Cam, the 'loser' bike rider depicted in the Road Safety Commission advertisements. Credit:WA Road Safety Commission "I did not see them before they went live and as soon as concerns were raised with me, I acted swiftly to have them taken down," she said. "I approved the Road Safety Commission to develop a campaign addressing driver's risk taking behaviour and specifically requested further detail. "This did not happen. "I understand and appreciate the concerns raised by the cycling community and others."

She said the advertising campaign was being reviewed and may be modified for future use. "I enjoy a very good relationship with cycling groups around the state, as evidenced by the work we have both done to introduce the safe passing law," the Minister said. We Ride Australia's Stephen Hodge said it was obvious the commission faced serious problems addressing the road toll. "But when we see the latest road safety campaign from the Western Australian Road Safety Commission, we are incredibly disappointed with the content that portrays the choice to ride a bike as social suicide, ridiculous and the choice of no one if they have an option to drive a car," he said.



"It's hard to fathom that in all three campaign videos released online, the focus is on a single mode of transport as a form of punishment, reinforcing negative, entrenched pre-conceptions and myths around people who choose to ride bikes."



The video advertisements warn that if you lose your license, the consequences (riding a bike instead) can be embarrassing. Mr Hodge said planners, advocates, ministers and transport bureaucrats around the country were trying to address major traffic congestion issues and had been battling for years to overcome these attitudes towards cycling.



"Sadly, the campaign only tells the people of WA an inaccurate, negative and ridiculous story of why only 'losers' ride a bike," he said.



The Road Safety Commission's campaign focuses on one man and his bike, calling it "a forced love story". The videos had appeared at movie theatres and on social media.

"Meet Cam. He has lost his licence for speeding…too often. And now he faces the consequences: he's back on the bike. The same bike he used to ride to school. Ironically, it's an old racer, a little rusty and he's too big for it now," campaign material states. Another version of the video suggests riding a bike is punishment.



"This is the story of Cam. And his bike. A young man using his childhood mode of transport. A relationship he's brought upon himself and he's going to have to make the best of it. Join Cam on his journey of discovery that SPEEDING SLOWS YOU DOWN." When the ads was released earlier this month, Acting Road Safety Commissioner Iain Cameron said the seven-week campaign would engage young male drivers.



"Speeding is a choice that can result in serious trauma," Mr Cameron said.



"As a community, most West Australian drivers are doing the right thing and slowing down, however we know that some young men tend to speed often, which can lead to a loss of licence. "Those drivers will relate to Cam, the anti-hero of this campaign, who has acquired too many demerit points, lost his licence and has to resort to using his childhood bicycle for transport, ultimately slowing him down." WestCycle CEO Matt Fulton said his organisation had been made aware of the planned advertising campaign targeting speeding drivers from the Road Safety Commission.

He said he was not happy with the focus on bike riding as punishment and provided some feedback to the Commission on the campaign at a stage where the direction of using riding had already been locked in. "It is very disappointing to see riding a bike used in a way that is considered a punishment, it undermines decades of work to normalise cycling," he said. "This belittles the half a million people who chose to ride a bike each and every week. The State Government is investing record levels to encourage bike riding as a legitimate mode of transport and this ad campaign is directly opposed to the direction set from the rest of the Government.



"If the campaign had chosen a range of alternative transport options available resulting from the loss of license the criticism we are seeing at the moment from the riding community may not have been as strong." The campaign made news overseas, with UK cycling magazine BikeBiz making fun of the ads, calling them "jaw-droppingly bad". "Blokes, get caught speeding in your car and you may have to go back to riding a slow rustbucket of a bicycle, your "childhood mode of transport," they reported.

"And because you're back on a bike you'll probably lose your girlfriend, too. This is the startling message from a new advertising campaign from Western Australia's Road Safety Commission." The piece ends "and we think we've got it bad in the UK".