A cyclist waiting at a red light. Photo by Elvert Barnes on Flickr.

Last week, WJLA ran a story by Tom Roussey about drivers speeding, an illegal yet common behavior:

Over several days of taking footage, ABC7’s cameras captured hundreds of thousands of motorists in different parts of DC, ignoring speed limits.

DC Police say it’s every bit as illegal for a motorist to do that as run a red light — but our video shows that it happens all the time.

The motorists we observed fell into three groups: one group always obeyed the law, another always obeyed limits unless there were no cops around, and the third simply sped through the city without slowing down.

When motorists ignore speed limits, it’s frustrating for everyone. But it’s also frustrating for many other motorists.

“In the end, people will just generalize and say there’s nothing wrong with speeding, which is of course untrue,” said driver Oliver Bleake.

A Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson says officers do give out tickets to motorists who speed. And although she couldn’t specifically say how many tickets were given for speeding, the MPD spokesperson says in 2012 officers gave out 446 tickets for bicycle-related violations.

Last year, that number dropped by more than half to 203.

Oops, actually, no, this wasn’t Roussey’s story. Instead, Roussey was writing about cyclists passing red lights.

Roussey wrote,

Over several days of taking footage, ABC7’s cameras captured dozens of cyclists in different parts of DC, blowing through red lights.

DC Police say it’s every bit as illegal for a bicyclist to do that as a car — but our video shows that it happens all the time.

The cyclists we observed fell into three groups: one group always obeyed the law, another always stopped for red lights and crossed if there were no cars coming, and the third simply sped through red lights without slowing down.

This story didn’t really say anything. Yes, some cyclists break the law. That’s not breaking news. Yes, it’s often unsafe.

But what percentage of cyclists on the videos fell into each group? How many crashes occurred because of the lawbreaking? We don’t know because Roussey decided not to include that information.

It’s also common knowledge that drivers often break the rules. Speeding is very commonplace throughout the region. People also drive drunk and run red lights.

When drivers break the rules, pedestrians and cyclists can pay the price with their lives. But drivers who are sober and who stay on the scene are rarely charged. WJLA doesn’t seem outraged about that.

The New York Times has been getting outraged. Soon after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a “vision zero” initiative to eliminate pedestrian deaths, the paper has run stories about how pedestrian deaths haven’t dropped even as overall road deaths have; where crashes happen in the five boroughs; and harrowing personal stories from four Times staffers who were hit and injured by drivers (but survived).

Wouldn’t it be great if WJLA did some analysis and reporting like that?

Instead, Roussey’s story on bikes running lights does not add much to the discussion, except to demonize cyclists as scofflaws. This story just reinforces the idea of the anecdote: “I saw a cyclist run a red light the other day, so clearly, they’re all law breakers.” The WJLA story just gives heft to the (false) idea that all cyclists are law-breakers. It’s a stereotype that even many MPD officers hold.

In a republic, good information and an open dialogue are fundamental to making good policy. The media are a key part of fostering that honest discussion, but when they resort to using stereotyping instead of reporting, they make public dialogue and decision-making harder. We should expect more from journalists than this.

Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington area since 2007. He has a Master’s in Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He lives in Dupont Circle. He’s a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and is an employee of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. His views are his own and do not represent those of his employer.