Cyclists hit with 15,800 fines in a year as police clamp down on unsafe riding

 
Clampdown: Police are targeting cyclists who are not riding safely (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)
Josh Pettitt21 November 2014

The number of fines handed out to cyclists in London more than doubled to almost 15,800 last year, as police launched a campaign against unsafe cycling in the capital.

Bike users were caught jumping 4,896 red lights — a four-year high. The total number of £50 fines imposed across the capital last year spiralled to 15,786, compared to 6,286 in 2012, according to figures obtained by the Standard.

Police raised £789,000 from tickets issued for offences such as ignoring traffic lights and signs, failing to stop for officers, not having suitable lights, or carrying unauthorised passengers.

In November last year, the Metropolitan Police launched Operation Safeway, after the death of six cyclists on London’s roads in a fortnight.

Officers patrolled 166 blackspots and fined almost 6,000 bike users, mostly for cycling on the pavement and jumping lights. The operation is ongoing, with 5,851 cyclists fined in the first seven months of this year. Fourteen cyclists died on London’s roads in 2013. So far this year, 11 have been killed. German student Janina Gehlau, 26, was the latest. She was crushed by a left-turning HGV at Ludgate Circus last month.

Danger: A cyclist skips a red light in central London (Picture: Cavan Pawson)

Superintendent Robert Revill, of the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: “It is not about punishment or persecution, it’s about creating awareness. We enforce traffic legislation robustly. Officers will be out in force, watching and dealing accordingly with anyone breaking the law.”

There has also been a huge rise in the number of cyclists. Daily cycle journeys in London increased from 320,000 in 2002 to 580,000 in 2012, according to Transport for London figures. Its census last year found 64 per cent of vehicles on some main roads during morning rush hour are bicycles.

Ann Kenrick, chairwoman of the London Cycle Campaign’s board of trustees, said: “When I see a cyclist jump a red light I turn to the cyclist next to me in despair. There are so many road users, we have to respect each other.

“We need to tell cyclists to put out the message that they have to follow the rules like everyone else. But we need infrastructure so cyclists don’t take risks, like dedicated cycle lanes.” Boris Johnson has has unveiled a “Crossrail for bikes” plan, featuring an 18-mile east-west route that would take up one of the road lanes in Embankment.

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