Cool Cleveland readers write

Testimony given at FCC public hearing on October 22, 2003 by Lois Cowan:

I'm Lois Cowan, the co-owner of bicycle stores in Cleveland, Ohio. I am the person who asked the Personal Attack question earlier. I was disappointed by your answer.

The anti-cyclist drivetime broadcasts started on June 30th at WMJI in Cleveland and continued for six days. You've heard from others today about the broadcasts from Raleigh.

The September broadcast from KLOL in Houston is especially disturbing. This broadcast was three days after a horrendous accident involving 20 bicyclists and a truck that left two Houston-area riders dead. Houston is already a hostile cycling environment. Thirteen people have been killed while riding bicycles in Houston in the last year. That is an astonishing number.

During the broadcasts, Clear Channel employees and callers encouraged motorists to do things like: speed past the bike and slam your brakes on throw things such as bottles and cans at the bicyclist have your passenger open the car door into the rider yell or honk at the cyclist have your passenger hit cyclists with a wiffleball bat as you pass them shoot at the rider's tires with a pellet gun swerve toward the bicyclist to scare them or force them off the road bump the back wheel with the bumper of your car

It is my understanding that the FCC will deny applications for license renewal if a licensee exhibits poor character. Since approximately 45,000 bicyclist per year are involved in accidents with motor vehicles, encouraging, provoking and inciting motorists to attack cyclists shows extremely poor character. Clear Channel has refused to release tapes or transcripts of the programs. Since they chose to pay $10,000 toward cycling advocacy, broadcast apologies and run hundreds of Public Service Announcements, a reasonable and prudent person would assume that they feel they have some liability and or license exposure.

We want Clear Channel to stop promoting violence and we want Clear Channel to undo the damage they have done.

from Cool Cleveland reader Lois Cowan lois@centurycycles.com

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