• Boris: Cycle hire station in the City may be blocked

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Pathetic idiots who complain about lack of stats on pedestrian injuries, this took me 10 seconds to find. No excuses for bad behaviour, no problem with police crackdowns but get a perspective, 10m people 4 years 12 serious injuries:

Pedestrians injured on footpaths/verges in London, in collision with cycles and
pedestrians: 2001-05
Fatal Serious Slight Total
...in collision with a cycle 0 12 40 52
...in collision with a motor vehicle 17 387 1793 2197

Sorry if columns don't line up but even you must be able to figure this out. It'd be interesting to factor in how many in each cat did a runner.

- Dave, Hackney

If cyclists need training then so do pedestrians. The number of times I've almost been knocked off my bike by peds not looking before they step off the curb is astounding. Take your eyes out of the handbag, off the Blackberry/mobile, stop waving to your friend on the other side of the road and LOOK! You have EYES for a reason!

- London Biker, London

It's clear that cyclists need specialist training. Its also clear that cyclists responding here say it's everybody’s fault but theirs and that they are above the law. Clearly, they want stringent rules to apply to motorists but not to them. They even want pedestrians to make way for their high speed antics, again they demand the right to be selfish.

Its about time that cyclists were tested, licensed and were subject to penalty points and fines. Nobody is above the law, especially as somebody here stated 'these muppets'.

- Jan, London

Conspicuouly absent from this article are the statitics on pedestrians killed or injured in colisions with cycles.

- Bj, East London

Bj, They never print or mention those statistics.


That's because statistically, on a national scale, cyclists cause about 0.5 deaths per year. Motorists cause something like 3000. Who's dangerous again?

- London Biker, London

It's amazing how much anti cycling bilge comes out after every article about cycling. I just find it bizarre that so much attention is focused on dangerous cycling. Get a bit of perspective! Thousands of people die per year under the wheels of reckless motorists and no amount of insurance and taxation etc has helped that. And don't even get me started on idiot pedestrians who walk off the curb without looking!

As for registration and insurance of cyclists, it has already been tried in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Canada and in all 3 places it has failed, largely due to the costs of implementation and enforcement. It would cost millions to set up and many hours of police time to enforce. Wouldn't yuo prefer that money to be spent on health? Education for our kids?

Cycling saves money on so many levels. Bicycles cause statistically speaking, zero damage to road surfaces, so the more journeys by bike the lower road repair bills. It also reduces expenditure on public transport in the same way, the fewer journeys on the Tube or bus systems, the fewer Tube trains and buses that need to be run. Then of course there's the environmental argument, London's air quality regularly fails EU standards and I believe we have to pay fines for this. The more cyclists there are the less air pollution there is. Another indirect benefit of course is that cyclists are fitter, the fitter the population, the less strain on the NHS

So get over yourselves.

- Mcw, London

I'm stopped at the red lights, another car on my off side also stop, chap on a bike rides between us and scrapes his handlebar down the side of my car, waves his hand and shouts sorry,rides across the lights and is gone, just picked the car up from the paint shop £700 later. any comment you cyclists

- Col, West London UK

Graham P, Battersea, UK - Agree 100%

There's no space on roads to seperate cars/cycles add with this the massive increase in bikes = disaster. If I cycled they way I used, I would feel pressured to take risks because of the lack of space I wouldn't want to hold up other cyclists. I don't cycle anymore

I recently started driving after a 10+yr abscene and even on roads I know v.well amazed at how much lane changing at the last moment you have to do to not break the law - this doesn't help cyclists either.

In 40yrs never been hit by a car in London. I've been hit twice in 3 yrs - no injuries and g/f got a little gash from being hit on the pavement by bikes. I know as pedestrains we tend to walk out texting/reading I do neither.

I think this lady died on Clerkenwell road, no surprise there. I regularily see them cycling at speed on the inside no problem, but they fail to read the road so if a bus has stopped to let a car turn right they don't see the gap and slow down but carry on.

I wonder how many die who didn't learn to cycle in London.

I reg see them all over the back of a bus, if you Cannot see a driver's mirrors they can't see you!!

Some treat it as exercise rather than transport; listening to music is stupid, you have no rear visibility. Trying to look backwards makes you unstable so your ears are crucial - blocking them is suicidal.

These new flickering lights are stupid, led you to think of a car in the distance coming into and out of view.

- Bob, London

i think as soon as car drivers drive safely, and stop when the light turns red, instead of accelerating, then cyclists will become more considerate. not every cyclist is a lawbreaker, just like not every motorist is a safe driver.

also give us space, and don't try and overtake when there is no point, i.e. 20 feet before a red light, and when there isn't space for your car and a bike side by side...

- Rob, London UK

i'm confused as to why cyclist would need insurance?
This will only protect the cyclist from being liable for any payout if they should cause any damage. In any case cycle 3rd party insurance only costs a few pounds a year due to the low amount of damage cyclist cause.

- Cyclist, london

Having cycled around London for over a year now, I can safely say that some of the comments made above are utterly biased in favour of those who pollute the city with carbon emissions on a daily basis. It is fair to say that some cyclists are rather incompetent and I have had my fair share of 'what the hell are you doing moments'! Conversely, it appears as though the true root of the problem is other road users: motorists and pedestrians.

HGV's are an obvious concern but it is the day-to-day motorists who cause the biggest concern to a cyclist like myself. I have been forced into some very compromising situations by taxis and other motorists alike through their sheer ignorance of the rules of the road.

Secondly, pedestrians seem to have forgotten the green cross code, if it weren't for my willingness to shout at idiots stepping out on to the road without looking, there would be a few more injuries to add to the above stats.

- Peter, London

They need training and most of all INSURANCE they are a nightmare !

- Linda Cliff, London

These statistics will as usual be misused by the militant cycling lobby to claim that it is everyone else's fault but their own that cyclists are getting hurt.

Anyone who uses the roads in any other way, be it as a pedestrian, motorist or bus user, knows that an incredible number of cyclists ride in a deeply dangerous manner that comes from the mistaken belief that they have some kind of divine right to proceed as they like without any regard to other road and pavement users or to the rules and laws of the road.

The shame of it is that since nobody every enforces the law on cyclists they continue to get away with it, continue to cultivate dangerous habits and then blame everyone else when they inevitably get hurt.

I have no sympathy for them at all.

- Matt, London, UK

Highway Code! That's the best laugh I've had all day! When was the last time any driver checked the Highway Code or it's contents? The night before their test, that's when and never since.

@Geraldine - your comments make it sound akin to buying a shotgun - it's a bicycle!!! Please, lets get a little context in here - bikes don't often turn their owners into killers, but cars often do.

- Jm, London, London

I've been cycling in London for over 40 years and I can say with absolutely certainty that enormous numbers of the people who've taken to cycling in the past 10 years are complete morons.
Going through red lights, cycling up streets in the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road, overtaking on the inside (that's the one I hate the most), wearing idiot "cycling" outfits, festooning themselves with lights and taking ridiculous manoeuvres through traffic just to save a nanosecond in their journey. I no longer feel any solidarity with them and have started to feel sympathy with drivers for having to share the road with them.

- Graham P, Battersea, UK

Conspicuouly absent from this article are the statitics on pedestrians killed or injured in colisions with cycles.

- Bj, East London

Bj, They never print or mention those statistics.

- P Staker, London

More bikes on our useless roads unfortunately means more casualties. Many cyclists ride around at night with no lights totally oblivious to the dangers, others during the day cycle away with music blazing in their ears,not listening to cars and lorries approaching.
This cavalier approach when sharing road space with motor vehicles needs to be put right.

- Mr S.Port, London

"will always produce increasing numbers of accidents."

Except that cycle accident rates have been *falling* in London, since the number of accidents has not increased in line with the increase in cycling since 2000, which is over 100% now. Nice try, but if that's what you've 'always thought' I'd check your thinking on other matters.

- Tom, London, UK

@James, What use is cycle training, testing, and licensing. When confronted by egomanics in there 4 wheeled fortresses, who are often texting away, not signalling and oblivious to other road users. Whilst launching up and down major city streets at enormous speed.

- Eddie, London

It is over 40 years since I passed the Cycling Proficiency Test. I do not cycle on pavements or through red traffic lights. I display lights at the front and rear of my bike at night and I never try to undertake a HGV on the approach to a junction. I have never been involved in a bicycle accident as I don't expect others to take all of the responsibility for my safety.

- Frank, Waterlooville

There should be NO cycle lanes at all on bus routes.
Cyclists should largely ensure their own safety by NOT cycling on busy roads, especially those used often by trucks etc. Basic common sense. Of course, if they want to have their freedom to cycle wherever they like, then they must accept the consequential dangers.

- Ralph, London

Do children even take a cycling proficiency course these days? James is quite right, with the increase in traffic (cars, lorries and bikes), it is just ludicrous that anyone can walk into a shop, buy a bike and risk theirs and other peoples' lives. You need to pass a test and be licensed to drive a car and it should be the same for anything that travels on our roads. Yes before we get the usual nonsense comments, I am aware that not everyone driving cars are licensed or have taken the required test, but thankfully these instances are in a minority compared to the millions of vehicles on the road.

- Geraldine, London

There is no point in blaming cylists or drivers for increased accidents. What we need is proper education for both parties in how to adapt the Highway Code and make roads safer for all users. Most drivers in London were not taught defensive driving and hazzard perception and most cylists have not done a proficiency test. Both sides need to be given clear ground rules for what is acceptable. Central London has not been adapted for cylists, leading them to break rules and put themselves in danger.

Perhaps we could adapt our pavements instead to have separated cycle lanes that you can only travel down one way. This would decrease the danger of having cyclists swerving to avoid buses and gutters. As long as they were kept separate from pedestrians it may cause fewer fatal accidents.

- Smb, London, UK

I agree with James, London.

As the number of cyclists on London's streets continues to rise the responsibility of safe cycling should not lie only with the government and the councils creating safer roads; or motorists being made more aware of their responsibilities to cyclists; but also with the cyclists themselves to take the utmost precautions.

Rather than just buying a bike, jumping on the saddle and away we go into dangerous traffic, cyclists should all be mandatorily taking cycling proficiency and safety training courses.

Just like motorists, cyclists are not simply responsible for their own safety. They are in charge of a vehicle on a public highway and have a responsibility to pedestrians and other road users to be sufficiently trained and skilled.

I am incredibly tired of hearing about these tragic incidents of cyclists being crushed by left-turning heavy goods vehicles. Although the drivers of the lorries must take some responsibility, so must the cyclists. If there was sufficient training or awareness for cyclists they would never find themselves in such a dangerous situation.

I hate to sound cliched, but it's a two way street, and the onus shouldn't remain solely on everybody else to safeguard cyclists, they need to take responsibility for theirs and other road users' safety too. If that means licenses, or mandatory cycling proficiency training, then so be it.

- Mal, London

Cyclists will soon be able to cycle the wrong way down a one way street. That should help.

- Ted, London

James from London

The injuries afflicted on cyclists are not from themselves, they are from lorries, vans and cars. Cyclists are far more aware of their environment than you wobble-bottom car drivers because we have senses that are not restricted by a metal and glass box. We can see through 180 degrees and can hear everything, but rarely go above 18mph.

Bearing in mind that car drivers ARE already licensed and trained, yet still manage to kill 3000 a year compared to half a death caused by cyclists, shouldn't we be banning cars, vans and lorries seeing how they make such a hash of it?

- George, London

@James: I have something called a driving licence (clean, no points). Would I still need to go on your course? I have ridden a bike since 1975 and never crashed into anybody. 85% of cyclists hold a driving licence.

There was a study in Australia which looked at adherence to road regulations. Cyclists were compliant 95% of the time. And the motorists? Only 80%.

- Tom Amos, London

James, you imply that if cyclists were trained & were licensed then perhaps they might not be killed. This is complete tosh. Drivers are trained and are licensed and still mange to die in accidents. We are told that the number of uninsured and unlicensed drivers is on the rise in the capital, you don't think that this too might be a factor in the rise of cycling fatalities? The standard of driving in London is very low and I believe that this is a big factor in killed cyclist. Motorists often stray into cycle lanes and use the excuse "sorry I did not see you". It is about time that motorists like you in you motorised metal boxes on wheels take responsibility for your actions and stop blaming the cyclist. Oh and by the way I drive, pay road tax and am not a muppet or vegetarian.

- James W, London

James, London has a point. I passed my cycling proficiency test as a child, it did not prevent me getting into a couple of bad weather scrapes. It is because I know how dangerous cycling is that I no longer do so. I despair of the cyclists I see regularly flouting road rules and putting their own lives in danger. As a driver I can show as much consideration as I can but cannot take responsibility for some outright stupidity as shown by some cyclists. I'd also say that to call some painted strips on roads a 'cycle lane' is a joke. They cause more problems than they solve.

- Nora, London, UK

Conspicuouly absent from this article are the statitics on pedestrians killed or injured in colisions with cycles.

- Bj, East London

"Cycling muppets"?!

James, this kind of attitude is the main reason that cyclists are not given adequate room/attention/respect on the roads.

Training is a nice thought, but doesn't help with dangerous junctions, congested roads, frustrated drivers and vehicle blind spots. A re-design of cycle routes, junction layouts and traffic laws might be a better solution?

- Jon, London

@James,

Many cyclists have training, are responsible and cycle with consideration for other road users, yet still get injured or even killed by cars driven by drivers with no licence, insurance or responsibility. What do you propose we do with these 'muppets'?

Should we also train, license and insure pedestrians too, seeing as they are often involved in accidents?

Maybe if we worked towards making London a pedestrian and cycling friendly city then we'd see less pollution, congestion and deaths. I'd rather money was invested in this than the knee jerk licensing of cyclists.

- Andy, London

Be serious, James. By that logic, people should have a license to go skiing, canoing or any other mildly hazardous activity. There's enough bureaucracy and regulation in everyday life already, thank you very much!

- Grassy Knollington, London

Cycling muppets.

Thats a nice way to refer to cyclists killed on our roads.

- A London Cyclist, London

It will make absoluletly no difference if licencing and training was brought in. You only need to observe the number of inconsiderate, aggressive, and downright idiotic drivers on the roads today to see that although you must pass both a written and practical test, once gained everything they ever learnt goes out the window. Risk takers will always exist and unfortunately accidents will happen. As both a driver and cyclist I see it daily from both sides. Yes, I agree something has to be done to try and minimise the number of accidents, but this is what they are..accidents, and in a city as populated as London with a road infrastructure unable to cope with the volume of traffic, it's inevitable that collisions will take place. Maybe the training and licencing should extend to the idiot pedestrians who decide to walk out from behind vehicles, cross roads while traffic is moving, walk around txting on mobile devices with no regard to what's going on around them...

- Alan, East London

So James, training and licencing cyclist will solve the problem will it? Oh hang on a sec... aren't most of the motorist on the road, who of course never ever jump red lights, speed, cause crashes and always drive like angels, trained and licenced?....

- Carlton, London

How extremely patronizing can someone be?
Consideration to all road users is what is needed, together with far more provision for cyclists using the roads, or even cycle paths make much more sense to me.
I am quite sure its not training, not licences or tests for cyclists that will stop any of the past (or future) deaths or accidents. One cyclist death is one too many.
Maybe we need to look to other countries in europe to compare figures and see what provision is given to cyclists!!!

- Sj, Essex

The sad increase in deaths of cyclist must be down the the increase in the popularity of commuting by bicycle.
20 years ago pretty much the only cyclists on london streets were couriers and they only had a life expectancy of 7 years. Has anything changed?

- Jimbob, Kensington

There are two things we need to remember:

More cyclists means fewer accidents. It seems counter-intuitive but the noted phenomenon of the "Virtuous Cycle" means that more cyclists = safer roads. For instance, in London cycling is up by more than 80%, whilst accidents have halved. Since we don't have the figures for the further increases in cycle journeys in the period covered by this survey, it could well be that cycling is actually SAFER per mile travelled, but accidents have risen slightly because there are so many more cyclists on the roads.

The second thing to remember is fault in cyclist RTAs.

Cyclists have the lowest "at fault" rating of any road user. In cyclist/vehicle collisions it is almost invariably the driver who is at fault, cyclists naturally having a disinclination to collide with anything since they're not protected by a steel cage. A 4% rise in accidents may well mask a 20% rise in cyclists.

And Miss Goosen was not turning left at all, she was going straight on to her office. Every cyclist in London knows that lorry drivers can use the "blind spot" excuse if they overtake a cyclist then swing left.

- Steve Cascarino, Bow

I cycle in London and cars do not give us any space. But I hope cyclists will use lights and reflectors at night. Many are putting their lives at risk.

- Andrew, London

It's what we have always thought, no training, no licence to cycle and no responsibility when travelling in a highly dangerous environment will always produce increasing numbers of accidents.

When will these cycling muppets learn that for their own protection as well as the protection of others all cyclists must undergo training, they must all take a test and they must all be licensed.

In these days of public safety and public responsibility cycling without training and a licence is becoming an anachronism.

- James, London

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