Awareness Raising Spoke Cards Campaign Project?

laters anyhow.. "F"at tory!

Do you mean something like this..

What if the bike on the red side was slightly damaged in some way? Just to get the point across?

Loving your work scott! (see I can remember your name)

There seems to be a lot of people new to riding using the ride to work scheme, Maybe we could get the scheme involved some how, possibly a rules for the road leaflet, that comes with the vouchers? All I got was some bumf about wearing a helmet, like a helmets going to instill you with 'the knowledge'.

I was actually wondering; how do the general public (the ones that politicians really listen to), not we niche groups, know about, or are able to read a card within a bike's wheels, that is revolving?

Yes, cyclists will pay attention, but do the public notice that sort of thing? If they don't easily notice, is the card then fulfilling its desighn function?

I'm trying to think like a non-cyclist......not trying to rumple anyone's feathers.

+1 for BB's media exposure suggestions.

^that's quoted from the Holborn thread.

I don't think the idea is for the spoke cards to be readable in situ.

And to be honest, who gives a fuck about the general public. This needs to be aimed squarely at cyclists and lorry drivers.

However, I'm not advocating cycling down the inside of a lorry and chucking a spoke card through their open passenger side window :S

Draft a letter, and then unless someone strenuously objects, add our names, and send it, and send press releases to the london media (tv, radio and press) and possibly the national media too.

I have access to this if you need press contacts.

There seems to be a lot of people new to riding using the ride to work scheme, Maybe we could get the scheme involved some how, possibly a rules for the road leaflet, that comes with the vouchers? All I got was some bumf about wearing a helmet, like a helmets going to instill you with 'the knowledge'.

I think this is a really good idea.

nice one Clefty, my neural pathways are slightly less well connected than your I'm afraid

yeah, i agree about the cyclist symbols

and a line underneath about how many people are killed going up the inside of lorrys.

Do you mean something like this..

Yeah! Anything that connects it with cycling, we all know how stupid the general public can be when it comes to understanding a message.

Is the skull n bones necessary? We all know lorries are ffing dangerous, no need to paint them as evil or pirates or whatever (even though some are undoubtably at fault). We need everyone 'on side'.

this is a great idea, but can i suggest we dont have swear word's in the slogan. We don't want to alienate people from the start

+1 don't swear... it'll be counter productive.

As to getting the message out to cyclists in an effective way I think stickers (2 by 4/6 inch) would work best.

Placed on railings, street-poles bike racks and anywhere else cyclists might lock up or pass close by.

As to getting the message out to cyclists in an effective way I think stickers (2 by 4/6 inch) would work best.

Placed on railings, street-poles bike racks and anywhere else cyclists might lock up or pass close by.

Would stickers escalate the production costs too much?

Could do stickers and spokecards with the same screen if that was the way we were going.
Might be cheaper but not as nice to go digital.

Not my department sorry.

We could all chip-in and have a forum-branded awareness campaign.
I would give £10.

I have some experience in drafting press releases.. Maybe at east drinks but before people get pissed we could decide the key points or what we'd like to include?

Is the skull n bones necessary? We all know lorries are ffing dangerous, no need to paint them as evil or pirates or whatever (even though some are undoubtably at fault). We need everyone 'on side'.

Agree. Not all HGV drivers are at fault, especially if they can't see the cyclist.

Instead of the skull/bones maybe 'HGV' or 'DANGER' in bold.

Like the design tho, been playing with a few ideas, but like this.

not sure if you've all seen this, but news from today's incident http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AfSW7W-dMEw.

I think there's a few things that need to happen here.
Not a definitive answer.
Spoke cards are good as a direct message to the cyclist but sometimes the cyclist is already riding along. How will they get the message until they've parked up and had a spoke card inserted into their wheel. I like the directness but it's a massive responsibility to get a spoke card to every cyclist. (What will happen to all the spoke cards too? I'm sure they won't be kept in wheels. Recycled? Littered?)
The government could do a lot more. They're the people we need to penetrate and push for action. Billboard ads, bus shelter ads, tv ads, newspapers etc.

I feel a publicity stunt could be an answer to getting the coverage needed.
If there were lot's of decorated ghost bikes, that would be something.

Any ideas which will get press, news coverage? A publicity stunt which will get London thinking?

Writing direct on the streets with sign paint?

swearing on spoke cards is fine - its catchy and its guerilla tactics anyhow.
fly posting trucks with stickers - avoid swearing, the sui-side graphic works well for that.
harrass your mp to deal with the official/media/bike to work side of awareness raising.

does anywhere run skills courses for riding in traffic?

Do you mean something like this..

This is great and it makes sense to all of us but what about those new to cycling who are arguably at the most risk? It needs specific context i.e. if you had 'When overtaking lorries...' printed above the lorry then the story would be more complete, at least IMHO.

This is great and it makes sense to all of us but what about those new to cycling who are arguably at the most risk? It needs specific context i.e. if you had 'When overtaking lorries...' printed above the lorry then the story would be more complete, at least IMHO.

You're right, needs to be more obvious.

Any ideas which will get press, news coverage? A publicity stunt which will get London thinking?

I think if 1000 spoke cards are distributed along with posters / stickers, i could get something into Metro. That would certainly be a start!!

Agree. Not all HGV drivers are at fault, especially if they can't see the cyclist.

Instead of the skull/bones maybe 'HGV' or 'DANGER' in bold.

Like the design tho, been playing with a few ideas, but like this.

so something more generic....

i think spoke cards would be better because they will cover more area in london compared to stickers which will stay stationary and will only be seen by those who park near them, plus bikes tend to park in groups.

the thread on mt is this one http://www.movingtargetzine.com/forum/discussion/598/diagrams-of-hgv-blind-spots-from-nozzer-these-could-save-your-life/#Item_0

it has really good info plus the pictures are really easy to understand and we could print stats over the less important bits of them.

there are some others as well, maybe if people like these ones we could change the colours?

@vanuden - I like the "when you overtake..."
@stir - yes, there are several workshops on riding in london - google it
@skully- I think the skull and crossbones is a strong image that is understood world wide (which if said cyclist doesn't speak english well will still convey the message..
@wools - I think access to that database would come in super handy..I also have a few cycle related journo's contacts who'd be likely to get behind us.

Something for everyone to consider is if / when we do begin this campaign then we need to have one person who is knowlegible on the subject and who can articulate our point to the press and is comfortabe speaking to journos. THAT MAY SOUND EASY but really it's a skill that people train in. I **don't **want to nominate anyone as they may not want to give up that time however in my mind Bill would be my first choice..