BBC News e-bike segment provokes negative reaction due to “factual inaccuracies”
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
A recent BBC Breakfast segment has sparked backlash from the cycling community over its portrayal of e-bikes, with critics accusing the broadcaster of conflating legal e-bikes with illegal, unregistered ‘e-motorbikes’.
The segment, aired last week (1st July) featured celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, who described a recent incident in which his mother-in-law was injured by a rider on an electric hire bike that ran a red light, calling for Government action and suggesting London is “saturated” with bikes.
While no one has disputed the seriousness of the incident, cyclists online took issue with what followed—broad criticism of e-bikes as a whole, supported by footage of police seizing illegal e-motorbikes, with little clarity provided on the legal distinction between the two according to a number of viewers.
Zilli claimed the pavement outside his restaurant is “mayhem” due to reckless e-bike use and asked, “What needs to happen before anything is done?” adding that incidents are “happening every day now, people are losing lives, people are losing limbs.”
He said: “It’s chaos out there at the moment—people are weaving in and out of pedestrians on pavements, riding through red lights, with no accountability; something needs to change.”
Jonathan Harrison, Director of the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT), commented on the segment, saying: “While any injury caused by incidents involving e-bikes should be taken seriously, reporting on these issues—particularly by the BBC and other mainstream media—must clearly distinguish between illegal e-motorbikes and legal, compliant, and safe e-bikes.
“These types of TV segments unfairly damage the image of reputable e-bike retailers and manufacturers and undermine the positive role e-bikes play in sustainable transport—exactly what the E-Bike Positive campaign is working to highlight.”
Chris Boardman, National Active Travel Commissioner, has previously noted that over 30,000 people are killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads every year, yet “less than three [of those cases] involve a cyclist.”
Cargo Bike Ben, a user on social media platform Bluesky, was among several online voices criticising the segment, saying: “Of course, being a BBC ‘both sides’ talking head, it was full of factual inaccuracies like conflating e-bikes with illegal electric motorcycles, spouting spurious claims of hundreds of people being killed or maimed by bikes, and no difference being made between commuters and delivery riders.”
Others questioned the absence of positive stories about e-bikes on mainstream TV, with one user commenting: “Let every cyclist drive a car on Monday morning... Let's show the BBC what anti-cycling really does.”
The controversy follows a previous Panorama episode hosted by Adrian Chiles that also faced widespread complaints for being “misleading and damaging” in its depiction of e-bikes.