Yesterday I went cycling. I rode up to Gloucester on the A38 and back the pretty way. It was a lovely day out and I enjoyed it. On the main road and the country lanes, the city roads of Gloucester, everywhere I went I exchanged courteous glances with other drivers, gave way when appropriate and received the same courtesy back. We all obeyed the rules and all went well, until that is, I got back to Bristol.
Since the advent of hire bikes and E-scooters, Bristol’s roads have become populated with selfish fools who don’t think Road Traffic Regulations apply to them. In the hour it took to traverse the city from North to South I was involved in at least four near misses with lawless cyclists, pedestrians, and E-scooter drivers. It has become normal in Bristol to see people crossing at Pelican crossings even when the lights are green and a driver or cyclist is approaching the crossing. They seem to think if they are holding a mobile phone they don't need to check the traffic before stepping out. The lights change but they don’t stop coming. Then there are the cyclists and E-scooterists ignoring red lights, No Entry, and forbidden turn signs. These selfish criminals put law-abiding cyclists and drivers at risk.
The worst offender was an E-cyclist who overtook me on the inside as I was pulling away at the lights and moving over to let other vehicles pass. Who overtakes a cyclist on the inside? It's not only illegal but extremely dangerous, as cyclists naturally pull in towards the kerb and have no mirrors. Then there were the two motorists who passed me on the right and then immediately turned left into St Paul’s.
Something must be done. Hire bicycles and scooters should have inbuilt cameras to record illegal driving and tie it up with the payment record so the offender can be prosecuted. The illegal vehicles should be banned from sale. After all, I can't walk into a garage, buy a car, and ask the dealer not to register it. Why should people be able to buy smaller motor vehicles unregistered? If they’re not registrable they shouldn’t be sold. The trade in these dangerous products should be halted.
As a cyclist, I think all cyclists should be required to have a driving licence, even if it's a lower-level one only permitting cycling. Maybe bikes should be required to be registered with a transponder to identify them when traffic offences are committed. We shouldn’t tolerate the status quo when such dangerous misuse has become the norm.
If this abuse is not stopped it will spread to other cities and no one will be safe on the road. That must not be allowed to happen. The government should act. The government must act or it will lose control of public safety.
