Dear Richard Nye (current editor of The Richmond Magazine),
I was disgusted by your comment:
"the only good cyclist is a dead one"
in the latest copy of the Richmond Magazine.
Are you aware of the fact that there have been 11 cyclists killed in London already this year, 74 cyclists killed in Britain as a whole already this year, and that a 79-year-old man (clearly not a 'lycra lout') died yesterday in a collision with a skip lorry in Walton?
Your comment was morally despicable, and mocks the serious safety risks posed to cyclists (by drivers like yourself) on Britain's roads in 2012.
I very much look forward to seeing a detailed, formal, sincere, and public apology - and hopefully resignation - from you in the next few days.
I will continue to publicly and formally seek an apology from you until I hear of one.
George Johnston
P.S. Instead of fuming at cyclists while you drive around London, the next time you are stuck at the lights why not imagine that all the cyclists in the advanced stop box in front of you (and in Central London at rush hour there are quite a few these days) were in a car of their own instead. How much worse would congestion on London's streets then be? You should be grateful for every cyclist you see in London because, by choosing a bike instead of a car, he or she has actually eased congestion on London's streets making it easier for you to get around in your car. Cyclists only interact obstructively with motorists when the Government has failed to build proper cycle infrastructure (cycle lanes, etc.) which the cyclist is allowed to use instead and allows cyclists and motorists to safely travel at vastly different speeds down busy roads because they are safely segregated. And please don't talk about road tax because that doesn't exist. Car users pay a small car tax but given that over half of all Boris Bike registered users earn over £50,000 a year I think they are more than making up for the extremely minimal damage caused by bicycles to London's road system through the 40% income tax they are paying.
P.P.S You should be sacked.
Footnote
Footnote
 |
| Here's a photo of Richard Nye looking like a crap journalist that doesn't deserve to be employed, let alone made Editor. |
I have already written to the magazine in support of your viewpoint. Having lived in Richmond borough for a decade I am aware that it is a very divided borough - for many years one of the main arguments was whether traffic through Richmond Park should be limited, or slowed. There were also big arguments over parking charges.
ReplyDeleteThere is huge ground to be made up on cycling. While MP Zac Goldsmith is supposedly an 'environmentalist' I am unaware that he has done much to promote cycling. It is total madness that cars are allowed at all into the central area of Richmond at all - someone needs to have the political will to get to grips with this.
I hope lots of people will write in support of your post. There are many other boroughs (Westminter and K&C come to mind) where the car continues to rule, and people on bicycles are seen as a nuisance. In fact, in cities where cycling is the norm, cycling happens in normal clothes, is slow and respectful, and no special protection is needed against motor vehicles. Mr Nye, and those who think like him, ought to visit Amsterdam for example, and experience its calm as compared to London's traffic-clogged streets.
I hope Richmond Magazine will publish more balanced articles from now on - with its many beautiful green spaces it is a borough ready to embrace a cycling future.
How about targeting advertisers in the magazine, trying to get them to pull ads?
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of them already have - http://road.cc/content/news/65875-only-good-cyclist-dead-one-advertising-pulled-wake-magazine-editors-remarks - which is great.
ReplyDeleteEven better would be to actually get the Richard Nye on a bike himself: http://www.richmondlcc.co.uk/2012/09/08/the-richmond-magazine/
Uri Geller... CND
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