LONDON, April 21 (UPI) -- A London minicab magnate went into reverse Friday on an article he wrote blaming bicyclists killed in road crashes for their own deaths.
John Griffin, chairman of the cab company Addison Lee and a major donor to the Conservative Party, made the charge in the company's in-house magazine, The Independent reported. He later described the article as "a little too inflammatory."
"These cyclists are throwing themselves on to some of the most congested spaces in the world," Griffin wrote. "Should a motorist fail to observe a granny wobbling to avoid a pothole or a rain drain, then he is guilty of failing to anticipate that this was somebody on her maiden voyage into the abyss."
He suggested bicycle users should be trained and licensed before they can use the roads. His statements prompted outrage from cycling clubs and calls for a boycott of Addison Lee.
Griffin suggested this week that his drivers use bus lanes as London's famous black cabs are allowed to. A number of drivers were ticketed Thursday, The Guardian reported.
Critics suggested Griffin feels immune from the law because of his 250,000-pound ($403,000) donation to the Conservative Party, which has earned him invitations to 10 Downing Street and his 25,000-pound ($40,000) contribution to London Mayor Boris Johnson.
