Addison Lee drivers told to defy bus lane law (and to just say SMIDSY)

http://lydall.standard.co.uk/2012/04/minicab-boss-my-plan-to-tackle-holier-than-thou-gung-ho-cyclists.html from the standard has some more from him

and here

Yeah - no way would it be listed.
This sort of mad behaviour is limited to guys who actually own the company rather than CEOs under the relatively watchful eye of shareholders and an "independent" board.
O'Leary is the only one who can vaguely get away with it and only then because everyone knows it's just for free publicity.

Yup. And it's not a plan to stir up publicity ahead of an IPO, because shedding customers and tarnishing your brand does nothing good to shareholder confidence...

I'm not so sure, if you look at what happened when Griffin made a big issue over the M4 bus lane he and his company came out of it relatively well. He was of course helped in this matter by the fact that the vast majority of the public thought that scheme was a bad joke since its inception and it had high profile critics (Terry Wogan, Jeremy Clarkson etc.) who slagged it off at any opportunity. He had also come out of the recent "cash for dinners" thing well. His recent actions may not have been to get publicity before an IPO, I do however think that they are aimed at getting O'Leary style publicity but that it never crossed his mind that things would backfire on him as spectacularly as they have in the past week or so. I also think that for a company that is the size of AL that is not already publically traded there must be serious consideration to doing this, if only from the point of view of the owner's exit strategy.

I think my company uses them so I'm going to draft a letter to request that they don't.
It would be handy to have a list of points as to why, and an alternative company for them to use.
Any recommendations on both?
I'd still like to see sticker bombing on their cars. Or eggs.

Addison Lee wannabe-cabs need a new batch of Cunt. stickers on them.

This. Don't suppose there's a box of WAC stickers left lying around anywhere?

i'm about to complain to them about a ride i took with them a few weeks back. 4am pickup from stokey, drove to heathrow, door to door it took 30 minutes (literally on the dot). Disgusting. I was too tired to complain. He charged 'me' £78 for that ride. Hit over 80mph on marylebone road at one point. They are the scum of the earth.

Did you get his numberplate because that should also be registered on the roadsafe website. That behaviour is beyond unacceptable.

That Ross Lydall story was there, now it's gone!

i'm about to complain to them about a ride i took with them a few weeks back. 4am pickup from stokey, drove to heathrow, door to door it took 30 minutes (literally on the dot). Disgusting. I was too tired to complain. He charged 'me' £78 for that ride. Hit over 80mph on marylebone road at one point. They are the scum of the earth.

I often think about this in cabs. Have been close to videoing the speedo on my phone before, but then think about the hassle it'd cause, realise it's midnight and I've had a long day at work and don't bother.

^ no, but I have the job number.

I've just complained about both that and the statement to the company and copied in someone in our firm. I told them to not only retract the story but to make a significant donation to the courier emergency fund to underline this. Though who wants their dirty money I don't know.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://lydall.standard.co.uk/2012/04/minicab-boss-my-plan-to-tackle-holier-than-thou-gung-ho-cyclists.html

From the Times:
"However, road tax was abolished in 1937. Car drivers pay Vehicle Excise Duty, which is linked to emissions and therefore not applicable to cyclists. The maintenance of Britain’s road network is paid for out of general taxation, garnered from the income and council tax paid by most adult citizens, including cyclists."

Thi sums it up perfectly. The only thing missing are the words John Griffin is a cunt

That's an allegation, no?

Aside from the request to boycott, I also suggest making it visible.

As in... every cyclist should go and rate their iPhone/Android/Windows Phone apps 1-star with messages telling them why:

iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/addison-lee/id365882551?mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haulmont.shamrock.android

Windows Phone: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/a79c8037-ca9c-4c9d-ba53-e8ddda0695e5

With the number of reviews they have, LFGSS alone should be able to destroy their app ratings.

Good tip.

Ps - I found out the other day that downloading and using the Addison Lee iPhone app resulted in some sort of credit check on me! How is that necessary?

Good tip.

Ps - I found out the other day that downloading and using the Addison Lee iPhone app resulted in some sort of credit check on me! How is that necessary?

Do you have details on this? What happened?

Times story updated:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3390328.ece

“Contrary to what has been reported, at no point did I suggest that motorists are never to blame. Both cyclists and motorists have a responsibility to use the roads safely.
“Cycling is a serious issue and lives are at stake. There have been huge campaigns recently to encourage cycling, but hardly any have addressed improving safety and road awareness for cyclists. If my article causes a debate around whether cyclists need training and holding to the same standards as other road users, bring it on.”
However, point five of The Times’s ‘Cities fit for cycling’ manifesto does state: “The training of cyclists and drivers must improve”, while cyclist training has featured heavily throughout the campaign, in articles about Bikeability training for children, road awareness training for adults, extension of training programmes in schools, and advice for cyclists on how to stay safe on the roads.

Ah there are bad cyclists, I agree. But car drivers are supposed to have training aren't they.

As a driver, bad driving annoys me as its not that hard.

^ Done.

Now taking deep breaths to try and get my fury down.

Slightly derailing the thread but the one thing that annoys me more than anything about black cabs using bus lanes is when they are obviously on the way to or from work and not actually at work either with a fare or plying for trade.
My journey into London generally finishes in SE16 and, of all the cabs that pass me in bus lanes, probably 90% are empty and with the 'Taxi' light off. By the same token should bus drivers be allowed to drive their private cars in bus lanes to and from work?
I can see an increase in road rage if minicabs in general are allowed to use bus lanes as all drivers will see in their mirrors is a private car queue jumping and I've seen many a driver swerve in on such instances. These will eventually lead to 'colateral damage' possibly taking out an innocent cyclist.

"Bring it on"

What a pikey

Aside from the request to boycott, I also suggest making it visible.

As in... every cyclist should go and rate their iPhone/Android/Windows Phone apps 1-star with messages telling them why:

iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/addison-lee/id365882551?mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haulmont.shamrock.android

Windows Phone: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/a79c8037-ca9c-4c9d-ba53-e8ddda0695e5

With the number of reviews they have, LFGSS alone should be able to destroy their app ratings.

Done.
They're not trending on twitter yet. More tweets!

And apparently they'd love to hear from us:
http://www.addisonlee.com/support/enquiries#Other

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haulmont.shamrock.android

Ha! 'Content rating: Low maturity'

Do you need an account to do a review?

Very likely this has been brought up already but I don;t have the time to check.

http://www.facebook.com/events/392495397451954/392957907405703/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

Protest at Addison Lee on Monday:

Most London cyclists will have probably heard about John Griffin, boss of minicab firm Addison Lee, instructing his drivers to use the bus lanes and that he will personally indemnify them against prosecution [http://itv.co/IqON26]. Minicabs can not legally use the bus lanes and, although a testament to the poor standard of provision for cyclists in London, this is one place where a cyclist can get some respite from the often mind-bogglingly awful driving seen from many Addison Lee drivers.

Also in a further move, John Griffin has also published a factually inaccurate and victim-blaming rant about cyclists that Dr. Robert Davis, Chair of the Road Danger Reduction Forum, dubbed a "display of self-pitying bigotry and victim-blaming" and that "above all, [this is] the kind of incendiary message that exacerbates rule and law breaking behaviour by motorists." [http://bit.ly/IqDxmj]

In a time where cyclists are fighting to be heard and warning of the dangers of the roads John Griffin has decided to instead focus on his own profit above the safety of cyclists and pedestrians.

Please join us for a mass 'die-in' at 6pm on Monday the 23rd April outside of Addison Lee's London offices. We will meet at the junction of Stanhope Street/William Road then head to their office to deliver a letter to John Griffin of Addison Lee and stage a 'die-in' by lying down outside the office to highlight the real danger his drivers pose to cyclists and pedestrians. It's short notice, but this is an event that's happening now, so acting quickly is important!

Make-up and fake blood welcome!