IN A rare online outing, our regular Friday columnist The Insider shifts his attention away from the Croydon Council chamber and turns his ire on 'selfish' cyclists...
POLICE sergeant Diane Hill buckled a few spokes in cyclists' wheels with her comments about fining those who decide riding on the pavements around the Upper Norwood triangle is the ok thing to do.
But judging by the reaction of people responding to the Advertiser article last week announcing her idea, she has got things right.
Nobody likes to read about cyclists being killed by lorries in central London, but the Triangle is not central London.
The cyclists' arguments last week that the area is devoid of cycle lanes and that they have to negotiate their way past parked vehicles should not be interpreted by them as carte blanche for riding wherever they want.
That kind of attitude smacks of a selfishness which pervades the mindset of many of them who believe cycling on pavements for their own peace of mind is acceptable – the "I cycle, therefore I can" kind of attitude.
But forgotten in all this cycling propaganda are those people for whom pavements are actually provided, the pedestrians.
And for a large number of pedestrians who neither cycle nor drive, read the elderly and mothers with babies and small children.
They have the simple right to walk in safety, where they should be walking, without being frightened or intimidated by bell-clanging, horn-blowing cyclists forcing them aside.
Sgt Hill has made it plain that her officers are not going out of their way to issue errant cyclists with fines.
The Highways Act which outlaws pavement cycling does allow some discretion, particularly where cyclists can demonstrate they feel in danger from cars and they ride appropriately.
It would appear Sgt Hill and her team are, indeed, applying discretion but for the sake of the hundreds of pedestrians who use the triangle it would not be wise to use that discretion too widely.
There is something of a parallel here with car drivers who constantly complain that because they parked illegally on a yellow line for "just a couple of minutes" they didn't deserve a ticket.
That and the argument that riding on pavements is not a proper offence is rubbish.
If you break the law you must expect to pay the price, and if the problem in the Triangle is to be overcome, Sgt Hill must not be put off doing what she and, more importantly, the cyclists know is right and start handing out the fines.
Do you agree with The Insider? Or do cyclists get unfair treatment? Join the debate below. Also, look out for a special report on the pavement cycling fines plan in tomorrow's Advertiser.
