Anyone who has driven or walked in London will at some point have had a near miss with a cyclist.
Not all cyclists are irresponsible, but it is fair to say that when walking in certain parts of the capital you can almost feel like you are dicing with death simply by crossing the road.
This year, ten times more cyclists than drivers have been fined for running red lights in one of London‘s busiest districts according to new figures from cycle hire company Lime.
Moreover, one in six bike riders admits to frequently ignoring traffic light signals to stop despite the very real danger this can cause to pedestrians and motorists.
Shortly after this revelation there was another bombshell, courtesy of the Department for Transport: casualties are on the rise, with cyclist caused injuries to pedestrians at a record high.
For the year 2024 police recorded 603 accidents where a civilian was injured in a bike collision, Department for Transport road casualty figures show.
Last year also made a record for the most casualties involving cyclists on pavements and at zebra crossings as 321 incidents were recorded – a nine per cent increase from the 292 in 2023.
In order to get a sense of just how blatant this rule breaking is and why some cyclists feel so entitled to do it, the Daily Mail visited three notorious roads in the capital during the peak of rush hour.
Have YOU recorded a cyclist breaking the law? Email: john.james@dailymail.co.uk
We strapped a GoPro to our reporter to find out how lawless London’s roads are
In the short ride from Oxford Street to Shaftesbury Avenue, our reporter saw countless cyclists ignoring red lights
What happened when we joined the cyclists?
To get a sense of the manner in which core tenants of the Highway Code are routinely being bent, broken and ignored we decided to join London’s cyclists on a morning commute.
Our reporter strapped a GoPro to his chest and hired a Lime Bike, before merging into the throng that snakes its way through the capital each morning.
During the short journey, we would be subjected to all of the same hazards and dangers the average cyclist risks each day.
These include terrifying close passes, aggressive drivers, brainless pedestrians walking out into the road and mind-numbing congestion.
But, unlike some cyclists, we would be strictly following every law of the road and stopping at every red light.
In the short ride from Oxford Street to Shaftesbury Avenue, our reporter saw countless cyclists ignoring red lights with abandon and clocked the sneaky tactics many use to beat the traffic.
These include:
- Walking their bikes past the red lights and making a dash for it after a few cars have gone
- Mounting the pavement to cut corners
- Merging into a junction after ignoring a red light on the understanding a car will brake to avoid hitting them
- Cycling off 20 seconds after the light goes red when they suspect a yellow is coming
With all this flagrant rule breaking already being clocked from the saddle (all of it needless), to say we were optimistic about the rest of our experiment would be a lie.
Oxford Street
The chaotic junctions connecting Oxford Street are officially the most lawless place in London according to a survey from NextBase.
Amazingly, 50 per cent of cyclists in the area were found to be running through the crossroads without stopping despite the huge number of pedestrians, buses and motorists that trundle through at all times.
And the danger of this behavior for everyone involved is both incredibly clear and well documented.
In 2017, a 73-year-old pensioner was killed after she was hit by a cyclist in the area and suffered devastating injuries in the collision.
In an effort to improve the Wild-West-esque roads, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced that soon a section of Oxford Street will be fully pedestrianised with cyclists banned from using it at certain times.
When the Daily Mail arrived shortly after 8am the area was already heaving with cars honking and pedestrians swarming across the pavements.
In the midst of the chaos, London cyclists were also commuting into work, some waiting patiently at the endless stream of traffic lights that divide the road.
Some of them however, took matters into their own hands.
OXFORD STREET: Two cyclists decide to jump a red light in the heart of London
In the short time the Mail watched the junction, we saw over twenty cyclists breeze straight across the road narrowly avoiding both cars and members of the public.
In one dicey moment, a woman who had ignored the red light and cycled directly into the road as cars to her right pulled off, narrowly avoided being clattered and proceeded to give the driver the middle finger in indignation.
