‘Illegal and sloppy cycling has got worse with the growth of deliveries by pedal cycles’

• IN his February 11 letter Michael Edenborough is still suggesting law-abiding cyclists should exert some influence on illegal cyclists, (We could all play a part by shaming reckless cyclists).

I think the effect would be negligible. He is also wrong about the prospect of councils needing to raise more money to do the job.

Parking control raises money for councils because fining drivers who park illegally damps down the activity and covers costs. The surplus is used for extra transport-related projects.

Moving traffic offences can be much more serious and need a real police force to deal with them. Fining drivers for the less serious offences raises money which can offset the costs; but nothing offsets the costs of cases of dangerous driving which lead to prison sentences.

A road traffic police force would spend most of its time on motor vehicle offences and would need extra financing like the existing forces.

The current range of illegal and sloppy cycling which affects pedestrians has been going on for over 20 years that I know of and it has got worse with the growth of deliveries by pedal cycles.

The lack of action to stop it has grown with the extra load on the police forces (more record keeping and more types of offences) and the lack of interest by politicians.

It will take more than efforts of law-abiding cyclists to reverse that.

ADRIAN WILLIAMS,
Gibson Square, N1