Getting the story wrong

Posted At : August 30, 2009 9:38 AM | Posted By : Rick Bernardi
Related Categories: Media bias

“One more driver facing prison time for colliding with a Portland cyclist.”

That was the headline on the website of Portland television station KATU, in an article on the arrest of a Portland driver whom police allege intentionally hit a cyclist. As BikePortland.org reported, following the incident, the driver was charged with assault in the first degree, a Class A felony. And as the KATU headline noted, this was not the first incident in which a driver was charged with intentionally hitting a cyclist. We don’t know most of the details of what happened yet, but for now, the most remarkable aspect of this story is the KATU story itself.

[ Keep Reading... ]

Comments (7) | Print | Send
Comments
[Add Comment] [Subscribe to Comments]
Did you see the recent <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/w... blog entry</a> about bike/car collisions? "ore than 52,000 bicyclists have been killed in bicycle traffic accidents in the U.S. over the 80 years the federal government has been keeping records. When it comes to sharing the road with cars, many people seem to assume that such accidents are usually the cyclists fault  a result of reckless or aggressive riding. But an analysis of police reports on 2,752 bike-car accidents in Toronto found that clumsy or inattentive driving by motorists was the cause of 90 percent of these crashes."

A lot of people in the comments section were wondering where this idea that "many people assume" came from...apparently they have never encountered news stories like this one (or, perhaps, encountered any bike news in their life)...
# Posted By andromeda | 8/30/09 1:32 PM
Wrong freakonomics like: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/w... is it. There are a lot of comments there, but it is very civil, and I'd encourage you to check them out Bob. You're referenced a couple of times
# Posted By Rich Wilson | 8/30/09 1:50 PM
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/w... is the right link. I'd encourage you to check it Bob. A lot of comments, but very civil, and you're referenced a couple of times.
# Posted By Rich Wilson | 8/30/09 1:52 PM
Sorry for the dups, every time I post I get an error.
# Posted By Rich Wilson | 8/30/09 1:53 PM
Thanks, we did see the Freakonomics article, although I haven't followed the comments since it came out.

Rich, can you send me an email (the link is on the "Contacts" tab) describing the error you're getting when you post?
# Posted By Rick Bernardi | 8/30/09 8:02 PM
Now I got the error...

OK, I will look into this. Thanks for the heads up!

In the meantime, for anybody who wants to post a comment, just post your comment, ignore the error message, and hit "refresh." Your comment will post.
# Posted By Rick Bernardi | 8/30/09 8:05 PM
test
# Posted By erikv | 9/1/09 12:08 AM
[Add Comment]