- Sorry that’s a £100 fine. (BTW: the young cyclist had been looking in field and after a few seconds went back on road. There were no pedestrians in the area, and he was cycling at 5mph)
I note that Westminster council is proposing to raise fines on cyclists to £100 for cycling infringements.
My instinctive reaction is OK, but, are you going to fine motorists for:
- Breaking speed limit
- Driving with mobile phone
- Passing too close to cyclists (£100 fine for every time closer than 2-3 feet – paid to cyclist!)
- Being impatient and beeping when the cyclist is doing nothing wrong except cycle in position advised by highway code.
You hear of motorists who kill over road users, and get something like a suspended sentence (even ridiculously low fines)
When motorists make mistakes, drive inconsiderately, they are much more likely to cause fatal accidents. Since this is much more serious, fines for motorists should reflect the danger they impose on other road users. Therefore, fines for motorists should be at least double. Let’s say at least £200.
Therefore, I don’t mind cyclists been fined for road infringements, as long as there is a proportionate effort to crack down on bad motoring. When I say proportionate, it should be proportionate to the danger and risk of fatality / serious injury imposed by the offence.
The problem is that I can’t see anyone trying to stop motorists driving inconsiderately. Firstly, it is much easier to catch someone cycling on a pavement, than a driver passing a cyclist with a few inches. But, also, look how much motorists complain about getting speed tickets.
One could say there is never any excuse for breaking the law (unless of course your driving on a motorway, because everyone knows its safe to do 85mph on a motorway…). But, you have to keep things in perspective. There is a big difference between cycling fast on a crowded pavement, arrogantly expecting people to jump out of the way, and cycling through a red light at a pedestrian crossing when no one is there. Also, there are many bike lanes on pavements, and sometimes it becomes fuzzy. Common sense in dishing out fines would be nice.
This is just an example of a council going after a minority road user because it is politically popular, and daresay a good revenue raiser.
By the way, I wrote on this subject a while back. Ironically, I was criticising the Oxford Police decision to let off cyclists paying a £30 fine for cycling without lights! I was saying they should be fined, even more! - Cycling Fines
I am a london cycle commuter and weekend pleasure cyclist (hence I read this blog), however it drives me crazy when I see an adult (or older teenager) cycling on the pavement and/or using the pedestrian crossings while on their bike.
As cyclists we need to do absolutley everything to show other road and pavement user that we are responsible road users and take the moral high ground. How can we complain about the inconsiderate drivers when we have enough inconsiderate cyclists using footpaths and the like.
We need to clean up our own house before we can try and clean up others.
I am all for the police cracking down on cycling infringements and when my next local police meeting is held, I will once again ask for the police to do this.
I do want to encourage cycling and the freedom that cycling gives, please don’t get me wrong, but we cannot ignore the fact that not all cyclist are whiter than white!
I wish the council would crack down on cyclists without lights more then on the pavement. As a cycler AND a driver, I think the council should do the following:
* offer a free front and back bike light to all cyclist
* then fine anyone without one on in dark & dangerous conditions (on the spot £30) (and then when they go to pay it, they can pick up their free front & back light)
Personally I *always* have my back light on, even in the middle of the day because I’ve seen how much more visible it makes cyclist.
Recently I’ve seen some of the most stupid things that people do on bikes – they follow the ‘rules’ but dont think about the safety or reasons behind what they’re doing:
* one lady had a rear light on, but a basket behind it
* One gentleman had a rear light on, but his coat hung over it (I didn’t actually see him until he shifted and his light shone)
* One guy wore a hi vis vest, then a massive backpack which hid it.
* Several cyclists using old lights that seem to just ‘glow’ slightly.
My Wife hates cycling on the road – if the path is there, and theres no one on it, and she takes it gentle, I don’t think there should be much of an issue with cyclists cycling on the path, but if at night, they should be well illuminated, and make way for all other path users.
I have a bigger issue with cyclists who run red lights, crossings etc, and then expect drivers to take them seriously on the road when cycling.
On the up side, I must say though, that up here in Norfolk, it does seem to be very safe to cycle, with many bus/cycle combo lanes, and cycle paths (also cycle route #1 which goes through my village to the center of Norwich which is a pleasure to ride, even at night in winter)
I was out on the road Sat cycling 30 miles it was just a nice steady ride, most other road users where awful passing really close to me it was scary sometimes and this was out in the country side. One DHL van (who I guess wished he wasn’t working on a Sat) passed really close the displacement of air he caused made me lose control slightly, I was going down hill at the time about 30 mph, he must have made a delivery because he passed me again and did exactly the same. What made me angry there was no other traffic coming in the opposite direction he could have safely passed by, I’m convinced he did it for fun. Oh I wish there was police presence to catch him give him a fine and points etc.
Plain crazy. £100 fine for a minor cycling transgression? I thought the intention was to get people out of cars and on to bikes in London? Why are cycling fines so much more than motoring offences? I will be staying in my car in the smoke.