Other cyclists were seen pulling off when the lights were still red as they seemingly deemed the road now safe to use – despite pedestrians still crossing the road in the distance.
Shaftesbury Avenue
Our next stop was Shaftesbury Avenue in the heart of Soho where tourists and locals meet to eat, drink and play.
Naturally, many of the capital’s more lively spots were closed when we arrived but the area was still heaving with traffic.
As we watched the notorious crossing by the Palace Theatre, we saw countless cyclists ignoring the red lights and swerving in and around cars who were also trying to crawl along the road.
Other cyclists were even more brazen, and mounted the pavement to counter the traffic lights much to the annoyance of one business owner who shouted a few expletives.
It is an offense to cycle on the pavement in the UK under Rule 64 of the Highway Code however increasingly it is not something that is enforced or prosecuted by the police due to cycling lobby groups claiming the roads themselves are unsafe.
The survey from NextBase, completed in September, recorded more than 200 cyclist offences between Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road in just 40 minutes.
ALDGATE: We saw dozens of cyclists mounting the pavement and speeding through red lights
ALDGATE: Our own reporter was also almost knocked over when a cyclist decided they would jump a red light
Aldgate
Our final stop was Aldgate in the heart of London’s financial district.
City bankers have increasingly taken to cycling into their skyscrapers in the morning and the area is also frequented by young people who work in nearby trendy Shoreditch.
The roads are as congested as the ones in Soho, with more vans and construction vehicles following the A11 into East London and therefore more opportunities for severe collisions.
Horrific crashes are a feature on the road and can have brutal consequences as in 2022 when an unfortunate female cyclist in her 50s suffering nasty leg injuries after colliding with a van outside Aldgate East station.
Despite the threat and throngs of peaceful law abiding pedestrians also using the pavements and roads, the Daily Mail again observed that an alarming number of cyclists were a law unto themselves.
In the short time we were at the junction, we saw nine cyclists mounting the pavement and speeding through red lights.
In one terrifying moment caught on camera, our own reporter was also almost knocked over by one rider.
Verdict
So after our morning on the roads and pavements of Central London – how widespread is London’s problem with anti-social cyclists.
Well its rare for statistics to accurately reflect a tangible problem but this time they have done so in spades.
As both pedestrians and a cyclist, I felt bothered, hassled and unsafe due to the conduct of some commuters, whose behavior was made even more irritating by how completely avoidable it was.
I was almost run over crossing the road and didn’t receive an apology. I had to dodge multiple cyclists on the pavement (where they shouldn’t be) and watched with an almost amused detachment as fellow cyclists dodged red lights putting their lives and the livelihoods of others in danger.
Hopefully, it won’t take another tragedy for authorities to instigate and police a genuine culture change.
What enforcement can be taken or has been already?
There has been some appetite for making the streets safer for pedestrians in recent years.
Last month, the City of London announced rule breaking riders could face tougher penalties for ‘dangerous, antisocial and nuisance cycling behaviours.’
These include issuing Community Protection Warnings and Notices to provide stronger sanctions than the £50 Fixed Penalty Notices currently handed out.
In January, it was also announced some cyclists would face education courses or fixed penalty notices for ten new offences such as cycling on a road without due care and attention or not using a light a night.
The new UK laws make an attempt to tackle antisocial cycling, but the plans would see penalties for dangerous cycling and ignoring school crossings downgraded.
Under proposals put forward by the Home Office, those breaching the new rules could have to take a 30-minute e-learning course by the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) for a £100 fee instead of receiving a fine or points.
Cyclists are currently exempt from needing to follow the national speed limit but they can be prosecuted for cycling dangerously.
However, the changes would see ignoring school crossings, dangerous cycling and hitching rides from moving cars dealt with by a more educational approach.
The new offences also relate to cycling behaviour in London‘s Royal Parks such as Bushy Park, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park.
The Home Office report said: ‘Such courses are offered as an alternative to an offer of a fixed penalty notice, and therefore a driver who successfully completes a course is not required to pay a fixed penalty amount in relation to the offence, or to have points endorsed on their driving record.
