Should have RLJed

[Bertie Wooster[_2_]]

The Shadow Environment Secretary was today involved in a collision
with a minicab while cycling through London after the driver
reportedly bumped into her back wheel at a set of traffic lights.

Mary Creagh, Labour’s Environment spokeswoman, told The Times that she
was cycling near the British Museum on her way back from a tour of the
Olympic site when the driver of an Addison Lee minicab bumped into her
back wheel as she stopped at a red traffic light.

Ms Creagh was unhurt, but said that it was the first time in ten years
of regular cycling that she had been hit in traffic.

In a letter today to the Addison Lee chairman, John Griffin, she
wrote: “I was interested to hear you a few weeks back on Radio 4,
saying that your minicabs should be allowed into bus lanes.

“Perhaps you would be interested to hear my experience of one of your
drivers today? I was at the junction of Bloomsbury Square and
Tottenham Court Road, which is left turn only for vehicles, with an
exception to go straight ahead for cycles. The lights changed and the
road was blocked by a bus. I was on the right hand side of one of your
vehicles and behind a van which could not move because of the bus.

“The lights changed back to red, the van ahead of me curled around the
corner but I decided to wait at the red light rather than risk
crossing the road as my sight line of any oncoming traffic was
obscured. Your driver bumped into the back of my bicycle.

“When I observed that the lights had changed to red some five seconds
earlier, he shouted and yelled at me.”

She added: “It was the first time I had been bumped in well over ten
years. I am a slow, careful cyclist with excellent hand signals and
always make eye contact with drivers.

“It was certainly an interesting experience to be barracked for
obeying a red stop light when driver mythology has all cyclists down
as light-jumping lunatics. Based on today’s experience, your drivers’
reputation for careful driving may be just as much of a myth.”

The incident comes after Mr Griffin provoked a row by instructing his
drivers to ignore the law forbidding private-hire vehicles from
driving in bus lanes.

He also angered cyclists by suggesting that they should expect to get
hurt by drivers if they take to the roads and that motorists cannot be
blamed if they “fail to observe a granny wobbling to avoid a pothole”.

An Addison Lee spokesman said: “Obviously this is not the standard of
behavior we expect from our drivers. As with any complaint we receive,
we will work to identify the driver involved and take appropriate
action. Addison Lee invests heavily in driver training and is
currently consulting with cycling groups to help us launch London’s
first taxi/cyclist-specific training for our drivers later this year.”

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3422906.ece

=====Comment=====

Good for her for getting on her bike.

If only more MPs did the same!

=====/Comment=====

[Doug[_10_]]

