Busy London pedestrian crossing the place HALF of cyclists soar purple lights
Half of cyclists are jumping red lights at a busy pedestrian crossing outside a major hospital – with some performing wheelies and others almost hitting children.
Cyclists have been filmed riding at speed between pedestrians crossing Westminster Bridge Road outside St Thomas’ Hospital with some travelling in the wrong direction.
The National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK) has been campaigning on the issue, and its footage showed riders weaving through – forcing some people to run.
Two rush-hour counts were carried out by the Daily Telegraph, with one from 7.45am heading into Central London and the other from 5pm going out of the city.
The study found 559 of the 1,032 cyclists who were required to stop failed to do so – equating to 54 per cent, and comprising 302 in the morning and 357 in the evening.
One teenage cyclist was spotted mounting the pavement before stopping inches away from two children, while some were looking at their mobile phones. Others were seen riding without holding their handlebars, or even doing wheelies.
A cyclist weaves through pedestrians trying to cross Westminster Bridge Road in London
Some cyclists have even been seen performing wheelies while the green man is showing
Some 48 cyclists avoided having to stop by travelling on the pavement, while four rickshaws went through on red and some e-scooter riders also ignored the lights.
No cars were seen ignoring the lights, but two sightseeing tour buses went through on red.
A video of cyclists on the road posted by Sarah Gayton from the NFBUK on X on August 15 was accompanied by the caption: ‘Please stop riding through red lights when pedestrians have the green man to cross the road.
‘These crossings have rotating cones underneath the push button box to alert blind people when it’s safe to cross and it’s not safe when people ride through them on a red light at any speed.’
A second video from Ms Gayton on August 27 had a caption saying: ‘Went back to the green man pedestrian crossing at St Thomas’ Hospital. Nothing has changed.
Cyclists are even travelling in the wrong direction through red lights on the road in London
Cyclists are seen riding at speed between pedestrians crossing Westminster Bridge Road
‘How can anybody think riding through a pedestrian crossing on a red light is acceptable? Close passing people or making them run, step back or wait to cross on a green man is wrong.’
The crossing is located on the edge of the London Borough of Lambeth, and MailOnline has contacted the local authority for comment.
Clive Wood, campaigns manager at Guide Dogs UK, told MailOnline: ‘For people who are blind and partially sighted, having a safe place, such as a controlled crossing, to cross a road is imperative.
‘We would urge all road users to be considerate of everyone, including people living with a vision impairment who want to feel confident that they can get from A to B safely.’
It comes ahead of a debate at the House of Lords on dangerous cycling next week on September 12.
Cyclists are jumping red lights at a busy pedestrian crossing outside St Thomas’ Hospital
The discussion, officially called ‘Safety and regulation issues involved in the use of pedal cycles on the road network’, had been due to take place in June – but was then cancelled when Parliament was dissolved before the General Election.
Tom Fyans, chief executive of the London Cycling Campaign, told MailOnline today: ‘Obviously cyclists should obey the law – and most do, despite the headlines.
‘So while it’s utterly right the police and justice system deals strongly with dangerous cycling, every day dangerous driving is ignored or let off without any meaningful punishment.
‘We’d urge the Lords debating cycling safety and regulation to avoid pointing fingers at any one type of road user as if they’re all bad apples or asking for measures the evidence has repeatedly been shown to be counterproductive.’
He said they should ‘instead focus on proportional, reasonable approaches to increasing road safety for everyone, particularly those least able to get around our city safely’.
The National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK) has been campaigning on the issue
Under the previous government in May, the House of Commons backed a proposed law change meaning cyclists who cause death by dangerous cycling could face up to 14 years in prison.
MPs had voted in favour of an amendment to create three new offences, including ‘causing death by dangerous cycling’, ‘causing serious injury by dangerous cycling’ and ‘causing death by careless or inconsiderate cycling’.
The plan, put forward by Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, was supported by the Government and would have formed part of the Criminal Justice Bill.
The bill had been making its way through Parliament and Sir Iain had called it ‘urgent’, but it was lost after the election was called. The future of the law is therefore uncertain.
Dangerous cycling is already defined in the Road Traffic Act, which includes riding in a way which ‘falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful cyclist’ and which ‘would be obvious to a competent and careful cyclist that riding in that way would be dangerous’.
Cyclists have been riding at speed between pedestrians crossing Westminster Bridge Road
The proposed law would have required cyclists to make sure their vehicle ‘is equipped and maintained’ in a legal way, which includes keeping brakes in working order.
It would have applied to incidents involving pedal cycles, e-bikes, e-scooters and e-unicycles.
Causing death or serious injury by dangerous, careless or inconsiderate driving are already offences, but the vehicle involved must be ‘mechanically propelled’.
