June 27: Realities of cycling on Britain’s busy roads

FIVE correspondents to The Yorkshire Post letter pages, all clearly anti-cycling and cyclists, is five too many (Clive Bailey, May 27, Janet Chew-Tetlaw, June 2, Steve Ayton, June 3, Dr Christopher Daley, June 15 and David Swallow, June 19).

The increased popularity of cycling is understandable as increasingly television channels ever more races in various parts of the world.

The Tour de France in particular has given Britain’s cyclists the belief that they can ride as the participants do in these international events, all on closed roads, so no traffic.

The reality of cycling on Britain’s roads is somewhat different, a far cry from the 
days of the 1950s and 1930s 
that I can recall when car ownership was nothing like today’s as one adult per each motor car in each household becomes the norm.

The problems that your “motoring” correspondents 
raise will only be resolved 
by better behaviour on 
the roads by the cyclists themselves, but also by more separate cycle lanes and cycle paths.

Other countries can do it, so 
why not here?

Until then I’m afraid to say some of the problems will remain.