The growing frequency with which cyclists ignore red traffic lights or cycle along pavements means that for pedestrians, especially vulnerable pedestrians such as children, elderly people and disabled people, cyclists can be a danger.
That’s the Tories’ then transport spokesman, Tim Yeo, addressing the House of Commons in January last year. And – speaking as someone who walks five miles a day though central London – I’d say he was right.
So why, in this morning’s paper, do I learn that David Cameron proposes to put cycle lanes on pavements, bang in the heart of the one place pedestrians surely have the right to be safe?
The proposal, which comes from a policy group headed by John Redwood, is part of a package of “commonsense” suggestions designed to ease road congestion, according to Cameron. But it ignores the central fact about the relative vulnerability of different groups of people. In 2004, for example, 134 cyclists were reported killed and 16,514 injured in accidents, compared to 671 pedestrians killed and 34,210 injured. While the great majority of those casualties involved cars, the figures suggest strongly that pedestrians need more, not less protection. And another of Cameron’s suggestions would make matters worse: allowing cars to turns left on red lights, in the US fashion, across the pedestrian phase of a junction crossing.
There are those who believe shared routes are safe. I’m not one of them. I’ve stopped using my favourite walk to work – along a canal towpath, past nesting herons, in the only picturesque spot in King’s Cross – because I became fed up with getting hit by bikes ridden at speed, and fed up with the abuse I’d receive from two-wheel commuters for having the temerity to walk along a footpath that cyclists viewed as their domain.
The problem of congestion should not be solved by clearing the roads for cars, at the expense of the rest of us. The answer, as everyone knows but no one has the will to implement, is to get more people out of cars. And the best way to do that is to make all the other means of transport more attractive. That means making pavements and road crossings so safe that pedestrians in our big towns and cities don’t feel they are at risk of getting hit by something – on two wheels or four – every time they step out of the door. And the proper means of ensuring cyclists feel safe enough to leave their cars behind is to build safe bike routes within the road system, properly separated from the traffic, so they are protected both from drivers and from reckless pedestrians (they do exist).
Not everyone drives. Not everyone cycles. But everyone uses the pavements at one time or another – even the people with SUVs who feel the end of the road requires getting in their monstrosity. So if a politician really wanted to appeal to the broadest group of people when drawing up a transport policy, they would do everything in their power to ensure that those of us on the pavements are safe, and can get from A to B with the minimum of hindrance. And – sorry, cyclists – that means keeping you separate from us.
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