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Stop that Mayor ... Johnson says sorry for bike offences
Danny Brierley, Evening Standard13.05.08
Boris Johnson today promised to be more careful on his bike after he was filmed cycling through six red lights, failing to stop at a zebra crossing and mounting the pavement.
Like his party leader David Cameron, who apologised for ignoring red lights on his bicycle in March, Mayor Johnson was followed on the 20-minute ride between his home in Highbury and City Hall, and then back again.
On his way to work, he was seen riding - without a helmet - through two red lights and asking a cab driver how to get to London Bridge. Minutes later, the film shows him riding his bike on to the pavement to take a shortcut through Potters Field park close to the South Bank.
Later, during his journey home, the Sunday Mirror captured a suited Mr Johnson correctly walking with his bike back through the park. But he then ignored two red lights in the City near Monument Tube station.
After a quick chat with another cabbie about bendy buses near St Paul's Cathedral, the Mayor is seen going through another red light at Angel. As he neared his home, he was filmed failing to stop for a pedestrian at a zebra crossing before going through another red light.
The video sparked a furious reaction from Andy Shrimpton from the StopAtRed cyclists' campaign, who said: "I'd like him to sign our online pledge to obey red lights in the future and show how sorry he is."
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: "Boris feels strongly that cyclists should not jump red lights and if he did so then clearly that was a mistake and he will be more careful in the future."
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People who think that helmets are effective also think that cycling is much more dangerous than it is. This advertising is not done by the manufacturers, they would be prosecuted on advertising legislation, but by the fanatical do-gooders like BHIT, who still claim that helmets prevent 85% of head injuries, but they are not alone. That figure and other unprovable statements and exhortations to wear helmets are repeated by councils, the DfT, charities and many cyclists themselves.
As an ex-helmet wearer, I and many others were persuaded by the facts: nowhere that has introduced a helmet law, or where large rises in helmet-wearing have occurred can show any reduction in risk to cyclists, only a large fall in the number of cyclists, and therefore a large reduction in the number of people getting regular daily exercise. Given that it is much more dangerous not to take exercise than it is to ride a bike, by somewhere between 20 and 250 to one, the health effects of helmet laws and promotion are highly negative, and I mean highly.
- Dr Susan Porter, London
Cyclists going through red traffic lights? From the way a lot of them behave in Derby, cyclists just don't see traffic lights at all. I assume this applies all across the country not just London and the same applies to them riding on the pavement. It's been going on for years.
- Sharon, Derby, UK
Maybe if Relco's granny gets knocked over by a pavement cyclist and fractures her hip, or his brother gets killed outright by a lorry the next time he jumps a red light, he might realise that cyclists like Boris Johnson who choose to ignore the rules of the road are actually putting themselves and others at serious risk.
- Lindsay, London