On May 24, 9:56*pm, Bertie Wooster > wrote:
> The Shadow Environment Secretary was today involved in a collision
> with a minicab while cycling through London after the driver
> reportedly bumped into her back wheel at a set of traffic lights.
>
> Mary Creagh, Labour’s Environment spokeswoman, told The Times that she
> was cycling near the British Museum on her way back from a tour of the
> Olympic site when the driver of an Addison Lee minicab bumped into her
> back wheel as she stopped at a red traffic light.
>
> Ms Creagh was unhurt, but said that it was the first time in ten years
> of regular cycling that she had been hit in traffic.
>
> In a letter today to the Addison Lee chairman, John Griffin, she
> wrote: “I was interested to hear you a few weeks back on Radio 4,
> saying that your minicabs should be allowed into bus lanes.
>
> “Perhaps you would be interested to hear my experience of one of your
> drivers today? I was at the junction of Bloomsbury Square and
> Tottenham Court Road, which is left turn only for vehicles, with an
> exception to go straight ahead for cycles. The lights changed and the
> road was blocked by a bus. I was on the right hand side of one of your
> vehicles and behind a van which could not move because of the bus.
>
> “The lights changed back to red, the van ahead of me curled around the
> corner but I decided to wait at the red light rather than risk
> crossing the road as my sight line of any oncoming traffic was
> obscured. Your driver bumped into the back of my bicycle.
>
> “When I observed that the lights had changed to red some five seconds
> earlier, he shouted and yelled at me.”
>
> She added: “It was the first time I had been bumped in well over ten
> years. I am a slow, careful cyclist with excellent hand signals and
> always make eye contact with drivers.
>
> “It was certainly an interesting experience to be barracked for
> obeying a red stop light when driver mythology has all cyclists down
> as light-jumping lunatics. Based on today’s experience, your drivers’
> reputation for careful driving may be just as much of a myth.”
>
> The incident comes after Mr Griffin provoked a row by instructing his
> drivers to ignore the law forbidding private-hire vehicles from
> driving in bus lanes.
>
> He also angered cyclists by suggesting that they should expect to get
> hurt by drivers if they take to the roads and that motorists cannot be
> blamed if they “fail to observe a granny wobbling to avoid a pothole”..
>
> An Addison Lee spokesman said: “Obviously this is not the standard of
> behavior we expect from our drivers. As with any complaint we receive,
> we will work to identify the driver involved and take appropriate
> action. Addison Lee invests heavily in driver training and is
> currently consulting with cycling groups to help us launch London’s
> first taxi/cyclist-specific training for our drivers later this year.”
>
> http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3422906.ece
>
> =====Comment=====
>
> Good for her for getting on her bike.
>
> If only more MPs did the same!
>
> =====/Comment=====
>
Cyclists being deliberately rammed by frustrated drivers often happens
during a Critical Mass ride and the drivers seem able to get away with
it even when the police are present. It rarely causes harm to the
rider but the cycle back wheel is sometimes buckled.

-- .
Critical Mass London.
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
Drivers ram cyclists because they can and its easy to do.

[Dave - Cyclists VOR]

On 25/05/2012 07:52, Doug wrote:
> On May 24, 9:56 pm, Bertie > wrote:
>> The Shadow Environment Secretary was today involved in a collision
>> with a minicab while cycling through London after the driver
>> reportedly bumped into her back wheel at a set of traffic lights.
>>
>> Mary Creagh, Labour’s Environment spokeswoman, told The Times that she
>> was cycling near the British Museum on her way back from a tour of the
>> Olympic site when the driver of an Addison Lee minicab bumped into her
>> back wheel as she stopped at a red traffic light.
>>
>> Ms Creagh was unhurt, but said that it was the first time in ten years
>> of regular cycling that she had been hit in traffic.
>>
>> In a letter today to the Addison Lee chairman, John Griffin, she
>> wrote: “I was interested to hear you a few weeks back on Radio 4,
>> saying that your minicabs should be allowed into bus lanes.
>>
>> “Perhaps you would be interested to hear my experience of one of your
>> drivers today? I was at the junction of Bloomsbury Square and
>> Tottenham Court Road, which is left turn only for vehicles, with an
>> exception to go straight ahead for cycles. The lights changed and the
>> road was blocked by a bus. I was on the right hand side of one of your
>> vehicles and behind a van which could not move because of the bus.
>>
>> “The lights changed back to red, the van ahead of me curled around the
>> corner but I decided to wait at the red light rather than risk
>> crossing the road as my sight line of any oncoming traffic was
>> obscured. Your driver bumped into the back of my bicycle.
>>
>> “When I observed that the lights had changed to red some five seconds
>> earlier, he shouted and yelled at me.”
>>
>> She added: “It was the first time I had been bumped in well over ten
>> years. I am a slow, careful cyclist with excellent hand signals and
>> always make eye contact with drivers.
>>
>> “It was certainly an interesting experience to be barracked for
>> obeying a red stop light when driver mythology has all cyclists down
>> as light-jumping lunatics. Based on today’s experience, your drivers’
>> reputation for careful driving may be just as much of a myth.”
>>
>> The incident comes after Mr Griffin provoked a row by instructing his
>> drivers to ignore the law forbidding private-hire vehicles from
>> driving in bus lanes.
>>
>> He also angered cyclists by suggesting that they should expect to get
>> hurt by drivers if they take to the roads and that motorists cannot be
>> blamed if they “fail to observe a granny wobbling to avoid a pothole”.
>>
>> An Addison Lee spokesman said: “Obviously this is not the standard of
>> behavior we expect from our drivers. As with any complaint we receive,
>> we will work to identify the driver involved and take appropriate
>> action. Addison Lee invests heavily in driver training and is
>> currently consulting with cycling groups to help us launch London’s
>> first taxi/cyclist-specific training for our drivers later this year.”
>>
>> http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3422906.ece
>>
>> =====Comment=====
>>
>> Good for her for getting on her bike.
>>
>> If only more MPs did the same!
>>
>> =====/Comment=====
>>
> Cyclists being deliberately rammed by frustrated drivers often happens
> during a Critical Mass ride and the drivers seem able to get away with
> it even when the police are present. It rarely causes harm to the
> rider but the cycle back wheel is sometimes buckled.

