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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."
Reader views (29)
cyclists are the worst people on the road, they go though red lights,over crossings while people are crossing,riding with no hands,on a mobile phone,riding straight off the pavement stright onto the road,most dont even have any lights back or front,and at night ware dark clothing,need i go on,70/100 are leathel.the law should change to control the cyclists NOW the trouble is some did it ,now they all think they can do it.
- Ken, london
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
I wish you and your colleagues across all media would focus your attentions of addressing the epidemic of stabbings and the break down of society rather than waste your time on drivel like this.
- Adam, London, UK
I'd really like to see the pics when he gets caught boozing and biking. Anyone who stops people drinking on the tube is going to have to seem a real saint not to come across a hypocrite!
- Tim P, London
Speaking as one who's actually been run over by an idiotic cyclist who couldn't be bothered with stopping at a red light, I'd say it's pretty damn important. Boris' hypocrisy already disgusts me.
- Jake, London
Ian of London:
Stop speaking generalised rubbish: there are bad cyclists and good cyclists just as there are bad drivers and good drivers. The fact is though that a bad cyclist may injure someone - including themselves. A bad driver is likely to kill someone.
- Al, Reading UK
I see Boris riding on a very wide pavement, I don't see anyone else though, who has he endangered? All laws are not equal.
- Seamus, London
He is only doing, as said above, what every other cyclist does when riding. I have never seen 1 stop for a red light or zebra crossing. They area law unto themselves. But the green brigade love them so they can do no wrong!
- Duncan Walker, Samui Thailand
The video sparked a furious reaction from Andy Shrimpton from the StopAtRed cyclists' campaign, who said: "I'd like him to sign our on-line pledge to obey red lights in the future and show how sorry he is."
Get a life you fool, London has far more serious problems than a bloke on a bike on the pavement or getting the better of cars on a red light "legally because we cant hit him off "
Be a little more realistic about the very important things in life , such as getting the kid, murder ratio correct in London
- Relco, Hertfordshire
Is this the best they can come up with, a few weeks in office and this is the headline.
Seems like Ken is now writing for the Mirror. Sour Grapes.
- Samuel Lewis, London WC2
He's a bike rider not a cyclist. There is a subtle difference
- Al Stuart, Ealing
Just the sort of pompous arrogance you can expect from this Bullingdon boy. Cyclists can pose great dangers on the roads.
- Mickey Smythe, Blighty
With any luck he'll brick in all the pedestrians onto the pavement and make it compulsory that they can only crossings. If not they are flogged to an inch of their life!
- Paul Humphreys, Stanford le Hope
I think there are more important issues on which to concentrate.
- Anthony, London
At least unlike Ken he knows how to ride a bike.
- Edward Bellamy, Winchester, UK
Mr Malma's libel above, passed for publication by whoever edits these pages, has been reported to the police. The frantic smear campaigns of the Evening Standard continues.
- Dr Susan Porter, london
Presumably the zero tolerance part of his manifesto is not yet in force?
- Tonyb, Twickenham
Leave him alone, helmets are not obligatory, he at least is not driving a polluting car, he has apologised.
- Jean, London England
Boris rides like all the cyclists - they just don't think the rules apply to cyclists.
- Ian, London Eng
Don't we all hate cyclists on pavements? And what about clamping down on minor crime? One law etc, etc.
- Gary, London, UK
Minor criminality is just the thin end of the wedge!
- Chaz, kk ahh
If Boris prefers not to wear a helmet when cycling that is his decision. It is not the role of the intrusive media to criticise him when he has not done anything wrong!
- Sarah Edwards, London
Lest we forget, one time Deputy Labour Leader and Solicitor General, Harriet Harman, was twice caught speeding, as was John Prescott. As for his not wearing a cycle helmet, it is not a legal requirement, and the benefits of doing so are very debatable.
- Austen, London
Lets be fair here, you say he is guilty of failing to stop for a pedestrian at a zebra crossing, but the picture clearly shows this crossing is an island crossing. This means it is treated as two separate crossings one for each side of the road. Boris is over the crossing and just about off it as the pedestrian is still walking on the island in the middle, this means he was on the other side of the road when Boris approached.
- Basil, Basildon
Fair enough he shouldn't have been riding on the pavement or through red lights, but what does him not wearing a helmet have to do with it? As far as I am aware, it is perfectly legal to ride without a helmet in London, and good for him for not following the helmet-clad herd.
- Lucy Davies, Surbiton, UK
Give him a break!
- Jon Brother, London
Meanwhile, Ken and his cronies have embezzled millions and no one bats an eyelash...
- Joseph Malma, London, UK
