Telling cyclists they only have themselves to 非難する if they get into a 捨てる is a dangerous 声明

By Michael Hanlon for the Daily Mail

Published: 11:46 BST, 23 April 2012 | Updated: 12:46 BST, 23 April 2012

Oh dear. いつかs someone in the public 注目する，もくろむ says something so breathtakingly stupid and unpleasant that it is hard to know whether they are having a 上級の moment, 一時的に decided to go mad or are 簡単に having a laugh. Twenty years ago Gerald Ratner had a bit of fun telling an audience that his 製品s were ‘cr*p’. His high street jewellery chain 崩壊（する）d as a result. We all thought this was amusing at the time (he was 権利, for a start) but that wasn’t much help to the hundreds of staff laid off.

Perhaps the same thing will happen to Addison 物陰／風下, the successful, London-based minicab 会社／堅い whose chairman John Griffin 令状s in his company magazine this month that if a cyclist is killed or maimed on London’s streets then it is often their own stupid fault for, 井戸／弁護士席, 存在 there. He 結論するs by 説: 'It is time for us to say to cyclists: ‘you want to join our ギャング（団）, get trained and 支払う／賃金 up’.

John Griffin, ch 飛行士 of successful minicab 会社／堅い Addison 物陰／風下, has said that if a cyclist is killed or maimed on London's streets it is often their own stupid fault

As I said, oh dear. About one person a month is killed cycling on London’s roads. Many more are 負傷させるd. A disproportionate number of these people are the 犠牲者s of 商業の 乗り物s 含むing large トラックで運ぶs whose drivers cannot 適切に see 負かす／撃墜する their nearside and, I would assume, a few minicab drivers. Two tonnes of metal hitting 90 キロs of flesh and アルミ nearly always ends up 不正に for the latter.

People like John Griffin often point to the ‘menace’ that is the modern 都市の cyclist, usually 追加するing for clich?d 影響 the words ‘lycra-覆う？’. All 権利, if we are talking menaces, let’s see: how many トラックで運ぶ drivers died in 衝突／不一致s with cyclists last year? Er, 無. How many London 運転者s of ANY 肉親，親類d were killed last year after hitting, or 存在 攻撃する，衝突する by, a cyclist? Again, 無. Cyclists DO kill 歩行者s, it is true. And indeed, very occasionally, other cyclists. The 人物／姿／数字? On 普通の／平均（する）, about one-five a year. UK-wide.

Congestion: London's roads cannot 融通する everyone that wants to use them to every one's satisfaction

So, Mr Griffin, which ‘ギャング（団）’ are you talking about here? The ギャング（団） of inconsiderate, 積極的な 商業の drivers who can make using London’s roads such a joyless experience for us all? The 汚い, red-直面するd, overweight and 地理学的に clueless minicabbers shrieking at anyone who dares to get in their way (until they decide they need to 二塁打-park, switch their hazard lights on and 封鎖する the road for everyone else)? Is that the ‘ギャング（団）’ you have in mind?

Sorry to stereotype but I am just に引き続いて your lead, as you 述べる a ‘granny wobbling to 避ける a pothole in the rain’. Many cyclists in London are also car owners. They are no more or いっそう少なく likely to 支払う／賃金 税金 than anyone else. They are ‘our’ roads as much as yours Mr Griffin; indeed, the cross-補助金 from 私的な road 使用者s to 商業の drivers is 巨大な (商業の 乗り物s may do eight or nine times the 年次の mileage of the 普通の／平均（する） 私的な 運転者 but certainly do not 支払う／賃金 eight or nine times the 年次の road 税金).

London’s roads cannot かもしれない 融通する everyone that wants to use them to everyone’s satisfaction. This is a 抱擁する, modern city superimposed on a 半分-中世 street 計画（する）, with 狭くする roads and stratospheric land prices. I would love a 網状組織 of airy, 献身的な cycle 小道／航路s like in Vienna or Copenhagen but 受託する that isn’t going to happen. And I 受託する that just about everything you do to help one group of road 使用者s 害（を与える）s or 妨げるs another. 速度(を上げる） bumps may slow cars 負かす／撃墜する but they are a menace to cyclists. Cycle and bus 小道／航路s can create dangerous chicanes for wider road 乗り物s.

Changing habits: Twenty five years ago the only people who cycled in London were the 勇敢に立ち向かう, the mad and the poor

There is no ideal 解答, save one in which all road 使用者s 静める 負かす／撃墜する a bit and realise that in a city where 普通の／平均（する） 速度(を上げる）s for any 肉親，親類d of wheeled 輸送（する）, motorised or not, hover around the 11mph 示す there is really no sense getting angry about losing a few minutes here or there.

There is hope. I have been cycling in London since the 1980s and can 確認する that the 資本／首都 is a far nicer place in which to be on two wheels than it has been since the days of the penny farthing. This is no thanks at all to the 力／強力にするs-that-be; 連続する London 行政s have done little to encourage cycling, with the honourable exception of the 現在の 市長.

失望／欲求不満 with the public 輸送（する） 網状組織 and a ge neral 願望（する） to 改善する fitness have seen the numbers cycling to work rise はっきりと

The 推論する／理由 is 批判的な 集まり. Twenty five years ago the only people who cycled in London were the 勇敢に立ち向かう, the mad and the poor - and the 特使s (a disappearing, rather heroic 産む／飼育する, who were a mixture of all three). Now there are thousands of 正規の／正選手 cyclists ? more than a ４半期/4分の1 of a million by some counts.

Numbers began rising はっきりと about 10 years ago partly because of fashion, partly because of the congestion 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金, partly because of general disgruntlement at the public 輸送（する） 網状組織, partly because of the general 願望（する） to 改善する fitness, and a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 because decent bikes have got a lot cheaper recently. This has 軍隊d 運転者s to 再評価する their 運動ing radically. And of course it means that a 広大な／多数の／重要な number of London’s 運転者s are also on two wheels at other times. I now feel safer cycling around London than almost anywhere else in Britain.

But I’ll keep a 用心深い 注目する，もくろむ out for Mr Griffin’s sleek 黒人／ボイコット minicabs 今後. He has already told his drivers they are 解放する／自由な to use the bus 小道／航路s along with 適切に trained 黒人／ボイコット cab drivers. In his magazine he now seems to be telling them cyclists have only themselves to 非難する if they get into a 捨てる. Dangerous words.