Shame their ****ing heads don't get buckled.

(if it's OK for Phil W Lee, it's OK for me).


--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton - Lancaster
University

[Dave - Cyclists VOR]

On 24/05/2012 21:56, Bertie Wooster wrote:
> The Shadow Environment Secretary was today involved in a collision
> with a minicab while cycling through London after the driver
> reportedly bumped into her back wheel at a set of traffic lights.
>
> Mary Creagh, Labour’s Environment spokeswoman, told The Times that she
> was cycling near the British Museum on her way back from a tour of the
> Olympic site when the driver of an Addison Lee minicab bumped into her
> back wheel as she stopped at a red traffic light.
>
> Ms Creagh was unhurt, but said that it was the first time in ten years
> of regular cycling that she had been hit in traffic.
>
> In a letter today to the Addison Lee chairman, John Griffin, she
> wrote: “I was interested to hear you a few weeks back on Radio 4,
> saying that your minicabs should be allowed into bus lanes.
>
> “Perhaps you would be interested to hear my experience of one of your
> drivers today? I was at the junction of Bloomsbury Square and
> Tottenham Court Road, which is left turn only for vehicles, with an
> exception to go straight ahead for cycles. The lights changed and the
> road was blocked by a bus. I was on the right hand side of one of your
> vehicles and behind a van which could not move because of the bus.
>
> “The lights changed back to red, the van ahead of me curled around the
> corner but I decided to wait at the red light rather than risk
> crossing the road as my sight line of any oncoming traffic was
> obscured. Your driver bumped into the back of my bicycle.
>
> “When I observed that the lights had changed to red some five seconds
> earlier, he shouted and yelled at me.”
>
> She added: “It was the first time I had been bumped in well over ten
> years. I am a slow, careful cyclist with excellent hand signals and
> always make eye contact with drivers.
>
> “It was certainly an interesting experience to be barracked for
> obeying a red stop light when driver mythology has all cyclists down
> as light-jumping lunatics. Based on today’s experience, your drivers’
> reputation for careful driving may be just as much of a myth.”
>
> The incident comes after Mr Griffin provoked a row by instructing his
> drivers to ignore the law forbidding private-hire vehicles from
> driving in bus lanes.
>
> He also angered cyclists by suggesting that they should expect to get
> hurt by drivers if they take to the roads and that motorists cannot be
> blamed if they “fail to observe a granny wobbling to avoid a pothole”.
>
> An Addison Lee spokesman said: “Obviously this is not the standard of
> behavior we expect from our drivers. As with any complaint we receive,
> we will work to identify the driver involved and take appropriate
> action. Addison Lee invests heavily in driver training and is
> currently consulting with cycling groups to help us launch London’s
> first taxi/cyclist-specific training for our drivers later this year.”
>
> http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3422906.ece
>
> =====Comment=====
>
> Good for her for getting on her bike.
>
> If only more MPs did the same!
>
> =====/Comment=====

Just shows the lengths cyclists will go to in order to attack anyone not
spouting the 'cyclists holy grail'.



--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton - Lancaster
University