Cycling Scotland ad banned for encouraging poor road safety
A Scottish Government advertising campaign intended to promote safer cycling has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for depicting dangerous road safety practices that ‘undermined the recommendations of the Highway Code’.
Comparing cyclists with horses the ad featured a narrator who intonated: “Not a lot of people know this but you should treat a cyclist the way you treat a horse ... slow down, treat them with care and give them their space on the road.”
It then went on to show a female cyclist nonchalantly pedalling down the middle of a road forcing cars out onto the opposing lane. Five people complained that this was ‘irresponsible and harmful’ as the woman was not wearing the correct safety gear and was more than one metre from the curb.
Delivering their verdict on the piece the ASA said: “We understood that UK law did not require cyclists to wear helmets or cycle at least 0.5 metres from the kerb. However, under the Highway Code it was recommended as good practice for cyclists to wear helmets. Therefore, we considered that the scene featuring the cyclist on a road without wearing a helmet undermined the recommendations set out in the Highway Code.
“Furthermore, we were concerned that whilst the cyclist was more than 0.5 metres from the kerb, they appeared to be located more in the centre of the lane when the car behind overtook them and the car almost had to enter the right lane of traffic. Therefore, for those reasons we concluded the ad was socially irresponsible and likely to condone or encourage behaviour prejudicial to health and safety.”
The ad has now been banned in its current form.