Taxi leader says cyclists are the "Isis of London"

OK, so when I lived in London I commuted in to work every day. And now, out in Kent, having had a few years just pootling about with the kids, started doing slightly more serious mileage again.

So I am "a cyclist", not some 'orrible internet troll.

But...

First, the heading of the article is seriously misleading, and as a result likely to, unnecessarily, whip up ill-feeling.

"Taxi leader says cyclists are the "Isis of London"". The clear implication of the heading is that Cab-Guy is speaking about all cyclists.

But, on the basis of the quotes in the article, he is not, he is only talking about those on the extremes of cycling militancy:

"These people, the zealots of the cycling world..."
“The loonies out there in the cycling world..."

Secondly, I think that cyclists as a whole have to recognise that there are "zealots" and, frankly, "loonies" in the cycling world. Just as there are in the "motoring world".

And I think we also have to recognise that at least some of the cycling zealots and loonies are probably making things worse for the general run of cyclists.

Humans are tribal animals. Most of us instinctively want to be part of a tribe. It is easy to divide into "cyclists" and "motorists" (even though the vast majority of cyclists also motor). The problem is that if some within the cycling tribe froth at the mouth and bang and shout at the motorists, even the perfectly reasonable motorists will (a) take offence and (b) tar all cyclists with the same brush. It may not be fair, but it is human nature.

I genuinely believe that it is really important that cyclists (a) do obey the bloody rules all the time. And yes, that means sitting at a red light even when there is no traffic coming from anywhere (we do it when we are in our cars- if we want proper treatment on the roads and equality and all that we have to do it on the bikes too); and (b) should not "target" motorists in the way some do- because if we do they/ some of them will target us.

There are are some cyclists (I hope a tiny minority) who seem actively to want to have a warlike mentality between cars and cycles. But that is absolutely insane. If "we" are warlike to them "they" will become warlike to us. And they have fuck off huge weapons and we don't.

And yes, I know it is not fair. I know I drive and cycle about the same mileage, and just about every ride some arsewipe will overtake far too, and quite frighteningly, close, whereas perhaps one every two years will I be mildly inconvenienced by a cyclist while in the car.

But, if in practical terms we want to make it safer, the aggressive approach is, in my view, 100% the wrong way to go about it.

And finally, just to show how you should never leap to judgment- when I read this article initially, and decided I was going to write a post along these lines, I had it firmly in mind that I might use CycleGaz as an example of all that is wrong with the zealot/ loonie wing of the cycling tribe.
But then, I looked at the video roundup published here today, and saw this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iecx6ikEP_4 . And if you look at the poster's comments on youtube, they are very balanced and self-aware.

Take his licence away and let him cycle in London for a week and see if he still feel the same way.

Why cant we just rise above it? It's just a person making a poor point in a clumsy and offensive way ,and he has climbed down

Clearly the guy has a view which doesn't chime with us but let's just smile and get on with it-cycle superhighways are coming and while not perfect,it's an unbelievable step change and one which didn't seem possible five years ago

We need people to see the benefits they bring with all sorts of cyclists using the lanes for all their business-a load of angry car haters dont do us any good at all-and yes I'm a London (and Birningham and Sheffield City cycle commuter)

Make peace!!

man makes stupid comment, has the sense to feel like an idiot for letting his mouth run away with it and tries to dig his way out without making it obvious he's digging his way out.

threats are pointless, what's wrong with ripping the piss? Too 1990s?

Funniest incident I saw with a black cab... Apart from falling out of one hammered after a big night out..
Doing laps of Regent's Park trying to keep up with the racers.... when we all came to a stop. A cab had tried to do a U-turn to pick up a customer. He'd clearly rushed it and failed to look sufficiently. All the cyclists had missed him, but the cab following took the full force. No injuries, just two knackered cabs. All of us riders had a little smirk on as we left the scene, the two driver vented it out on each other.

Astoundingly naive of a person (yes I will still call him 'person') who speaks for hundreds of others.
There needs to be understanding from all of the relevant groups; taxi, lorry, bus, car drivers and us riders before this aggression is reduced.
Doubt it will happen so take care out there.

The sooner UBER wipe out the black cab the better!

There is a need for car drivers to start to be regulated more stringently. This is where we're going if we don't nip their self-entitlement in the bud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHJxIwvFIGY

Cycle Gaz really doesn't help himself when it comes to cycling in London. His complete lack of awareness, lack of consideration for other road users and habit of incessantly 'riding primary' are obviously going to irritate other road users.

I commute by bike in Central London every day, yes you have lots of idiots, but with a bit of give and take and you can avoid most of the scrapes he manages to get himself in. One day he might realise that his Youtube Channel is more an embarrassment to him than anyone else.

As for the LTDA guy, he's just an idiot trying to fight his corner with what little PR skills he possesses. I don't have much of a problem with licensed taxi drivers, they're a hell of a lot better than the likes of Addison Lee.

loser, only because cycling is reducing their customer base

He may say he's received death threats but I wonder how many cabbies have actually been killed by cyclists and vice versa?

What we really need is people pointlessly creating an us and them culture between cyclists and cabbies.

Both some "Taxi leader", and a sensationalist linkbait site.

The problematic thing is tarring all cyclists (or taxi drivers or Jews or gays or or) with the same brush. Some *people* who are, amongst many other things, cyclists are pointlessly aggressive on Twitter. Therefore *cyclists* are the ISIS of Twitter?

Having watched those videos, I'm not sure I want to be classed in the same category as angry CycleGaz either.

I listened to it live last night on LBC. I found it quite difficult to follow as my irony fuse kept exploding.

There was quite a good part where he tried to make some point about cycling being dominated by white middle aged men. Yes, that's a Taxi driver pointing out a lack of diversity amongst another group of road users...

They just don't get it, do they? Their days of privilege are over. We no longer need their rattling, smoking old bangers or their "Knowledge" or their superior attitude or their lamentable driving. Instead we've got sat-navs and real competition and a willingness to serve.
The only way is up.

Road.CC is has turned into the Daily Mail of cycling, its confirmed.

I understand TDLA, they are facing an existential threat from UBER, driverless cars, losing the right to use bus lanes and improvements to cycling infrastructure losing them customers and need a scapegoat, but can't use Jews, Arabs, Blacks or Asians as it's illegal. Cycling is a lifestyle choice so like gingers attacking us as a group is not yet considered a hate crime.

Idle thought of the day.

Do you think that I'd be close/punishment passed if I armed myself with an RPG launcher, with grenades (obviously) and an AK47?

so is comparing people to ISIS the new calling people Nazis?