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English people really are funny. Enjoyed reading all the comments here. Very funny. Of all the things going on in this world and some people here getting angry at cyclists going through red lights and mounting pavements! shocking! haha. I am a regular pedestrian and motorist and now live in London. I hope to get round to buying a bicycle at some point. If I am crossing a pedestrian crossing and a cyclist goes past me what is the problem exactly. I come from Tokyo where everyone cycles their bikes on pavements! It is perfectly legal and accepted. Everyone gets on and looks out for one another. If a cyclist and pedestrian are involved in a crossing (regardless of who is at fault) who will come worse off? It really is in a cyclist's own interest to look out for pedestrians. Think about it.

- Takao, London, 19/08/2010 13:23
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Kev, London - By your reckoning with regards to "people who don't wont to pay for the facilities they use" (and I think you meant WANT), perhaps pedestrians should be registered and taxed for their use of the pavement?

- Rachel, Berkshire, 15/10/2009 16:00
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I walk to my job in the city of London on that walk my biggest danger comes from cyclists (the bad ones) and yes I believe that the type of cyclist that blasts through red lights and for some reason doesn't believe that the rules of the road apply to them should be laid out upon a zebra crossing and walked over by the 1000's of pedestrians who have ever suffered as a result of their irresponsible and arrogant cycling.

However as I said it's the "bad" cyclists that I have issue with. I think cycling should definitely be encouraged and schemes such as the above supported, but while Boris is at it maybe he could introduce harsher punishment; be it fines or a criminal record for all those cyclist that give zero consideration to any one else on the roads or pavements. If you can get locked up for drink driving why not drunk cycling? A cyclist and their bike is equally as capable of seriously injuring a person.

Sadly it's a case of a minority giving the majority a bad name.

- Caroline, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Islington is 1 badly run council i should no i worked there..its full of lazy no gooders and women and men who sleep there way through the bosses and money fritted around....liberal council

- Rsaviour, lonodn england, 15/10/2009 15:00
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If we were to follow the logic of people like Kev and Dectora, we would ban all car-hire schemes because, as we all know, motorists speed, drink/drug drive, hold a mobile phone to their ear with one hand, drive without insurance, commit hit and run offences and kill more people each year than murderers.

On the other hand, we needn't be so stupid as to stop the whole London Cycle Hire scheme because some people who ride bikes sometimes behave in a similarly wreckless fashion to some people who sometimes drive in the ways described above.

- C.Nichol, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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This is the same Islington council who is happy to allow McDonalds to install 10ft high banners opposite Sainsburys? And they won't allow racks for rental bikes?

Looking forward to the next local elections...LibDems will pay for politicising our health.

- St, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Hmm, Kev, registering and taxing cyclists is the answer to all woes is it? Well thousands of people die and are maimed on our roads as a result of accidents with registered and taxed motorists/drivers every single year, so it really seems to work!

People need to get their minds around the fact that cyclists do not kill or injure on the roads, motorists who speed, jump red and amber lights, use mobiles whilst driving, stop in dangerous spots on double yellow and red routes etc, do.

- Mcw, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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I was nearly hit today by a cyclist going at high speed on a pavement and yes using a mobile, he shouted abuse at me

Clad in lycra with the obligatory wrap-round glasses he is typical of the yob element of cycling that demands, yes demands, cyclist identification and full insurance.

These yobs are killing and injuring people on the street, despite the cycling lobby group claims to the contrary and these sanctimonious cretins that applaud this actions should be banned from being in control of any sort of vehicle, including a child’s scooter.

- James, London UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Kev - So elderly people suffering from osteoporosis "regularly" die in collisions with cyclists? Really? I would love to see some supporting evidence for that ridiculous statement!

Back in the real world, the fact remains that motorists/drivers kill and injure thousands of people across the UK every year. Cyclists do not.

As pointed out, VED does NOT pay for roads. Local tax does. Drivers do NOT own the roads. As for regsitration of bicycles, this has been tried in other countries and has failed. How do you propose the enormous cost of setting this up is funded? Your tax? Wouldn't that money be better spent on education? Health? Rather than satisfying your random need to persecute cyclists in London?

Why should cyclists pay VED? We produce no pollution and do statistically speaking, no damage at all to road surfaces. Additionally we have no need for complex road junctions and roundabouts, dual carriageways, motorways which cost the taxpayer billions. Motorists use these and it is right that they should pay for the damage they do to the environment and to road surfaces.

