Archives For Vehicles

Addison Lee is a joke!

April 20, 2012 — 14 Comments

And not what you would call a funny. Cyclists in the City reported yesterday that the Chairman has said some worrying things in the latest Add Lib Magazine.

He says

You want to join our gang, get trained and pay up

I think it is worth noting that the bicycle came before cars and it was cyclists that made it possible for the cars to use the roads, as we where the ones that campaigned for smooth sealed roads!

His comment came after the usual rubbish that someone with little knowledge of the road network throws at a cyclist.

The rest of us occupying this roadspace have had to undergo extensive training. We are sitting inside a protected space with impact bars and air bags and paying extortionate amounts of taxes on our vehicle purchase, parking, servicing, insurance and road tax.

Road what? Come on John Griffin, I took you for a smarter man than that! We all know that road tax was abolished in 1937 and that even if cyclists had to pay under the same system as motorised transport, we would pay £0!

Can he not see that you must pay large sums of money because making a car is expensive, parking spaces are valuable, parts are expensive to replace and cars cause lots of damage. The bicycle on the other hand is simple machine in comparison, with costs much smaller than those of a motorised vehicle.

His comment about training is of course an amusing one. A bicycle is allowed to use the road by right, no training is required as it is a fairly simple task. It would be a bit silly if we forced 14 year old girls to get a number plate to hang over the horses bum and force them to take a test. Would the horse have to take a theory test as well?
The car on the other hand, as he points out, is a vehicle that is protected, the passengers are protected. The vehicle its self can be a weapon, it can kill and seriously injure someone if the wrong person is behind the wheel.

But to the real point, it was worse long before the usual comments. John Griffin said the following

Should a motorist fail to observe a granny wobbling to avoid a pothole or a rain drain, then he is guilty of failing to anticipate that this was somebody on her maiden voyage into the abyss. The fact is he just didn’t see her and however cautious, caring or alert he is, the influx of beginner cyclists is going to lead to an overall increase in accidents involving cyclists.

Well of course it is going to lead into an increase in ‘accidents’ if your drivers aren’t looking. Cyclists across London already know that Addison Lee hires drivers that got their license from a box of Frosties (They’re GRRRRRRRR-EAT).
Perhaps Mr Griffin should put his own house in order before commenting about others, as the quality of his drivers road use is appalling.

He is of course suggesting that it is not the drivers fault if a cyclist wobbles around because they are inexperienced and there is a collision. Of course it is the drivers fault, it is up to the overtaking vehicle to pass safely. If you are in the more dangerous form of transportation then you look after those who are in a more vulnerable position. You wouldn’t  go around ramming little girls off their horses and then try to blame it on them being too inexperienced or not having insurance.

He started this week off by whining on TV that his minicabs are being treated unfairly because they aren’t allowed to use the bus lanes. By the end of the week he has stated that it isn’t the drivers fault if an inexperienced cyclist gets in their way.

John Griffin is a child, he was on TV whining because he wasn’t getting his way, by the end of the week he has thrown his toys out of the pram because the cyclists grouped together and made some noise.

Here is a video I made earlier that I think Mr Griffin should be forced to watch

In Article, campaigning, Cyclists, decade of action, News, Vehicles, Video , ,
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Addison Lee Vehicles Can Not Use Bus Lanes

April 16, 2012 — 2 Comments

Bike Biz alerted us to the fact that Addison Lee drivers have received a letter from the Chairman of the company, telling them to start using London bus lanes as of today.

The Chairman, John Griffin, wrote

Our legal advice is that bus lane regulations are currently being misinterpreted to exclude [private hire vehicles] from bus lanes. Such misinterpretation is unlawful.

What defines who is and who isn’t allowed in a London bus lane, is the Traffic Management Order for the bus lane. I’ve looked at several of these across several boroughs and they all have similar wording (obviously built from the same template). They state something along the lines of

In this Order- …. “bus”, “local bus”, “pedal cycle”, “taxi”, “traffic lane”, “contra-flow” and “with-flow
lane” have the meanings given in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General
Directions 2002

Looking at the TSRGD Regulation 23, we can not determine what the definition of a taxi is. Is a minicab / private hire vehicle a taxi?

TFL state the following

Only licensed taxis (black cabs) can pick up passengers on the street. Any minicab driver who picks up customers without a booking is acting illegally. This includes minicabs lined up outside pubs and clubs.

Taxis (black cabs) have a light on the front displaying the word ‘TAXI’.

Only taxis (black cabs) may be hailed by customers and picked up off the street. Minicabs cannot accept fares that have not been booked in advance

There are now around 3,200 licensed private hire operators, 60,000 licensed private hire drivers, and roughly 50,000 licensed private hire vehicles in London. In addition, there are approximately 22,000 licensed taxis (black cabs) and almost 25,000 licensed taxi drivers.

