Dear BBC
The BBC charter states the BBC aims to inform, educate and entertain. While some may regard Mr Clarkson’s comments on running over cyclists because they don’t pay “road tax” as entertainment (Top Gear BBC2 07/02/2011 21mins 25seconds in). I do not see incitement to murder others on the basis of their choice of transport, as legitimate entertainment. A car is a potentially lethal weapon, a pedestrian or cyclist hit by a motor vehicle is at risk of being killed.
His comments were not only distasteful, they were factually incorrect, road tax does not exist, the roads are paid for by general taxation, therefore we all pay for the roads, whether we own a car or not. Everybody in the UK has the right to use the roads on foot, riding a bicycle or riding a horse (with the exception of motorways), drivers are only permitted to use the roads under licence, driving is not a right.
The owners of many motor vehicles are required to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), a tax based on pollution. However, it is not payable by all motor vehicle owners, there are an increasing number of zero rated motor vehicles. So why has he not suggested that drivers of VW Polos, or Nissan Leafs be driven off the road? If bicycles were required to carry VED tax discs, they would also be taxed at the zero rate.
If he had made suggestions that people be run over on the basis of their race, colour, creed or religion, not only would he have been sacked, he would have probably been arrested. Yet the BBC, by broadcasting Mr Clarkson’s views, endorses the idea that an incitement to murder or seriously injury another person is legitimate, so long as it is based on their choice of transport.
Yours etc.,
For the record, I do drive (I have held a clean driving licence for over 20 years), I have also held a number of advanced driving qualifications and was a fully qualified driving instructor. The above complaint has been sent to the BBC and I am currently awaiting a response, which I expect to receive within 10 working days.
You may also be interested in comedian Steve Coogan’s views on Top Gear, and he is a huge fan.
Addendum. I have now received the following reply from the BBC:
“Thank you for your feedback about Top Gear broadcast on 6 February 2011. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.
Jeremy was singling out what he sees as aggressive cyclists, like the one who scraped his car. I don’t think anyone can deny that, as with motorists, there are cyclists out there whose road behaviour is hardly ideal. Jeremy made it clear that in his view cyclists are free to use the roads as long as they behave themselves. Whilst he’d clearly prefer them to defer to motorists, I think his comments stop a long way short of encouraging aggression. Of course Jeremy’s views were balanced out by those of Richard Hammond, who stood up for cyclists.
Yours sincerely
Andy Wilman
Executive Producer
Top Gear”
Personally I feel this is a total cop out and shows that the BBC is not interested in taking responsibility for the comments made by its presenters. While Mr Clarkson may feel threatened by some “aggressive cyclists”, that is no reason to issue an incitement to murder or seriously injury another person based on their choice of transport. It should also be remembered that an estimated that 800 lives a year are lost due to “disrespectful driving“, whereas, on average, only one life a year is lost to reckless cycling. I am not suggesting that reckless cycling is in anyway any more acceptable than reckless driving (neither is acceptable), I am just trying to put the scale of the problem into perspective. Sadly, Mr Clarkson has a tendency to promote the idea that reckless driving is acceptable, and that we should accept death and injury on the roads as a price worth paying.
Sunday, 6th, March 2011 at 08:39
Thanks for sharing. Here’s the response I got.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katsdekker/5499045232/in/set-72157625582750375/
The response is vastly missing the point. Moreover, it is playing down the influence this stupid and outdated programme has over the masses, how it’s shaping perception and ultimately driving behaviour on the roads.
This is a dangerous line the BBC’s take.
Saturday, 5th, March 2011 at 19:08
Complaint to the BBC https://www.kimharding.net/blog/?p=1636 now with reply from the BBC
Sunday, 6th, March 2011 at 08:42
@kim_harding Added the BBC complaint reply as comment. Good to have you back. Missed your tweets!
Tuesday, 8th, February 2011 at 08:46
Sadly enough I cannot watch the BBC transmission in Germany, but I can imagine the stupid and ignorant way these things are sent out in Britain. It also tells me that the BBC should start investing a bit more into the education of their journalists. Somebody must be responsible for letting this out into the world.
Road Tax was abolished by Winston Churchill in 1937 (as I recall). To let people publicly say stuff like this here quoted by Kim can also lead to a legal case: Why not sue BBC for this? Mr. Clarkson is publicly asking drivers to kill cyclists.
You can say that it is an expression of British black humour, but if you take your bicycle and get out onto British roads, you will quickly realise that Mr.Clarkson’s joke is based on reality in Britain. It is not a joke, it is a criminal act, what he is doing here.
Tuesday, 8th, February 2011 at 09:36
Thank you for your comments Beatrix. There is a transcript of the comments make on Carlton Reid’s blog (just over half way down), Carlton also discusses the “Clarkson problem” in more detail. In the UK it is estimated that 800 lives a year are lost due to disrespectful driving. There are many people in the UK who feel that the attitudes that lead to these deaths are influenced by the Top Gear programme, sadly the BBC places a higher value of audience figures than human life.
Ps. You are correct, the Road Fund Licence was abolished by Winston Churchill in 1937 (for more details follow the link in the post above). The irony is that Churchill opposed the introduction of the Road Fund in 1928 and then abolished it in 1937, because he foresaw that it would give drivers a sense that they owned the road and therefore had a greater right to use it. Sadly this misanthropic myth persist, propagated by the likes of Clarkson, with tragic results. I am left wondering if Clarkson would change his tune if one his children were to be killed on the road, currently his attitude is that the death of other peoples children is acceptable, as it allows him to drive in the way he pleases. The UK has one of the worse records in Europe in for child deaths on the roads.
Monday, 7th, February 2011 at 12:03
Complaint lodged.