TALK RADIO HOSTS TARGETING BICYCLISTS--AGAIN
Radio talk show hosts are targeting bicyclists again. Stations in
three
cities in the last two weeks have made disparaging, incorrect, and at
times dangerous remarks about bicyclists and encouraged listeners to
call
in and share their views about bicyclists.
On April 16, Howie Carr on Boston's WRKO-AM said, "They [bicyclists]
are
the biggest pain...if there is a sidewalk, I don't care what the law
is,
ride on the damn sidewalk, OK? You don't belong on the road. You
don't.
That's all there is to it. You belong on the sidewalk." Later on, he
said,
"I don't want to share the road."

On April 23, DJs on the Don Miller show on Atlanta's WNNX-FM (99X)
repeatedly ridiculed bicyclists. One host said, "I can't stand
them," and
referred to cyclists as "bastards." Of the law giving cyclists the
right
to use the roads, they said it's a "horrible law" and that bicyclists
should "get on the sidewalk where they belong." When a caller wanted
to
let the hosts know about Atlanta area cyclists who'd been killed in
traffic crashes, the response was, "...and I wanna let you know how
many
people care about those cyclists." Most alarmingly, one DJ said he
would
"nudge them [bicyclists] right off the road into a tree." When
challenged
by a colleague that he hadn't done that, he said, "You've never done
that?
It's so much fun. Smoke a little weed, get behind the wheel...wheee!"

To hear the heinous 99X broadcast segments, for more details and to
take
action to stop this onslaught of broadcast harassment, visit
http://www.bikeleague.org. None of the stations involved are owned by
Clear Channel Communications. Last year, following a string of
similar
incidents, Clear Channel made it clear it would not tolerate such
behavior
on its stations. Visit http://www.bikemonth.org to hear radio PSA
recorded
by Clear Channel to promote bicycling and sharing the road.