Safe Speed Forums

£100 fines for Lycra louts who cycle on pavement
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard
16.10.07

Parking attendants could hand out £100 fines to cyclists who are caught riding on London's pavements.

More than 5,000 so-called Lycra louts have been given on-the-spot fines for riding on the capital's pavements in the past two years.

But critics say the £30 penalty is inadequate and lives are being put at risk because cyclists are ignoring the law.

Now a new law is being considered which would allow each London authority to set their own penalty levels for the offence. No limit has been put on the amount but insiders say many boroughs could choose to impose a £100 penalty,

The boroughs most affected are Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.

Martin Low, director of transportation for Westminster City Council, said: "We have been pushing hard with other London authorities and TfL for the power to stop and issue on-the-spot fines for cyclists who ride on the pavement.

"This causes a lot of concern for many of our residents and can be frightening for elderly people and the partially sighted or hard of hearing, who cannot always hear or see the cyclists approaching."

The new legislation would also allow council employees such as parking attendants to take over the handing out of fines from police.

The proposals are part of the third London Local Authorities and Transport for London Bill, which will be presented to Parliament next month.

In the consultation papers the current £30 penalty is criticised as being too lenient.

It says: "It is considered that this is not a serious enough deterrent or punishment in the more serious cases, particularly where the footway is heavily used by pedestrians.

"It is proposed that powers be given to traffic authorities to set fixed penalties for the offence of cycling on the footway in areas where local authority employees have powers under a community safety accreditation scheme to hand out fixed penalty notices. Different levels could be set for different areas to reflect the seriousness of the offence."

Cyclists say they often have little option but to ride on the pavement to avoid dangerous road conditions and traffic jams.

They have called for more segregated cycle lanes to protect them from traffic.

A total of 372 cyclists were killed or seriously injured on London's roads last year, up nine per cent on the previous year and 41 above TfL's casualty reduction target. More than 2,500 "slight" injuries were also reported.

A spokesman for the London Cycling Campaign hit out at the plan, saying it was unfair to charge cyclists more in different boroughs.

He said: "To have different penalities for the same thing on two streets that are next to each other would be inconsistent, confusing and would undermine the authority of the law."

The new legislation would also allow council employees such as parking attendants to take over the handing out of fines from police.

I didn't know avoiding a traffic jam was a legitimate excuse for riding or driving on the pavement -

So how does that work then. We have pavements which are split to provide so called cycle lanes. The markings are at best vague. Then there are the cycle lanes that appear and disappear. It mist be difficult sometimes to work out if they are actually on the pedestrian part of the pavement or not.

So how does that work then. We have pavements which are split to provide so called cycle lanes. The markings are at best vague. Then there are the cycle lanes that appear and disappear. It mist be difficult sometimes to work out if they are actually on the pedestrian part of the pavement or not.

Wish I'd taken a photo- on the A82 from about the North Face car park(for those that know the A82 north of Fort William, just past Carr's corner) to about the Distillery opposite the A830 turn , Highland have spent what I would suggest is an obscene amount of money on a cycle track ---wooden bridges ,proper tarmac etc .But unless there's a great mass of cyclists intent on cycling to the access to the north face of the Ben , i fail to see the reason, unless the next step is a cycle path up the Ben.

I'm saying nowt

Wish I'd taken a photo- on the A82 from about the North Face car park(for those that know the A82 north of Fort William, just past Carr's corner) to about the Distillery opposite the A830 turn , Highland have spent what I would suggest is an obscene amount of money on a cycle track ---wooden bridges ,proper tarmac etc .But unless there's a great mass of cyclists intent on cycling to the access to the north face of the Ben , i fail to see the reason, unless the next step is a cycle path up the Ben.

I should remind posters that the forum rules prohibit ad hominem.

I don't get it, are you a libertarian or not?

Shouldn't you be up in arms about this?