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Friday 21 January 2005

Cyclists and red lights






Why oh why do many cyclists, especially in London, seem to think that the law doesn't apply to bicycles? You know the ones I mean, those who treat all traffic lights (whether green, amber or red) as signifying "If you're on a cycle - just go anyway. Oh, and don't forget to target a pedestrian while you're at it". To these people, pavements are just roads to barrel down at high speed.

I nearly got hit the other day (yet again) by a cyclist running a red light near my local Tube station. I've seen elderly people, and people steering kids in prams, narrowly miss being mown down, or having to leap back onto the kerb suddenly (risking sprained ankles or worse), to try to avoid cyclists like this.

Why don't the police protect pedestrians properly by clamping down on rogue cyclists, particularly in pedestrian-heavy areas? Instead of e.g. lying in wait to nab a car going through a red light two seconds after it changes in the middle of the night on an empty road?

I know not all cyclists are inconsiderate or cavalier about the law. But the too many who are give the rest a bad name, and pedestrians the urge to poke something between their spokes. Is it going to take a pedestrian being killed or badly hurt before laws are enforced against cyclists?

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