Penalise cyclists on pavements yes but for goodness sake make it safer to cycle as well

I completely agree with Cllrs Freeman and Marshall (quoted in last week's Ham&High) that more needs to be done about cycling on pavements. I myself have tried to get the Belsize Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team to issue penalty notices to a man who persistently cycles on the pavement through our area with two large, unleashed, black dogs. He represents a menace to pedestrians and his dogs are terrifying for parents with young children.

However, I do think that equivalent attention needs to be given to the safety and health of cyclists who brave our roads. Bike boxes (advanced stop boxes) at traffic lights are a joke – they are used as much by motorbikes and cars as they are by cyclists. When will the police start issuing tickets to motorists who enter the bike boxes?

And, as I keep pointing out, pretty pictures of bicycles painted on roads don’t make them safe for cyclists.

But most of all I’d like to see trucks removed from our residential roads. These are the biggest killers of cyclists in London – responsible for more than two thirds of cyclist deaths.

Trucks are also the heaviest polluters because they use so much diesel, which is 5% better than petrol in terms of carbon, but SEVENTEEN times worse in terms of air quality. According to Prof Frank Kelly of Kings College London, living in this city is equivalent to a lifetime of heavy smoking.

The latest evidence is that it doesn’t just lead to lung diseases like asthma - diesel soot particles are so minute that they get into our bloodstream and cause heart diseases. And for those with diabetes pollution seems to worsen their ailment.

So yes, we should penalise the few who cycle on pavements, but we should also look at the bigger picture and make our streets safer for cyclists and the air cleaner for us all.