• COUNCILLOR Adam Harrison is disingenuous, to say the least, in expressing outrage at the calling-in for scrutiny of the Haverstock Hill cycle lane plan when, as he doubtless knows, local consultation showed overwhelming opposition (69 per cent residents and 78 per cent businesses) to the proposal.

While his colleague Cllr Danny Beales trumpeted the fact that an estate rebuild would only go ahead with support from residents (75 per cent in favour) apparently Cllr Harrison sees local democracy differently.

There’s absolutely no doubt many roads need to become safer, as the recent awful death of a cyclist in Holborn shows too well, but cyclists are not all saintly folk pedalling gently along.

A friend recently escaped serious injury by a whisker at a Kentish Town pedestrian crossing when a gaggle of high-speed riders swept over it, against the lights, while the behaviour of many cyclists in – or often not in – the Prince of Wales Road cycle lane is equally cavalier.

Just using two wheels instead of four doesn’t license anyone to ignore red lights, junctions, and lane markings, or to mow down pedestrians on pavements and crossings, as so many seem to think.

If cyclists use public roads, maybe registration or compulsory instruction is needed to enforce higher riding standards – along, of course, with better training for the lorry drivers too often responsible for fatal accidents.

DON KELLER
Address supplied