NO cyclists have been prosecuted for ANY offences in St Albans or Harpenden over the last two years - and police say dangerous cycling is not a priority.
A Freedom of Information request submitted by this newspaper revealed that not only had police not logged any cycling offences in these locations over this period, but also that they had not taken any action against cyclists.
The former transport secretary and Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps, recently proposed a Whitehall review of how cyclists who break the law should be tracked and prosecuted. Initial ideas put forward to facilitate this include insurance cover for riders and registration plates for bikes.
Cyclists who jump red lights will be issued with a standard Fixed Penalty Notice of £30 opposed to a potential maximum fine of £1,000 for motorists and points on their licence.
Currently, under the Highway Code and Road Traffic Act speeding limits only apply to motor vehicles and their drivers, exempting cyclists and scooter riders.
But Herts police do not consider dangerous cycling to be a priority.
A spokesperson said: "Anti-social or dangerous cycling has not been flagged as a priority in St Albans – local policing priorities are updated using feedback submitted by members of the public via our community voice platform echo, and through local forum meetings.
"We do support national road safety campaigns, in conjunction with the Hertfordshire Road Safety Partnership, but as per the latest highway code cyclists are now considered vulnerable road users and as such the priority for these campaigns is to educate and inform other motorists about their responsibility to use roads safely, to ensure that they are safe for all users.
"If someone was seen to be cycling dangerously or in a manner that puts other road users at risk, and this was witnessed by an officer, they would seek to engage, educate and inform them.
"In terms of our Road Policing Unit, a cyclist would only be prosecuted if they were the cause of a serious injury or fatal road traffic collision – none of which have occurred in St Albans, therefore the lack of prosecutions/offences recorded."
Gerald Quinlan, a campaigner for courteous cycling who runs the Twitter feed #StAlbansCyclists, said he wasn't surprised by the findings.
"Several weeks ago I asked a group of police officers outside Tesco in the city centre why there were ignoring all the cycling offences that were taking place before their very eyes. They just shrugged this off.
"I then asked if any of them had ever taken action against cyclists committing cycling offences. None of them had. I asked why. This was again shrugged off.
"One of the offices did, however, state that priorities were decided by their superiors and local councillors.
"One can only assume, therefore, that until such folk deem tackling illegal cycling a priority, the zero logging/prosecution rate will remain.
"A cursory perusal of Twitter #StAlbansCyclists shows that prosecutions are long overdue if this menace is to be curtailed."
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