Let cyclists obey rules

• I AM writing to support Richard Brennan’s letter (Pedestrians must unite in the face of cyclist menace, December 18) about the irresponsible behaviour of some cyclists, particularly in Upper Street, where an elderly lady of my acquaintance was recently knocked down by a man riding his bicycle on the pavement.
“Did he report it to the police?” I asked her. “Don’t be silly. He didn’t even stop.”
I knew how she felt because on March 2, near Red Lion Square, I was knocked down on a green-man crossing by a cyclist jumping a red light. Both my collar bones were broken and I suffered months of pain, disability and expense (£3,000 to date in carers, taxis and other essential services). The cyclist did not report the accident as he is legally required to do and the police did not discover his name.
My slow recovery has not been helped by regular encounters with cyclists riding on the pavement, especially coming up behind me or emerging from behind cars to jump red lights.
“I see them doing it all the time,” one lady who works in an Upper Street shop told me.
I sympathise with cyclists’ difficulties but there is a minority whose thoughtless behaviour puts pedestrians at risk of severe injury and causes hostility to cyclists in general. To this minority I appeal: stop breaking the simple rules that are there to protect all of us. Do not jump red lights. Do not ride on the pavement. I strongly support Mr Brennan’s call for pedestrian groups to be formed to take up this issue.
Jean Sargeant
N1