you would accept that?
Let people make their own decisions. Don't think you know better than everyone else.
I believe in ATGATT first thing to hit the deck is usually your head. I ride a motorbike too!
The arsehat making assumptions about arbitrary groups of people, is an assumption making arsehat.
Seriously, is road.cc accidentally running adverts on the Daily Mail or something. I don't have any contempt for the vehicle, I have lots of contempt for anyone who thinks a really big font is something that will make a difference.
Maybe I should go into Sainsbury's and steal their produce whilst wearing a t shirt that says 'alert today, profitable tomorrow'. Victim blame them for my theft.
Willo would appear to have a number of users names Deborah being his latest. It's trolling 101.
Er. No.
You seriously think it is impossible that more than one reader of a cycle mag thinks it is a terrible idea to cycle up the inside of a large vehicle and would like to thank Sainsburys for spending profits to contribute to improved road safety?
I'm not L.Willo, just thought I just would point out that L.Willo is no cyclist.
As for the cycle lane I mention above there is always a vehicle (not always Sainsbury's) unloading in it, blocking parked cars in, blocking cyclists and moving motor vehicles. The irony of the cycling statement is not lost on me when I go past in my car or on bike.
Please stop giving that individual the attention he craves.
Did I say it was?
Wait, you're not who I thought you were.
That's not a mandatory cycle lane.
A Sainsbury's vehicle with that message painted on parks outside this Sainsbury's branch in this cycle lane about once a week. I leave the cycle lane just like the cyclist in this image has to because of this similar vehicle.
Whiteladies Rd
https://goo.gl/maps/7a1ibnFvt8K2
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