Towpath cyclist kills gosling

Published: 3 June, 2010

• I AM concerned about the flagrant disregard by many cyclists for both the code of conduct and other signage along the stretch of canal between Camden and King’s Cross, which is where I live.  

As far as I am aware, cycling is permitted at a slow pace, and yet on a daily basis, particularly during “rush hour”, cyclists are regularly hurtling along the canal towpath and it is only a matter of time before some serious injury occurs. 

Today, Tuesday June 1, I was passing over the temporary pontoon close to King’s Cross which has clear signage either end instructing “cyclists dismount” and seven cyclists passed me.

Given that signage can easily be ignored as has been proven only today, why is there no checking of cycling speeds in the area? 

Clearly some cyclists cannot be trusted to police themselves so some kind of authority is needed to enforce reasonable speed limits.

I walk on the towpath most days and have had to jump out of the way of speeding cyclists on numerous occasions. Some have little or no regard for pedestrians, whether elderly or infants, which makes what should be an enjoyable stroll into a dicey risk with danger. 

Furthermore, at this time of year there are several baby geese eating the bankside vegetation, unable to escape a speeding cyclist. 

It is less than two weeks since I discovered a small dead gosling on the bankside which, according to a man fishing nearby who witnessed the incident, had been callously mown down by yet another speeding cyclist who even failed to stop.

Something clearly needs to be done to control this area and it should not be an unnecessary drain on any organisation’s resources to monitor it during busy commuter times. Only by doing so will the need for controls become clear.

S CURTIS
Address supplied, NW1