- Mcw, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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"A cyclist and their bike is equally as capable of seriously injuring a person."


Caroline, thank you for your balanced view. However, I think your perception of a collision between a car/lorry and a pedestrian and a bike/pedestrian collision is far off the mark. Believe me, a car can do FAR more damage to you if it hits you.

And if we are to have stiffer fines, can we also introduce them for pedestrians who step off pavements without looking and who endanger MY life about 10 times a day as I approach them?

- George, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Many 'cycle yobs' in London cycle the way they do because it is far safer than following the rules.

For reasons such as: most cyclists injured at traffic lights are female, the reason being females tend to obey the traffic rules.

If you improved the roads to make it safer for all users, then an awful lot of this yobbish behaviour would disappear.

- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark, 15/10/2009 15:00
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So the scheme is stopped by a bunch NIMBY, I think about time we change the pkanning laws to stop this now.

- David Knowles, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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I wonder if those who stereotype cyclists as all wearing lycra, cycling through red lights and on pavements and killing people, also hold similarly rigid views on other groups of people, e.g. according to their religion, sexual orientation or ethnic origin. Just a thought.

- Arfur Towcrate, Staffycher, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Andrew, London, UK, Denial,Denial,Denial,Assumptions Assumptions,and the arrogance"your are my intellectual Superior"The elderly,many of whom suffer from osteoporosis regularly die from hip fractures,a portion of those are caused in collisions with cyclists who hit them on the pavement,or whilst crossing the road at traffic lights that cyclists blast through on a red light,not to mention people who sustain injuries,and that is a fact,o the naivety of the happy little innocent cyclists who no doubt would hire a car rather than cycle from London to Devon on there summer holidays.Are you still using a weaving machine at home in your bees wax candle light cottage.ps I'm not a car owner or user.but then you know that don't you!I think your posting reveals more about you than it says about this issue.

- Kev, London-UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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I've never understood the desire that many men have to dress up in skin-tight lycra in public and to spend hours on an agonisingly uncomfortabe saddle, compressing their 'equipment'. Medical evidence indicates this may be harmful to fertility. Darwinism at work perhaps......?

- Dr. Jonathan Melvin, Dublin, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Kev, you admitted what I thought many motorists think: "motorists who do own the road". You don't. Stop being selfish. You share the road with cyclists.

- Dom, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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We need more bendy buses, that'll sort the problem of cyclists out!
(if you believe BoZo)

- Fresh, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Whenever cyclists are criticised for storming through red lights and scattering pedestrians, or weaving in and out of us on pavements they write in to sternly remind us that car drivers kill and injure more pedestrians than they do.

I am assuming that the grievance here is that motorists are killing and injuring more than their fair share of pedestrians. I do understand that this is completely unfair to the pavement cyclists.

Unfortunately, I must have missed the news item where the government instigated the quota system and allocated a number of pedestrian injuries to each group.

I do expect roads to be dangerous places so I am very careful when crossing them but I admit to being remiss when walking the pavements in that I don’t always attach my rear view mirrors to my hat and sometimes put a pavement cyclist to the trouble of hitting me when he rides up behind me at 15 mph. (I do appreciate however that he has a quota to meet).

By the way, if they exceed their daily quota do they have to throw us back?

- Stella, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Kev London, you are a proper ill educated Kev. I am your intellectual superior. Did you dad give up cycling after your mum was "alledgedly" killed? Lies and lies from the pro car lobby as usual.
How many more deaths by drivers will it take to ban vehicles from Central London between 0700 and 1000 every morning and 1600 and 1900 in the evenings.

- Andrew, London, UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Odd to think that Kelly is riding a Pashley bike made in England. The same firm makes bikes for the Post Office who have now cancelled the contract so they can buy trolleys made in China. Buying a homegrown bike is a basic thing to help our industry and long live Imperial measurements for the frame size!

- Jack Spratt, Richmond, Surrey, 15/10/2009 15:00
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It's interesting. It's very, very rare for councillors to reject a proposal recommended by their professional planning officers. What's the political makeup of Islington?

As for saying "they should be outside tube stations", of course they should be. That goes without saying, but that does not mean they shouldn't also be located in residential areas. What's the point of having them in Point B if excluding them wholesale from Point A means you cannot get from A to B?

