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IN THIS ISSUE… +++ Our response to newspaper’s overblown claims about cycling in Richmond Park +++ The Royal Parks draft new cycling policy and code of conduct +++ Follow us on Bluesky
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FAULTY TELE
The Daily Telegraph – which previously breached the Editors’ Code with a laughably untrue claim that ordinary cyclists are riding faster on UK roads than Olympic track champions – has now published more overblown worries about cycling in Richmond Park and The Royal Parks’ other green spaces.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, it obtained specific data from TRP which only lists incidents involving cyclists colliding with pedestrians or other cyclists, or (in one instance) damaging a car during an altercation. A map accompanying the report identified just six such cases in Richmond Park over the past four years – exceptionally few in relation to the hundreds of thousands of miles cycled on its roadway annually – and, of course, there are none of the alarming incidents involving motorists that the police continually record in their official statistics, which we detail in full every three months in this bulletin.
Some things are best left to wither behind a paywall. But if you really want to see the newspaper’s report for yourself, we have liberated most of it here.
A day after the Telegraph’s report appeared, one of its columnists took up the cudgels, and we submitted this response, which was published last Sunday:
SIR – Simon Heffer says that it’s time to “get tough on the scourge of rogue cyclists” (Comment, November 17). As a campaigner, and someone who cycles around London virtually every day, I’ve seen people cycling in all sorts of ways in our city. I’m also in Richmond Park nearly every day. Cyclists aren’t angels, but they’re no less law abiding than anyone else in this country.
Mr Heffer’s essential argument seems to be one that has been rejected by government after government, in the UK and abroad: that somehow, if we made everyone on a bicycle have a specific licence and register their vehicle, then the world would be a safer place. Yet drivers, with their licences, tests, MOTs, and insurance, don’t seem to be persuaded of this, killing more people in a day than cyclists kill in a year.
The law should absolutely be enforced, and used to prevent road violence, but the changes Mr Heffer proposes would make no difference to safety on our roads and pavements, and instead would reduce the number of people cycling, to the detriment of all.
Tim Lennon
Richmond Cycling Campaign and Richmond Park Cyclists
London SW14
SPEED DRAFTING
It was, as many of you are aware, the selective coverage of the pedestrian fatality in Regent’s Park by the Telegraph and other papers that led to The Royal Parks deciding to review its cycling policy and establish a code of conduct for cyclists across its estate. Following our initial meetings with Darren Share, TRP’s Director of Parks, we now have drafts of both documents and have suggested changes after reviewing the wording with our friends from Regent’s Park Cyclists and the London Cycling Campaign. Our aim is to better reflect a realistic approach to regulating cyclists’ speeds and behaviour in the Royal Parks, while also prioritising the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. We will meet with Darren again in December and look forward to continuing our discussions with him.
Following news in our last bulletin that TRP has written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, we have received indications from more than one source at a high level that TRP’s proposal to have a specific 20mph speed limit for cyclists across the Royal Parks will be difficult to pursue, given the priorities of the Government. This will undoubtedly be another topic of discussion with Darren.
BLUE START
Have you flown to Bluesky yet? We will still be posting on Twitter for the foreseeable future, but with many users fleeing, our posts have also started to appear on its rival service. You can follow us on @richmondpkcyclists.bsky.social.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
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All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists