Dave's right: we cyclists need to jump red lights

There was glee from all corners that a politician who tells us how to live our lives had come unstuck so publicly. But to me, his cycling faux pas demonstrated that Cameron is serious about green transport.

He wasn't out looking for a photoopportunity, he was commuting to work. More importantly, he was behaving the same as other bike riders. And as the mayoral candidates reveal their plans for a greener city this week, the opinions of cyclists have never mattered more.

In case you missed them, here are the scenes that nailed the Tory leader: he cycles through a red light towards an empty road; he crosses over the central white lines to get to the front of a traffic queue; he heads the wrong way up a wide, empty residential street; and he shoots another red light at Hyde Park Corner - a junction I used to cross twice a day where it's impossible to reach the other side of the road before the lights go red - along with half a dozen other cyclists.

I spend up to two hours each day on my bike and nothing he did was different from the behaviour of the majority of cyclists I ride alongside. I'm not advocating full-scale cycling anarchy - it's crucial to respect other road users, pedestrians in particular - but there are times when it is simply safer, not to mention quicker, to break the rules of the road.

For a while, I stopped at every red light, but recently I've found myself creeping through them again. I specifically jump lights - when it's safe to do so - at junctions where it's terrifying to push off at the same time as the mass of vehicles behind you. Two such junctions are just ahead of right turns, and if I don't go early, I can't get into the middle of the road in time to turn. Drivers have become more aware of cyclists, but they don't willingly do you favours.

Cameron might amend his behaviour for now, but most cyclists, myself included, will continue to cut corners while we move around London's streets. The alternative - sticking to the letter of the law - is often far more dangerous and a ridiculous waste of time.

Ken Livingstone has pledged £500 million to sort out the capital's sticking-plaster cycle system and will institute a bike rental scheme. Meanwhile Boris, a dedicated cyclist, thinks it's a good idea to let motorbikes into cycle lanes and has called the congestion charge "a stick with

which to beat motorists", which is not the way it looks from my saddle.

Boris will not win the helmeted vote with this incoherent approach. Take a tip from your leader, Boris. It's Cameron, the all-too-human cyclist, who understands the assault course of being on two wheels in London.