- Escobar-Alop-Lop, Camden County, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Kev - motorists don't own the roads, tax payers do. Roads are paid for out of general taxation NOT VED. If bikes were subject to VED the they would pay £0 since they have no emissions. Also, most adult cyclists also own and use a car on the road. Many thousands more people are killed and injured by cars every year than cyclists so if anything should be restricted it should be car use. WOW, you go to the gym, try cycling on our overcrowded streets and see how you get treated by selfish car drivers not paying attention and then come on here and post your opinions. It's not the form of transport that makes someone irresponsible, it's the person themself.

- Ian, UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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unlucky Boris, doesn't make any sense for the council not to allow it, got to be internal politics

- Dave, St johns cross, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Nice one Kev. You have probably never ridden a bike in your life or been outside the UK. Not only have the rent-bike schemes been successful in Paris and Lyon but also in Barcelona. I cycle approx. 6.500 miles a year so I hope I qualify for your idea of a cyclist. Only accidents I have had have been when shopping in Supermarkets and been hit in the heels from other shoppers trollies ! Do you want these to taxed and insured ?

- Fredgunner, Wehr,Germany, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Nice to see the Lib Dems support cycling but not in their backyard!

- David Burns, Beckenham, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Mcw,London,Registering and taxing them would make them identifiable for the crimes they commit every day against pedestrians on the PAVEMENT!My mother was killed while walking on the pavement by a cyclist!as are many older people.Dom,London,I worked on a community safety forum 2 yrs ago, the main reason for some councils employing street wardens was because of complaints against so called cyclist riding on the pavement as if they owned it,unlike motorists who do own the road and in the main don't come onto pavements scattering pedestrians.Any real cyclist would in my opinion be in favour of being registered and taxed because they then would elicit respect from motorists on the roads as they would have a right to a place on that said road.ps no I'm very fit go gym 3 times a week,but i have no respect for law breakers and people who don't wont to pay for the facilities they use,tell me why they don't wont to be registered and pay for those facilities!the only reason can be that there free loaders and law breakers.Act responsible and i might respect you.

- Kev, London-UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Fredgunner, Wehr,Germany. Probably! And I'm not surprised you have been hit on your heels by shopping trolleys,you really should not go shopping on your bike in the supermarket,but then maybe that's all you can expect from a real cyclist!

- Kev, London-UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Jar bottle, bottle jar, no matter what anyone wants in this country, there's always ten others opposed to it, and besides, there's no money for the council, or anyone else for that matter, when everyone is riding around on bikes, I take the point about old people, but if the police were walking about, instead of brushing off the crumbs in cars, people wouldn't ride on the pavements.

- Baz Bazzan, London UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Lets be clear on the threat to pedestrians posed by cyclists and cars. 2007 figures were reported in Hansard in January this year. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090126/text/90126w0003.htm#column_14W

Motor vehicles killed 642 pedestrians - bikes 4. A large chunk of the pedestrians killed by drivers were ON THE PAVEMENT. Pedestrians serioulsy injured by drivers 6,224 - by cyclists 48. All pedestrian injuries by drivers 29,297 and by cyclists 225. Anyone who still claims that cyclists are the biggest threat to their safety as a pedestrian is seriously confused or a liar.

The NIMBY attitude of the local residents is shocking. Cars cause far more noise and crime than cycles. Cars are far more out of keeping with Georgian buildings that bicycles. The truth is they were concerned about their parking spaces.

- Shay, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Dear George, London

FYI: Not once did I suggest a bike and it's cyclist could do MORE damage then a car/lorry.

It would seem that you believe that it's okay for a cyclist to hit a pedestrian and cycle around with out due care and attention. I can only assume this as you are getting so very defensive at the idea of cyclist being pulled up for such behaviour. Are we therefore to also assume that you are one of these BAD cyclist as why else would you have a problem with people suggesting fines or criminal records...

Shame on you.

- Caroline, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Exactly, Threaded. Instead of local councils creating pointless stretches of cyle track on the road which often amount to a litter and glass strewn stretch of green tarmac in the gutter lasting about 10 metres of less before cyclists are thrown back in with motor traffic, let's have something meaningful such as filter lights at major junctions allowing cyclists to begin moving before motor traffic. Pedestrians already have their own lights, why not cyclists? It would make junctions much, much safer.

And whilst we're on the subject, perhaps the police could make an attempt to stop motorbikes, mopeds, cars, lorries, buses etc etc from driving in cycle lanes and blocking cycle boxes at the head of junctions. Currently there is absolutely no enforcement of these.

I regularly jump red lights, simply because it is far safer in many cases than waiting with the mass of motor traffic to be crushed and "left hooked" by motorists.

In many cities across Europe where cycling is a way of life and major method of transport, for example Antwerp, it is common and accepted that cyclists head across roads when the lights are red, just as pedestrians cross when the red man is lit.

- Mcw, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Well done to Boris,s neighbours,and Islington council,cyclists should not be encouraged,at least till they are registered and taxed and insured,and start to act more like responsible beings.As a group cyclist must be the most law breaking and disrespectful group of people in this country,the police receive more complaints about cyclist riding on the pavement and breaking the laws of the road than they do about almost any other misdemeanor,cycling should in no way be encouraged,and why do they think they deserve special attention,My Farther cycled 14 miles to work and back and he never called himself a cyclist,most cyclists these days are not worthy of the name,its a fashion,get dressed up in all the garb then go stand on a train with your bike and garb.nonsense.

- Kev, London-UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Lucky, showing his environmental credentials and being knocked back at the same time; meaning he does not have to mix with the great unwashed.

- William, Hay~Heath UK, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Kev, London, as you tarred all cyclists with the same brush, I will now tar all motorists with the same brush. Motorists kill more people on the roads than cyclists, drivers operate their vehicles under the influence of alcohol/drugs, while using their mobiles, they do not obey speed limits, they think they own the road with total disrespecxt for any other vehicle, ...etc. I could go on. And as for your comment about police recieving more complaints about cyclists on the pavement than anything else. Bull. Did you just make those facts up. It's sounds to me like you have it in for cyclists regardless. Whats up? Too large/unfit to cycle?

- Dom, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Would you want to provide bikes to a man who admits to running red lights and cycling on pavements ?

- Keith Price, Luton England, 15/10/2009 15:00
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AS always these plans are not fully thought through. The Council is right. A residential street like Colebrooke Row is not an appropriate location for a cycle 'station'. It needs to be in a commercial area say adjacent to an Underground Station.
PS I am a regular cyclist.

- Patrick, Dalston, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Islington Council's website says of the London Cycle Hire scheme that "The leader of the council, Councillor James Kempton, fully supports the scheme and council officers are helping to identify suitable sites within the borough." Let's hope so.

Concerns from residents about noise and crime are ill-founded. Unlike cars, nobody has ever been woken up by a cycle alarm going off. Bikes and bike racks are no more likely to attract thieves and vandals than cars and car parking spaces. The loss of one or two car parking spaces is a small sacrifice to make when compared with the benefits that 10 bikes would bring.

Eric Sorensen may have a valid point about siting bike racks closest to places where people will either want to pick them up or drop them off. However, as well as shops and stations, such locations should include the places where people live - i.e. residential streets.

Let's hope this is a minor hiccup in what has the potential to be a major improvement to London's transport network. Having seen how successful such schemes are in Lyon and Paris, it would be a shame were our capital to be fall foul of a little local difficulty.

- Austen, London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Islington South Area planning committee members with small majorities will have listened with great attention to local residents. Under the old scheme of a single planning committee for the whole borough of Islington, councillors would have been able to consider the wider benefits to the borough in terms of health and environment without fear of loosing their seats. Local democracy isn't a good thing for bike racks or for that matter, wind turbines.

- John Ackers, Islington, 15/10/2009 15:00
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Fredgunner: I hope that you never ride on the pavement or jump the lights!Recently an elderly friend of mine who uses a crutch was knocked down by a cyclist who jumped the lights at a designated crossing. he didn't stop, of course, just sped off very pleased with himself for fracturing the nose of a woman in her 70s and leaving her with extensive facial bruising.
Andrew I'd give you her name and address if this were safe, but your aggression indicates that it would not me. As she lay groaning in the road she was obviously working for the car lobby (she doesn't drive).

- Dectora, Islington London, 15/10/2009 15:00
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The answer is simple - Boris can put the cycle station in his back garden and he already has a shed in which to store them!!

- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 15/10/2009 15:00
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£2.3 million townhouse.. nice to see he is living in luxury..who put this total waste of space in as mayor??

- Rsaviour, lonodn england, 15/10/2009 15:00
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