LETTER: Free bikes - show more respect

If the NHS is to give free bicycles for hitting exercise targets, they need to make drivers show more respect for cyclists. Last year, 123 cyclists were killed, and many more were seriously injured. According to police reports, over 90% of them, were due solely to driver error, with the rest being 50/50.

If Jeremy Hunt wants doctors and nurses to operate better, then he should surely be demanding that drivers ‘operate’ better: motor vehicles are killing machines; that’s why they have airbags and crumple zones etc.

How unfair is it: when SatNavs are distracting and have resulted in cyclists being killed/injured, it was made a new requirement of the driving test to be able to use one, instead of being able to look out for cyclists?

The way forward is surely for Bikeablity, (cycling proficiency for the 21st Century), to be made an integral part of the driving test. According to a UNICEF, Child Well-Being in Rich Countries survey, Dutch children are the happiest in the world, in part due to their love of cycling.

Also, in Denmark, (ranked happiest in the world by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for nearly three decades running), children are introduced to cycling at age two, (not Smartphones), and cycling friendly Copenhagen is consistently ranked the happiest capital city in the world. How can children be expected to cycle to school in London?

Allan Ramsay

By email

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