Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman has defended police forces’ focus on driving offences over lower-level cycling violations, arguing that enforcement resources should be directed towards preventing deaths and serious injuries.
Boardman was responding to figures reported by The Times showing that cyclist penalty notices issued by police fell to 3,660 last year, from more than 6,000 in 2021. The figures covered more than two-thirds of UK police forces.
Risk-based enforcement
In a letter to the newspaper, Boardman said cyclists should obey traffic laws, including red lights, but argued that the potential consequences of offences differed significantly depending on the vehicle involved.
“Someone on a bike and someone driving a two-tonne vehicle do not pose the same potential danger,” he wrote. “That does not excuse either breaking the law, but it should inform where we put our limited enforcement resources.”
Boardman said police should tackle cycling offences while applying at least as much determination to speeding, dangerous driving and driver distraction. He added that successful road policing should be measured by the number of deaths and serious injuries prevented, rather than the number of people caught breaking rules.
Fines and convictions
The figures showed substantial variation between forces. Bedfordshire Police issued four cycling fines, Warwickshire seven, Staffordshire nine and Devon and Cornwall Police 10. Some forces reportedly issued no fines to cyclists over a five-year period.
By comparison, Ministry of Justice figures recorded more than 800,000 motoring convictions last year.
Campaigners quoted in the report said the reduction in cyclist penalties amounted to the “decriminalisation” of dangerous cycling and claimed public frustration with poor behaviour by some cyclists had reached “breaking point”.
Boardman, an Olympic gold medallist who won Britain’s first cycling gold medal in 72 years at the 1992 Games, acknowledged that cycling offences could irritate people but said enforcement should reflect the relative risk posed to other road users.