Lords’ call for cycling licences branded ‘woefully out of touch’

Peers angered by rush-hour cyclists in Westminster call for tougher rules despite evidence new paperwork would stifle Britain’s bike boom

A cyclist crossing Westminster Bridge (Getty)

Cycling campaigners have derided a Labour peer’s call for cyclists to be forced to register for licences as “woefully out of touch”, amid a warning the move would undermine badly needed efforts to tackle congestion and pollution in British cities.

Lord Winston urged the government to consider a law requiring adults riding bicycles in city centres to have a licence and third-party insurance.

He claimed an “increasing number [of cyclists] are extremely aggressive and ignore, for example, the fact that some streets are one way, pedestrian crossings and red lights at traffic lights, and from time to time they collide with pedestrians” during a debate in the Lords on Monday.

The idea of bicycle licences has long been peddled by those who claim existing rules do not go far enough to deter dangerous bike-riding.

But successive governments – backed by expert advice – have dismissed the idea as a waste of time and resources.

The proposal was most recently ruled out in a Department for Transport report last year that said registering and licensing cyclists would deter people from using their bikes.

“The government has no plans to introduce a registration and licensing regime for cyclists because the costs and complexity of introducing such a system would significantly outweigh the benefit,” the report noted.

However, several peers spoke in defence of tougher regulations, apparently angered by their own experience of cyclists passing them on their way to work.

One Labour peer, Lord Wills, described some cyclists as “hoodlums in lycra”.

And Lord Rogan, of the Ulster Unionist Party, apparently frustrated by the fast-moving bicycles on his evening commute, raised the issue of cyclists “breaching” a zebra crossing close to the Houses of Parliament “between the hours of 5pm and 6pm”.

Simon Munk, of the London Cycling Campaign, said peers were “ignoring major sources of road danger while focussing on cycling, without any good evidence base to justify their approach – which mainly seems to stem from annoyance that their cars can’t get in and out easily of parliament without having to pay attention to the mass numbers cycling in the area.”

He said: “The evidence is clear: the only likely outcome of forcing those who want to cycle to hurdle more barriers is fewer people cycling – the opposite of what we want if we want a greener, cleaner, healthier, safer city.

“We have over a million uninsured drivers in the UK, a majority of drivers admit to breaking speed limits, and a significant amount admit to using their phone while driving.

“The number of people killed or seriously injured by those cycling is minute compared to the number by those driving.”

Chris Boardman, the former racing cyclist and Olympic gold medal-holder, said Lord Winston and his peers did not deserve any more air time while Roger Geffen, policy director at Cycling UK, called for more road traffic police to tackle dangerous behaviour by both cars and bikes.

“Compulsory cyclist licencing and insurance would seriously undermine the Government’s efforts to tackle congestion and pollution,” Mr Geffen said.

“It would either make it very expensive for anyone wanting to take up cycling, including children, or else the scheme would run at a loss.

“It’s not clear what it would achieve either. Many drivers also break the law, despite being licenced. Misbehaviour on our roads is best tackled by increasing the number of roads police officers.”