Red light

While the mainstream press often seems keen to reinforce an “us against them” angle when addressing issues such as anti-social cycling, the fact is that most adult cyclists are car drivers too and share many of the same concerns about fellow riders who ignore the law, a finding overwhelmingly supported by the results of our latest readers' poll.

The Department of Justice has revealed that the number of cyclists who have been prosecuted at magistrates’ court for failing to stop at red traffic lights more than halved from 55 in 2006 to 22 in 2007. The figures have been eagerly seized upon by the Daily Mail as fuel for its ongoing campaign against so-called ‘lycra louts.’