Isn’t That Staged, Too?
This photo accompanies a ludicrous article considering whether it is more dangerous to ride a Citi Bike or to take up Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting. The caption that describes the photo, “cops respond to an East Village Citi Bike location June 19, after an accident involving one of the bikes,” implies that using the bike share program is dangerous because, you know, those pesky bicyclists!
However, the image on its own is pretty misleading. It presents a pretty good lesson for how photographs can be used outside of their fuller context. The cops had taped off the bike share station in this photo not because some reckless cyclist was riding the wrong way through a red light. It was because an alleged drunk driver ran off the road on Second Avenue and struck a few pedestrians and a Citi Bike rider. The collision sent debris from the crash site across East 4th Street to the Citi Bike station across the street. The bike-share rider was injured.
Evidently, MMA is also safer than standing, walking, and driving. Perhaps we should give that up, too.
