Dear LPG, 

I found your site through a friend who tells me that you are the people who are interested to hear about any concerns that might have some relevance to pensioners, regardless of if they relate to the pensioners of Lewisham or of those of pensioners further afield than that.

My question is about the ability of cyclists to be in control of their breaks when the necessity arises (as far as I have observed this applies to all two wheeled conveyances although I am talking specifically about those fuelled by pedal power alone at the moment).  It seems to me that these cyclists believe that they have a divine right to expect every other road user to stop for them whatever the situation.

I have to say that, in my 74 years, I have never mastered the art of traveling above two wheels successfully although I know what I am doing when I am in charge of a vehicle which has four wheels in contact with the tarmac.  

I spent some time driving large vehicles during my working years on this earth, and that experience taught me that larger vehicles, coaches, lorries etc., are much slower when it comes to both accelerating and breaking even though they tend to cruise at a generally faster pace once they get going.  Drivers of these means of transportation are required to learn the art of letting all smaller conveyances go first. So why is it that the users of cycles, which can stop much more quickly, cannot master the art of stopping to let a vehicle out from a side turning, or a pedestrian cross at traffic lights which are illuminated in their favour? 

Cyclists appear to have an unwritten code of practice when it comes to using the road, or the pavements of our borough, but I would like to point out that there are sections of the Highway Code that were written just for the riders of bicycles.

Is it not time for cycles to be registered and the laws brought up to date with a little les ambiguity?  I strongly feel that any unsupervised cyclist on our borough’s streets should have passed some sort of proficiency test?

KF, Dulwich.

LPG has an editorial team which consists of a small number of ex cyclists and asked for a reaction to KF’s question around their office.  The only answer that was returned to us was interesting but unanimous.  Both told us that there is no real need to stop for other vehicles in a lot of cases.   They know that the law will come down much more heavily on drivers so it is accepted that they will let the two wheedled pedal- powered conveyances off much more leniently. 

We have one driver who sometimes transforms into a man on a cycle and, when we asked him, he just told us that he is equally as frustrated as KF when he is driving his car, although he has the ability to completely reject the values of a motorist when he is on two wheels.

So though our survey is by no means conclusive, LPG have to apologise and gives this one very unsatisfactory answer, however we would ask anyone interested to have a look one version of the intricacies of the cyclist’s code of practise.

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