Safe segregated cycle paths are urgently needed in London and other capitals. Studies have shown that by following the example of Amsterdam, Copenhagen and other cities will not only reduce accidents between car and bike but also encourage more people to get on their bikes.

Paul S Johnson, Hampshire, UK

There is already a very fine network of "cycle facilities" in London; it's called "the roads". Bizarre as it may seem, cycle lanes and paths are actually more dangerous for cyclists than simply staying on the roads - and this is true in every country where it's been tried. Let's not waste even more money on making life nastier for drivers, even if they are a trendy target at the moment, but instead spend it on keeping the roads properly surfaced; if you really want to encourage cycling, widen the kerb lane!

Roger, London,

The inside of cars are worse places to be than outside, from an air quality/pollution standpoint.


http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/01/car_chemicals.html


http://www.things.org/~jym/greenpeace/pollution-inside-cars.html

Although I grant that it's a very popular misconception that closing the window and hitting the climate control button keeps out all the nasty fumes. But it doesn't.

Tony B, Hyde, Cheshire

Cycling yes yes yes. it can help solve three of the most pressing problems of our time.
Yes to cycling as a way of tackling climate change, reducing carbon emissions
Yes to cycling as a way of reducing road congestion
Yes to cycling as a way of tackling obesity and keeping the nation fitter

Maggie O'Connor, Southampton ,

More cycling is one obvious answer to our congestion and climate change problems. Of course it won't suit everyone, but cyclists should be appreciated not denegrated. I've never understood some driver's particular antipathy towards cyclists. I suspect it's secret envy - envy that they are making better progress through the traffic than they are. What would they rather have...another driver on the road instead?

I cycle for leisure and to work whenever I can. It's often quicker, and I arrive at work feeling thoroughly invigorated. I am 48, weigh under 12 stone and I feel as fit as a fiddle. I'd recommend cycling to anyone.

Gary Parker, Birmingham,

Bit more education needed here, obviously...cyclists who ride their bikes in the road instead of using the cycle lanes or paths are not breaking the law. The only purpose of these silly bits of paint is to encourage motorists to cycle instead of driving; that is, to get cars off the road.

Don Shipp, London, England

I wouldn't commute by any other means than my bike. No matter when I set off I know, give or take five minutes for inclement weather, that it's going to take the same amount of time every day. Pedal power is the only legal way to get that sense of freedom and joy from your journeys that car manufacturers keep falsely promising us.

Ian Pattinson, Manchester,

"On an average journey of four miles in Central London, cycling is the fastest mode of transport. And, fumes and accidents apart, it is much healthier. "

Nope, fumes and accidents included, it is much healthier.

James, London,

Unlike Robert Oscar, I don't bother to count the law-breaking cyclists - its much more of a challenge to spot the legal ones.

Yes: they do exist. In the last three years I have seen a cyclist with a rear light, and one using the cycle lane instead of the middle of the road - fortunately they weren't one and the same cyclist, so I still have a challenge to look forward to!

|Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

Several things wrong with this. For one thing, cycling is healthier than motoring even if you include fumes and accidents; this artical over-emphasizes the dangers. The suggestion that cycling should be encouraged by providing cycle-lanes that are "protected" from motorists is wrong. Cyclists are safest when they integrate with traffic, not when attempts are made to separate them from it, which turns every junction into a danger-zone.

Don Shipp, London, England

I disagree with Roberts claim that the majority of London cyclists break the law on a daily basis. On the occasions when I have been cycling in the City, the majority of Cyclists have complied with the law. How many motorists broke the law during his observations? I believe that most Cyclists are exactly the same as most Motorists and Pedestrians- responsible, law abiding Highway users. It is the law breakers that are more noticeable.

Matt Langridge, High Wycombe, UK

Just to put cyclist menace into perspective on average one pedestrian and one cyclist are killed every year in the UK following collisions between pedestrians and cyclists. Almost all of these occur on the road and are the fault of dozy pedestrians. Two pedestrians have been killed since the war by being hit on the pavement by a cyclist. Car drivers kill an average 100 pedestrians a year on the pavement alone. Even incompetent cyclists are generally not fast enough or heavy enough to kill. The problem is incompetent selfish and excessive motoring and the solution is for all motorists to face far heavier financial and legal penalties to discourage them from driving in the first place.

Charlie, Sutton, London

Great to see some encouragement for cycling. Let's get more bikes out there where they belong – on the road (and obeying the traffic laws). The more bikes there are on the road, the safer it becomes for cyclists as motorists adjust their driving to cope. Motorists should be grateful for every bike they see as it means one less car adding to the congestion. And finally, would the planners please remember that badly-designed cycle lanes are more dangerous than no cycle lanes at all
Now what do you propose to do about the 'school run' and the congestion that causes?

Bod Johnston, Paisley,

The popularity of traffic free tourist cycle routes such as the Camel Trail & Granite Way in Devon illustrates how enthusiastically people do return to cycling if it is safe. How many more parents would do the school run by bike if they were sure it was safe. But it isn't.

The key is creating routes that are genuinely traffic free - not just a painted strip on the side of a busy road.

The failure of this government ( despite its fine words) to spend the necessary tiny fraction of its revenues on a national network of truly traffic free cycle routes is a classic of example of why politicians inspire no respect or confidence .

