PRESS RELEASE from Bikes Alive - Sunday 22 April 2012CYCLISTS AND CABBIES TO BESIEGE HQ OF ROGUE MINICAB BOSSAt 6pm on Monday 23 April, hundreds of cyclists are due to besiege the headquarters of London's biggest mini-cab company, Addison Lee, to take part in a "die-in"; many cabbies are expected to show their support.
John Griffin, boss of major mini-cab firm Addison Lee, has told his drivers to illegally use bus lanes, since - despite his tete-a-tetes with ministers (and his £250,000 in donations to the Tory Party) - he has failed to get the law changed. Any such change would slow down journeys for millions of bus passengers and for users of real taxis, and greatly increase the dangers for cyclists. The mini-cab boss went on to put the blame for the maiming of cyclists on cyclists themselves, rather than on the motorists who maim them.
The initial response from Transport for London (TfL), regulator of London's mini-cabs, has been less than robust. (By coincidence, mayor Boris Johnson, who's in charge of TfL, has received £25,000 in donations from John Griffin.)
So large numbers of cyclists, in a gesture of resistance to Addison Lee's selfishness, plan to hold a "die-in" at 6pm on Monday evening at the company's head office in William Road, London NW1 (two blocks north of the Euston underpass).
Bikes Alive spokesperson Albert Beale said today, "This is yet another example of the increase in threats to cyclists, and of the unwillingness of Transport for London to prioritise the health, safety and sanity of Londoners as a whole over the selfishness of motorists and - in this case - of rich company bosses. Any Addison Lee drivers who illegally follow their boss's instruction to use bus lanes may find themselves blockaded by cyclists: many of us are convinced of the need to actively - albeit peacefully - defend ourselves, in the face of the anti-cyclist policies of TfL and of people like John Griffin."
NOTES
[1] Bikes Alive is a network of cyclists promoting peaceful self-defence against traffic violence (see
http://bikesalive.wordpress.com).
[2] For more on the die-in at the Addison Lee head office, contact the event's initiator, Beth Anderson on 07769 555111.
[3] For other queries about Bikes Alive, contact Albert Beale on 020-7278 4474.
[4] Bikes Alive will be enforcing a one-hour traffic go-slow during the evening rush-hour at the lethal junction outside Kings Cross station on Monday 30 April, in response to current changes to the roads at Kings Cross which not only fail to address the dangers faced by cyclists, but actually introduce new ones. Such actions will continue until the mayor elected that week - whoever it is - reverses TfL policies which prioritise vehicle throughput over the safety of non-motorised road users. The Kings Cross junction is one where (as recently disclosed) TfL traffic planners were told to ignore cyclists. For background to the situation at Kings Cross, see the Bikes Alive press releases dated 11 March, 25 March, and 18 April 2012 (all Bikes Alive press releases can be found at
http://bikesalive.wordpress.com/press-releases).
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