The Tameside Advertiser: Cyclist threatened for bad driving website
by Kate Weir
January 21, 2010
A MAN who took up cycling to improve his health has been threatened and abused – for trying to help save the lives of other road users.
Joby Spragg, 33, started cycling a little over a year ago in a bid to improve his health.
And while cycling every day from Hyde to Manchester city centre for work has helped him shed four stone, the married dad-of-one now faces a new threat to his health – other road users.
Joby started filming his daily commutes by putting online clips of some of the most dangerous things he sees – from drivers, pedestrians and cyclists – and then contacting the authorities about the trouble spots he rides through every day.
But after his story featured in the tabloid press, he received threats that he will be run off the road – all for joining a growing number of cyclists and drivers who want to make the roads safer by highlighting accident blackspots and common mistakes.
“I started doing it because, unfortunately, cycling is very dangerous, particularly commuting into Manchester,” he said.
“I’ve never been hit so badly that I’ve needed to go to hospital, but I’ve been knocked off my bike into a car and I got hit about four weeks ago.”
Joby passes several places on his journey that are particularly dangerous.
He posts clips of bad driving at those points as well as letting authorities like Tameside Council and the Highways Agency know that he considers them to be dangerous.
“I’m doing it because I’ve got a young family at home, and everyone else has loved ones – we all want to get home, butwaiting another minute at a traffic light isn’t going to make much difference.”
And to let people know what he’s up to while on his bike, Joby also has a sign printed on his backpack directing peopleto his website.
“I just want to let people know that it’s not just them on the road.”
Joby’s website and his clips of bad driving can be seen at www.fightbaddriving.co.uk.
