Television attacked for glamourising car use

Transport 1650 today attacked the UK's television stations, and in particular the BBC, for glamourising car use in their programming. Steve, Transport 1650 spokesman, said: "All too often in modern television shows, the stars are shown driving gas-guzzling cars around the countryside, without a second thought for the environmental damage they are causing. In some programmes, these people are even shown to be enjoying their driving."

Steve went on to highlight an example. "In the popular drama series '24', Jack Bauer is frequently seen driving on his own from one predicament to another in a large black 4x4. There is no need for him to be driving such a large, polluting and environmentally un-sound vehicle, since he is travelling alone and on well surfaced roads. We will be contacting Fox Television to campaign for Jack to drive a Smart car in any future series."

Steve continued, "This is by no means an isolated example, however. Whenever you switch on the television, people can be seen needlessly driving their cars. Just last night, I turned on the TV to an episode of Midsomer Murders, in which Detective Barnaby drove to the crime scene in a separate car from his assistant. There is no reason why they couldn't have car-shared for the journey to the scene, and then Sergeant Troy should have caught the bus back to the police station."

We believe it is unacceptable and immoral for television to be promoting car use in this way. Young people are easily influenced by what they see on TV, and could be led to believe that owning and driving a car is just a normal part of everyday life. The BBC in particular, as a public service broadcaster, should be taking a lead in promoting sustainable transport and the benefits of public transport. The unashamedly pro-car Top Gear programme must be axed immediately.

A BBC spokesman said, "Our public service obligation means that we need to provide coverage of both sides of every story, and reflect modern Britain,  which is why it is important that we offer programmes such as Top Gear so that our audience can make an informed choice".

We at Transport 1650 are outraged by this irresponsible attitude. "Promoting car use in this way will lead to irresponsible driving, where people will drive their cars rather than walking or taking the train instead. Our target of eliminating all private cars from the roads will never be met if this continues. This is not about censorship, it's about what is in the public interest," said Steve. "Why, just the other day one BBC correspondent referred to a safety camera as a 'speed camera'. This sort of denial of the facts is highly damaging to furthering our agenda."