Police warned: 'You must stop cyclists speeding along pavements'

PEDESTRIANS rounded on danger cyclists at a police community meeting after hitting out at rogue pedallers who travel at high speeds on pavements.
Cyclists who take short cuts off the roads and run red lights were the subject of a heated debate at the Camden Community and Police Consultative Group at the Town Hall. The meeting, held last Tuesday to discuss “responsible road usage”, also heard how the number of cyclists’ deaths had gone down in the borough – although cyclists dying under the wheels of articulated lorries had gone up in the last three years.
Aileen Hammond of the Camden Civic Society said an elderly friend who was hit by a cyclist in Bloomsbury in March, was still suffering as a result of the collision. The cyclist, who had been riding on the pavement, sped off and has never been caught.
Ms Hammond, aformer councillor, said: “Many injuries go unreported because there is no way of identifying cyclists. Until they are registered and have insurance they will continuously behave in the irresponsible way some members of their group do.”
Sergeant Nick Parry of the Swiss Cottage Safer Neighbourhood Team said they had worked hard to tackle cyclists on the pavement and had issued up to 30 £30 penalty notices since August 2008. But he said “the trouble is they’re on a bike and we’re on foot”; a problem recognised by officers borough-wide when trying to apprehend a law-breaking cyclist.
But the threat of cyclists was put into context by figures which revealed that, since 2006, only 16 of the 677 pedestrian injuries were caused by cyclists. Just under 400 were caused by cars. Thirty-three cyclists have died in London in three years.
“The real danger comes from motor vehicles,” warned cycling campaigner Stefano Casalotti, who urged cyclists and pedestrians to make peace and work together to redesign streets.

CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS