After the Telegraph’s headline of “lycra lout cyclists” going “52mph in a 20mph zone”, a columnist writing for the Independent has claimed that there’s a large crossover between “those nearly killing walking commuters and the head-to-toe [Lycra]-clad red-light jumpers going 40mph in a 20mph zone”.

The column belongs to Ellie Harrison, the Independent’s TV Editor and is titled “I ride a bike to work – but I’m sick of reckless cyclists ruining it for everyone”. She starts by painting a picture of crossing a road while walking to work on a bleary Monday morning with a cup of flat white in hand, but as a cyclist whizzes past her, she drops the scalding hot beverage on her leg — an experience she claims “anyone living in a UK city will know all too well”.

“Walk anywhere in central London these days, and you’ll see swarms of cyclists buzzing by. Pedestrians are suffering. Things need to change,” she writes.

However, Harrison gives a disclaimer that she “mostly cycles to work”, sometimes even wearing Lycra shorts. However, as a fairly responsible and normal person, she feels genuine shame most mornings, when she comes across cyclists nearly mowing down pedestrians as they jump red lights at high speed.

The column reads: “In the Venn diagram of types of bike people, there tends to be a large crossover between those nearly killing walking commuters and the head-to-toe Lyrca-clad [sic] red-light jumpers going 40mph in a 20mph zone. These speed freaks make the rest of us good guys look bad – they tarnish the cyclist brand and take away from all the wonderful things about biking.

> Telegraph journalists told “check your research” after front page claims cyclists hit 52mph chasing London Strava segments… despite that being faster than Olympic track cyclists

However, Harrison confesses that she’s no saint — in fact, she says that she runs red lights occasionally – at about 5mph, when there are no pedestrians trying to cross and no cars in sight. She even argues in favour of “head starts” for cyclists in traffic junctions, which allow cyclists to go before traffic, and hold the left-turning traffic for longer.

The most dubious claim made in the piece, however, is the throwaway line of cyclists doing 40mph in a 20mph zone, much similar to the headline Telegraph ran in its newspaper on Friday 17 May this year: “52mph in a 20 zone… Lycra lout cyclists are creating death traps all over Britain.”

Telegraph front page/ cyclists in Richmond Park (Simon MacMichael/Telegraph)
Telegraph) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

The headline led to a lot of backlash with the publisher even changing the headline on its website eventually, albeit the newspaper one had been set in stone, as it easily became known that doing 52mph in London traffic was a little bit too unbelievable, given six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy’s fastest ever speed was 80km/h, achieved on an optimal indoor velodrome in the keirin, a track cycling event where riders slipstream behind a derny to achieve faster speeds.

However, it looks like the Independent has downgraded that ludicrous speed to something slightly more believable of 40mph, or 64km/h, although we would still like to repeat a comment made by a cyclist on social media under the Telegraph post: “If you can ride through London at 52mph 40mph, please contact your local professional bicycling team. They may be interested in your skills.”

> 20 of the most hysterical Daily Mail anti-cycling headlines

Running a red light, meanwhile, can be of course be dangerous while also being illegal at any speed, as noted by another commenter under the column. They additionally wrote: “I query the remark about ‘Lyrca(sic)-clad red-light jumpers going 40mph in a 20mph zone’. How can she be sure they were doing 40mph? That speed is not at all easy for a moderately able cyclist to attain on a level road. Perhaps she had some sort of radar device? How can she be sure it wasn’t logging a motor vehicle?

“This has all the hallmarks of a classic anti-cycling rant. The fact that the writer claims to (occasionally, one presumes) get in the saddle, is no excuse.

“Today I came close to being run down by a bus. Its driver saw fit to overtake a parked vehicle and approach straight into my path. I had to hit the brakes hard – more so because it was a slight downhill. I suppose it was my fault for going downhill in the first place, wasn’t it?!”

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According to the Highway Code, it is illegal to jump light red lights for cycles, and the number of pedestrians hit by cyclists has also increased by a third since 2020, as per data released by police in May. However, road casualty statistics show that bikes are involved in just 2 per cent of pedestrian casualties reported to and by the police.

There has also been the recent controversy around the “dangerous cycling bill” that received cross-party backing from both Labour and the Conservatives during the previous government’s tenure and could be passed under Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

On becoming law, it would introduce the specific offence of “causing death by dangerous, careless, or inconsiderate cycling, and causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate cycling”, which would lead to tougher penalties for those who kill or injure while riding bikes, e-bikes, electric scooters, unicycles, and “personal transporters”.

A recent survey done by active travel charity Cycling UK also found that almost two-thirds of the UK are supportive of encouraging others to cycle more, with 70 per cent respondents also wanting to see more cycle-friendly routes across the country.

The charity also called on the Labour government to show its commitment to improving active travel in the country by allocating 10 per cent of the total transport budget to cycling and walking, while also moving away from the “culture war” and the “divisive rhetoric” around the topic stirred by the previous government to bed once and for all.