‘The operation of the NDORS allows the police the discretion to deal with low level driving offences without reference to the courts by offering training courses as an alternative to prosecution.’
New offences also relate to cycling behaviour in London ‘s Royal Parks such as Regent’s Park
The Home Office is looking to amend Schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Offender Act 1988 as well as the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 and Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997.
This means there will be penalties for ten new offences relating to dangerous riding.
These include cycling on a road dangerously, cycling without due care and attention, not using lights after dark, failure to stop at a school crossing patrol, holding on to a vehicle while in motion for a tow, using lamps that cause undue dazzle or discomfort to others, cycling in Royal Parks without following directions and cycling in a manner that endangers others in Royal Parks.
Offences such as cycling without due care or cycling on a road dangerously are already offences but their inclusion means riders could face an education course or fine.
A consultation period over the changes has since finished with it receiving 14 responses that threw up a number of issues.
Both the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London raised concerns about the inclusion of dangerous cycling.
The report said: ‘Three respondents were concerned that the list of offences in the proposal included both dangerous and careless cycling offences, which they felt could set a bad precedent.
‘They highlighted that there is already confusion and overlap between these offences and the careless and dangerous driving offences, and questioned whether any road user behaviour sanctioned as “dangerous” should be dealt with out of court.’
In response to the consultation, the Government said: ‘In response to the feedback received to this consultation, the government has carried out further engagement with NPCC and UKROEd to discuss the concerns which have been raised, including which offences are suitable to be added to the list of offences for which an NDORS course may be offered.
‘The above offences cover a range of behaviours which would impact on the nature of the safety risks presented (e.g. the dangerous cycling could have taken place on an empty road or in a busy area with lots of other vehicles and pedestrians).
‘It is therefore right that the police officer should decide on the appropriate penalty, taking into account the circumstances of each case.’
In May last year, campaigners voiced their support for a proposed law change, with cyclists who caused death by dangerous driving face life in prison.
Matt Briggs has been campaigning for nearly a decade for harsher prison sentences after his wife Kim (pictured together) was killed by a reckless teen rider in East London in 2016
Matt Briggs was among those who had been campaigning for nearly a decade for harsher prison sentences after his wife Kim, 44, was killed by a reckless teen rider in East London in 2016 as she crossed the road on her lunch break.
The plan, put forward by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, was supported by the government at the time to form part of the Criminal Justice Bill, awaiting approval from the House of Lords.
In 2022 a court heard a cyclist killed an 81-year-old woman after he crashed into her while trying to overtake her as she walked with a friend along the River Thames towpath in Oxford.And in the same year, Brian Fitzgerald was doing up to 29mph in a 20mph zone when he hit Hilda Griffiths while she crossed the road with her dog at 7am in London’s Regent’s Park.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: ‘The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) issues traffic offence reports to cyclists who breach road traffic regulations, including those who fail to comply with red traffic lights. Rider can be offered an online education course or issued with a fined. The MPS operates a dedicated Cycle Safety Team, which engages with cyclists at events and across London, to promote safe riding and raise awareness of the risks posed by unsafe riding, both to cyclists themselves and to other road users.
‘In partnership, Transport for London (TfL) funds borough councils to deliver cycle training for children and adults, focusing on safe riding practices and adherence to the Highway Code. These combined approaches have proven effective in improving cycling behaviours.
‘The MPS is committed to working in partnership with TfL and other key stakeholders to achieve the Vision Zero goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries on London’s transport network. Using a data led approach, the MPS provides a proportionate policing response to identified risks across the road network. While the majority of collisions involve motor vehicles, addressing dangerous cycling remains an important priority.
‘Members of the public can report dangerous, illegal, or antisocial road user behaviour directly to the police via the online reporting tool available on the Met Police website. These reports help identify hotspot areas and support the effective deployment of policing resources.’
