Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Quinton (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 26 January 2006.

Cyclists

Question: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her reply, which in its abstract way is extremely encouraging, but does she feel that the system of penalties is effectively applied? As an elderly resident much given to walking about central London, I constantly perceive riders on the pavement and persons popping through traffic lights that are against them and driving up one-way streets. Perhaps I should declare a kind of medical interest, in that my wife was bumped into by a cyclist going the wrong way up Bond Street—at least it was a good street—and as a result she suffered a fractured pelvis. I will say of the offender that he said he was sorry, but that was rather by the way. The law is not very effectively applied; I know of one person who, when a cyclist was going along the pavement, said to a nearby policeman, ““Oughtn’t you to do something about that?”” The policeman replied, ““The road is very crowded””. That seems to me to be turning a blind eye to serious offences in the most unsatisfactory way. Finally, I draw the noble Baroness’s attention to the special needs of the blind in this regard. They are peculiarly vulnerable to the offences committed by cyclists, particularly when they are crossing with one of those beeping lights in their favour and the cyclist offends against the rule against going through red lights.

Answer: My Lords, I very much agree with the noble Lord that there is no excuse for cyclists to commit offences such as riding on pavements, although cyclists sometimes tell me that they feel safer in some of the traffic conditions that they experience if they ride on pavements. However, there is no excuse for such offences. There is a penalty of £500 for causing a serious accident by riding on the pavement. The noble Lord talked about how well that penalty was applied. The Government recently brought in the policy of fixed penalty notices so that people who ride on pavements or break the law as cycling offenders can be served with a fixed penalty notice instead of a prosecution. That is certainly having an effect in reducing the number of such incidents. In addition, community support officers have recently been given special permission to apply the fixed penalty notices, so there is more activity and application is certainly increasing.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 677 c1271-2
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Bicycles Cycling Fixed penalties Law and order Pedestrian areas Visual impairment Road traffic offences
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk