Addison Lee is a joke!

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


14 thoughts on “Addison Lee is a joke!

  1. Personally, I think Addison Lee drivers are the worst in London. We have all had our fair share of incidents with black cabs, I am sure, but Addison Lee drivers are obviously poorly trained and more often than not, terrible drivers.

    Perhaps AL should focus more on training than mouthing off about anecdotal situations involving cyclists and victim blaming.

    I hope they rack up a load of charges for illegally using the bus lane over the next few months, since no doubt they will just intimidate cyclists further as they abuse the road again.

  2. I believe that in India, if there is a road accident, the driver of the larger vehicle is presumed to be at fault. Sounds like that could be useful here.

  3. Totally agree Gaz, Mr Griffin should be forced to watch what an ill informed, wait has a boss of a Taxi firm he should know the rules of the road / highway code… guys a complete clustermonkey… I think his drivers should get more training & leave for a better taxi firm who ad-heard to the latter of rules given by councils etc.. keep it up Gaz..

  4. “Should a motorist fail to observe…”
    “…The fact is he just didn’t see her…”
    “…however cautious, caring or alert…”

    He got the wording right on his first try – “fail to observe” – i.e. driving without due care and attention. If he was talking about kids whizzing out between parked cars he’d have a point (though when that happened to me I was able to stop as I was paying attention and not speeding) but he’s not, he’s talking about failing to spot a cyclist who’s already in the road and riding in the same direction as the driver.

    He needs to reacquaint himself with the highway code and the law. Perhaps learn a little history and go on a “how to function in civilized society” course too…

  5. I’m not from or have ever cycled in London so I might be a little wrong here, but wouldn’t it be mad to allow 3500 cars onto an infrastructure that it is not designed to cope with?

  6. I’ve contacted Addison Lee to tell them about the shocking attitude. I can’t believe that someone with this attitude can run a company that uses the roads.

  7. Would you mind adding a link in for my Youtube playlist? I’m also open to adding any more videos from people that I may have missed or new ones that appear 😀

  8. Sorted your RSS out Gaz, I can’t read you in Google Reader any more.

    Appalling attitude from someone who really should know better, really hope TfL nail him over it.

  9. Sort your RSS out Gaz, I can’t read you in Google Reader any more.

    Appalling attitude from someone who really should know better, really hope TfL nail him over it.

  10. I live off the A4 by Heathrow Airport and am sick of all the private hire vehicles that take every available space here. They ignore parking regulations and park up anywhere for a kip, to wait for business or to offload some rubbish into the street. Whole groups of them have taken over car parks at our playing fields and parks and outside our shops so that locals can’t use them. They are all diabolical but Addison Lee think think they are above the law. Is there any point photographing them while parked on yellow lines (on a roundabout by McDonalds!) or chatting on the phone while driving? I watched your video calling for more space for cyclists and showing the number places of black taxis, does anyone at the licensing office take an interest? I wish I’d got the number of the taxi driver in London who was driving one handed, with a passenger in the back, and waving a wad of notes out of the window with his other hand. Obviously a lesson to other drivers and cyclists that he couldn’t care less how bad his driving was as he was loaded. Addison Lee didn’t give £250,000 to Boris for his last election campaign without having a good reason.

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