Killer headlines

The BBC reported today that motorcycle fatalaties in Northern Ireland have risen considerably in the last year. Not good news but fair enough. Not so fair though is what feels like an underlying prejudice against motorcyclists and monotone reporting from the BBC. An example is the accompanying quote from Environment Minister Arlene Foster: “It has caused me considerable concern at the number of deaths attributable to motorcycles in this past year”. I wonder if that was an informed comment or if it simply reveals her prejudice? If it’s an informed comment – i.e. that the fatalaties were, on the whole, “attributable” the motorcyclists themselves – then fair enough. But I suspect it’s the latter. And why didn’t the BBC look for a balanced view? The article goes on to suggest that it’s motorcyclists that need further training. I wonder if the journalist involved bothered to look beyond the ‘killer headline’. Did they look at the statistics themselves? Are they sure that they don’t reflect careless car driving as much as they might reflect careless motorcycling? Again, I suspect not.