To say that he is no stranger to controversy would be to damn Ken Livingstone with faint praise. With the unerring instinct of the contrarian, he homes in on it like a heat-seeking missile. Recently, he outraged the motoring lobby by suggesting that drivers of “Chelsea tractors” – gas-guzzling 4x4s – should have to pay a higher rate of congestion charge in London. This week, just to show that he’s not in the green transport lobby’s pocket, he has put cycling campaigners’ noses out of joint with the launch of Transport for London’s Share the Road campaign.
The purpose of this initiative is to increase awareness among the capital’s cyclists that they are breaking the law if they run red lights or ride on the pavement – in effect putting bike riders on notice that they can expect to pick up on-the-spot fines for infractions in future. The crackdown will also, we are told, target motorists who drive in cycle lanes and infringe advance stop lines at traffic signals.
Responding to this news, the Evening Standard – in a rare instance of unequivocal pro-cycling editorialising – took its cue from the CTC, the UK’s largest cyclists’ membership organisation. It objected to the TfL campaign on the grounds that motorists who run red lights and who use mobile phones, illegally, while driving – and they are legion, certainly – are a far greater menace than the odd rogue cyclist. The CTC backs up the point with a press release using TfL’s own accident statistics to show that, no matter how many don’t bother to obey the rules of the road, cyclists are responsible for an absolutely negligible number of casualties compared with cars, buses and lorries.
Yes, yes, yes … all true and perfectly good points. But I can’t help feeling that just for once it would be great to hear cycling advocates take on the chin the criticism that there are too many flouting the rules. Why can’t we acknowledge that this is a problem – not because it’s dangerous (it demonstrably isn’t), but because it’s wrong in principle? Cyclists are not entitled to behave as though they are above the law. Riding through red lights may be more nuisance than menace, but it is a gross discourtesy to pedestrians and other road users. It gives us all a bad name.
The fact of the matter is that cyclists in London now benefit from a budget of £24m a year being spent on infrastructure like bike lanes, advance stop lines, routes and parking facilities to promote cycling and make it safer. We should accept that this confers on us some responsibility to do the right thing. So, when the finger is pointed at us, instead of pointing our finger at motorists and whining “Yes, but they’re worse”, we should say, “Yes, it’s an issue we need to deal with and that’s why we support this campaign.”
So, please, let’s drop the eternal “Yes, but …” Apart from anything else, it would be good politics and good PR – something we could learn by the mayor’s example.
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