David, Shrewsbury,

Getting a bike improved my quality of life immeasurably. I cycle to work through London and even if it's raining, I get such a feeling of freedom and energy. It's the best start to my day and a really good time for thinking about things too. I would never have dared cycle if it wasn't that my parents moved to the Netherlands; I feel safer cycling there than I do driving or walking. It's a lifestyle choice: you save money (no more gym fees), time (time you would spend in the gym replaced by the time you would normally spend sitting glumly in a crowded tube) and you're doing less damage to the environment. On the other hand, I must admit I fear for my safety at least once every three cycle journeys, mainly because of buses and taxis, who tend to come a lot closer to cyclists than the cars. The best tips I heard are: concentrate ALL the time, don't let your attention wander from the road, and don't take unnecessary risks just to get somewhere quicker.

Esther Bintliff, London,

Cyclists on the pavement and going through red lights annoy pedestrians; but it's the motorists who actually kill them. By the hundred. So which do you really prefer?

Don Shipp, London, England

Cycling is lovely. I enjoy it

Enjoyable and a pleasure.
Cyclists need to respect other road users, (pedestrians should always be top of the tree), but other road users need to respect cyclists.

TFL do produce a number of good cycling guides but having tried to use them, it is hilarious how many times routes/signposting just runs out.

William Fox, London,

Several things wrong with this. For one thing, cycling is healthier than motoring even if you include fumes and accidents; this article over-emphasizes the dangers. The suggestion that cycling should be encouraged by providing cycle-lanes that are "protected" from motorists is wrong. Cyclists are safest when they integrate with traffic, not when attempts are made to separate them from it, which turns every junction into a danger-zone.

Don Shipp, London, England

Most experienced cyclists despise cycle lanes, because they are generally badly designed and maintained. When did you last see one salted in winter, or swept daily of broken glass, and why should cyclists, who have to expend considerable effort to regain speed, lose priority at every side road? The presence of such "farcilities" also reinforces some drivers' opinions that we shouldn't be on the road at all.

Please - just stop narrowing the roads with unnecessary pinch points, traffic islands and other "traffic calming". Most drivers will give cyclists room as long as it doesn't inconvenience them - but when the road gets squeezed, so does the cyclist. Maybe that's a strategy drivers and cyclists could agree on.

Roger Cantwell, Swindon, UK

Nice article.

The clause ' fumes and accidents apart' could safely be removed- cycling is healthier anyway.

Beware though of 'cycle routes'. The majority (by a long way) are neither safer nor quicker than using actual road. Adding more bad routes to the set we already have would make the situation worse.

Richard Davis, Leeds, United Kingdom

My experience in Birmingham, and that of many other cyclists I know, is that cycle lanes (at least the type in this country) are more dangerous than regular road riding. Usually too narrow, they encourage motorists to drive too close. Designated lanes also force the cyclist to stay at the side of road where there is less room for manoeuvre in case of peril and pedestrians blindly stepping out.

I wholeheartedly agree about "Those who ride on pavements, who head in the wrong direction down one-way streets, and who smugly jump traffic lights..." These cyclists, and those without lights and those who undertake, are as infuriating to proper cyclists as to as pedestrians.

A better long-term solution (apart from the Amsterdam-style lanes which are entirely separate) would be education. Cyclists have a right to be on the road, those that are should know the rules, as should motorists.

Michael, Birmingham, UK

There is another blessing you havn't mentioned-refuelling

Fine food and drink for the rider is much more fun than pumping unleaded into the car on a cold windy forecourt

john haslam, high wycombe, UK

The simple fact is that the majority of cyclists in London break the law on a daily basis. Within the past seven days I have seen six people cycling on the pavement, four people cycling on a pedestrian bridge, two people cycling at spped through a tube station, four people cycling after dark with no lights. Additionally I was almost run over by a cyclist who refused to stop at a pedestrian crossing (and was then pulled over by a police officer). As a pedestrian, if it's a choice between cars on the road or bicycles on the pavement I would rather have the former.

Robert Oscar, London, UK

Just sack your sub. Anyone still using the tired old "Pedal Power" phrase as a headline after all these years just isn't trying.

But the content is fine.

There, I feel much better.

Alex Pattison, Dundee,

'Some pedestrians will dismiss this two-wheeled idealism. They experience cyclists as a menace'

its the other way round. most pedestrians in central London stoll accross the road, stepping out without looking, as they either talk on their moble phones or listening to their Ipods then express great surprise when they encounter traffic.

Liam McCarthy, London,

I'm a lifelong cycling commuter who has never owned a car, but I
would caution that British cyclists have to lose their attitude and start
concentrating on being safe road users. Being a cyclist isn't one
long story of going to demos and abusing motorists. It's a hard
grind of making yourself a safe rider and recognizing that motorists
were there first. It's also a case of being very realistic about the
fact the motorists make mistakes which they can survive, but you
cannot unless you are very defensive in the way you cycle. Cyclists
in the UK are going to have to unlearn some very pernicious and
self-indulgent habits of thought before cycling can be a safe, much
less a mass mode of transport in the UK.

jon livesey, sunnyvale, ca/usa