Just a month ago, AAA released a heartwarming PSA reminding drivers that cyclists are people, before a crowd of hundreds of bike advocates at the National Bike Summit.
A AAA spokesperson made some very unprofessional and insulting remarks to a prominent urban activist in Washington, DC, last week. Image: Telegraph
At the time, we wondered whether AAA was simply embarking on a PR campaign, or if the nation’s largest automotive club had really changed its ways. Would its regional branches back off campaigns against parking reform in Washington, DC, or three-foot passing laws in California?
Well, I think we have our answer now. In a recent article in the Washington City Paper, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend attacks David Alpert, founder of Greater Greater Washington, in unbelievable fashion. Network blog Beyond DC has this report:
AAA’s official company spokesman John Townsend says GGW’s David Alpert is a “nerd,” a “ninny,” is “developmentally retarded,” and is “like the Klan.”
If AAA thinks it’s good business practice for its spokespeople to make offensive personal attacks, then AAA isn’t a company I will ever have anything to do with. I don’t currently own a car, but someday I probably will. AAA won’t be my insurance partner when that day comes.
And in the mean time, if this is how AAA thinks and represents itself, guess how seriously I take their positions on transportation issues.
Will AAA stand behind Townsend and his childish behavior?
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