Chris Boardman

There’s been plenty of outrage against cyclists recently. Last week, after Oxford Street in London was pedestrianised, a small number of people broke the rules by cycling down the traffic-free sections. Cue headlines about cyclists ‘running amok’, ‘nightmare around Oxford Street’ and ‘pedestrianisation chaos’. Meanwhile, in The Spectator, Ross Clark took aim at cyclists riding on the pavement and said my call for police to prioritise enforcing driving offences, given the greater danger drivers pose to people on the road, was akin to letting cyclists off the hook. His inference is wrong; I agree that people cycling illegally should be challenged. I also think we can do better than demonising a group of people in this way.