James Martin Apologizes (sort of)

Thanks to the Fredcast on Twitter, I see that James Martin has attempted an apology. I am cut and pasting it here in its entirety just in case he changes his mind and takes it down:

Regarding the The Tesla Roadster Article...

May I take this opportunity to apologize for any offence I have caused through the article in last weekend’s Mail on Sunday. It was never my intention to offend the many cyclists who share our roads across the country. What was intended to be a humorous piece was clearly misjudged. Further more I do not condone any form of reckless driving.

Once again, I am sincerely sorry for any upset caused in relation to this article.

James Martin

As apologies go, this one rates about a 3 out of 5. You see, it wasn't his fault for taking pleasure in running a couple of cyclists off the road and writing about the experience. It was that we cyclists didn't realize that it was meant to be funny and not an encouragement for drivers to act similarly. Now I don't expect, as a result of this article (and others like it), that some driver somewhere will do the same. But I do believe that making light of driving recklessly near cyclists encourages the feeling that cyclists are not supposed to be in the road and are barriers to get around no matter the risk to the cyclist. Share the road means that bicycles have to share it with cars as well as cars have to share it with bikes.

If a humorous piece misses its mark, it is typically the fault of the writer, not the reader. I'd like to see Mr. Martin take some responsibility for that. I would also like to see this apology appended to the end of the original article in the Daily Mail. And, in an ideal world, I'd like to see him have to ride a bicycle into London every day (saving the "£8 for the privilege") for three months donating the savings to driver education and write about the experience.

One can dream, can't one?