Steve Berry's ill-informed bus lane radio rant

Steve Berry has made another ill-informed rant on The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 while attempting to defend motorcyclists.

“Biker and motoring journalist” Berry went head-to-head with Roger Geffen of the national cyclists’ organisation CTC in a live debate yesterday on whether motorcycles should be allowed in bus lanes.

But Berry failed to make a case or highlight glaring holes in Geffen’s argument, instead relying on attempts to shout CTC’s man down.

Geffen claimed the move would be to the detriment of safety for cyclists. In fact a leaked Transport for London report states accidents fell for all road users on routes where motorcyclists have been allowed access to bus lanes.

But Steve Berry’s response was to shout: “Safer for who?”

Geffen then claimed motorcyclists were “more likely to be involved in killing” cyclists than users of other vehicles.

Geffen has previously admitted to MCN that this claim does not take into account who is at fault in accidents or how many motorcyclist are themselves killed – so if a cyclist caused a crash in which both he and a motorcyclist were killed, it would still be classed by Geffen as a motorcyclist killing a cyclist.

Berry failed to make the point.

Geffen issued a tentative retraction when challenged by MCN.

He said: “If I implied that it is unequivocally motorcyclists who are always at fault, then I would have to take back that wording.”

MCN attempted to contact The Jeremy Vine Show to but our views were not aired. 

Boris Johnson has said he will allow motorcyclists into bus lanes if elected as London Mayor, and publish the report which Transport for London has suppressed.