So TFL make it clear that there is a difference between a taxi and a private hire vehicle.

The Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1988 states

No such advertisement shall include—

(a)any of the following words, namely “taxi”, “taxis”, “cab” or “cabs”

So Private Hire Vehicles are NOT allowed to be advertised as a taxi or as taxis.

So are Addison Lee a Private Hire Vehicles Operator?

When you become a driver with Addison Lee, you join London’s largest private hire operator

In 2009 a FOI request was put in to TFL by Patrick Raeburn asking them

Please can I have all information relating to Private Hire
Vehicle access to Bus Lanes.

TFL’s response was

TfL does not currently permit private hire vehicles into bus lanes on the
Transport for London Road Network (TLRN). Therefore, no information is
held.

Addison Lee are trying to challenge the definition of TAXI used on the signs and in the Traffic Management Orders for London Bus Lanes. Under The Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1988 and by TFL’s own wording, a private hire vehicle may not be classed or advertised as a Taxi. As such, Private Hire Vehicles are not allowed in London Bus Lanes which allow TAXIS.

TFL released a statement yesterday that said the following

Private hire vehicle drivers could be liable to personal criminal prosecution if they break traffic regulations, including by driving in bus lanes.

At last, TFL will be receiving praise from cyclists all across London. Addison Lee drivers are known to be some of the worst in London.

In Article, campaigning, Cyclists, News, Vehicles
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What Constitutes Careless Driving?

March 7, 2012 — 10 Comments

I had a run in with a driver a few weeks ago. I was minding my own business in a cycle lane, when all of a sudden I had a car almost touching me and forcing me to take action to avoid a collision. The clip was forwarded to RoadSafe who forwarded it to my local traffic unit for the potential for prosecution.

According to the Road Traffic Act, Careless Driving is

A person is to be regarded as driving without due care and attention if (and only if) the way he drives falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.

I would say that driving is well below par of a competent or careful driver. The driver came only inches away from hitting my handle bars with her wing mirror and encroached into the cycle lane whilst I was using it.

I was informed yesterday that the police would not be taking matters any further. At this moment in time I am unsure why, I have asked them if they can let me know their choices behind not taking this further considering the evidence.

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Things are looking positive

February 24, 2012 — 1 Comment

Hundreds if not thousands of cyclists turned up to cycle around the streets of London to show support for The Times Cycle Safe campaign on the eve of the parliamentary debate. A debate which saw the House of Commons rather empty.

I would like to start of by saying thank you to the usual suspects, Mark of i b i k e l o n d o n, Danny of Cyclists in the City and of course the London Cycling Campaign for organising another great protest ride, which despite the forecasted weather, had plenty of cyclists attending. And whilst there where a few niggles with the police and how the pack was being split up, thank you to them for helping marshal the event and keeping everyone safe.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to cycle this event due to a knee injury, instead I was walking on foot with my camera in hand taking photos. A few of those photos can be seen on flickr. The turnout was certainly huge, I’ve heard numerous numbers thrown around, and as a bystander, I can certainly say it was above 1,000 cyclists. Watching the cyclists coming over westminster bridge was just amazing, the line went on for ages!

This was of course on the eve of the parliamentary debate about cycling safety. The Times campaign has certainly set an impressive chain of events into motion as we see the House of Commons almost empty yesterday afternoon. This is an achievement that no other cycling campaign has managed in recent years.

So are things looking positive? Well a great turn out from cyclists and a good turn out by MP’s is certainly a positive, our trusty Prime Minister David (not a cyclist) Cameron may have just thrown a few bad eggs. Promising a pitiful amount of money for building new cycle routes across the country (less in fact than what was spent on the current Cycle Superhighways, and we know how good they are). It is of course a start.

At the end of Wednesdays ride, Mark of i b i k e l o n d o n announced a new date to keep clear in our diaries, Saturday the 28th of April, for another mass ride, where hopefully even more cyclists will turn out for our biggest gathering to date.

 

A riders view of the ride. Thanks to Arasllopp for this

In campaigning, Cyclists, decade of action, LCC, Vehicles
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Cycle lanes don’t keep us safe

February 22, 2012 — 5 Comments

It has been said countless times that painted cycle lanes on the side of the roads don’t keep us safe. Despite this, our cycling facilities seem to be made up of mostly this, painted cycle lanes on the side of the road.

The magic paint lines obviously don’t keep other, much harder and faster vehicles from straying into them, and the consequences of them doing so can be huge. As the cyclist in the above video found out, being in the position designated to us on the road doesn’t equal safety and being hit by a bus that was driving in it was not a pleasurable experience!

In Cyclists, Incident, Vehicles, Video , , , ,
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