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Thursday 17 August 2017

Well done the Thunderer

I blogged recently about the mischaracterisation of criminal riding small motorised scooters as "moped gangs". Because the aren't moped gangs, they're scooter gangs.

Today I was delighted to note that The Times has taken notice of my correction, with a piece of news about "Robbers on scooters". The Evening Standard has also used the correct term.

But the battle isn't won yet. The Daily Mail, the Express, The Sun, the Independent, the Metro and Sky are all still incorrectly describing the vehicles as mopeds.

A moped is a vehicle with pedals and a motor, hence the term moped. It is capable of being propelled by the pedals, by the motor, or both.

You can see this on video.

Why is this important?

If you're looking for witnesses to a crime, and the criminal ran off wearing a grey jacket, then if you report this as a blue jacket, important witnesses might not come forward because they didn't see anyone with a blue jacket.


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