Use £2bn package to bring back cycling proficiency test

I READ with trepidation of the £2bn package to “boost cycling and walking” in response to Covid-19 (The Yorkshire Post, May 11).

In my experience these activities are incompatible polar opposites. For many, walking is not a choice, but a necessity brought on by a combination of age, poverty and a lack of public transport.

Sadly, those who chose to cycle often display an arrogance towards those forced to walk which is monumental in its selfishness.

They share the smug “look at me, I’m saving the planet” expression, as they drive their cycle bestrewn camper vans to remote areas in order to display their fitness credentials to largely non-existent audiences, except for the hapless walker.

Anyone on foot becomes the target of a blood sport, and is fair game to be “buzzed” for sport.

Cyclists infesting city streets display a similar attitude – they cycle on pavements because roads are too dangerous for a cyclist to navigate, and ignore traffic lights by cycling onto the pavement to avoid red lights because their journey is obviously so much more important than anyone else’s, and must on no account be delayed.

Back in the olden days you were encouraged to take a Cycling Proficiency Test, and bicycles had to be fitted with bells to warn pedestrians of the cyclist’s approach.

How about using the £2bn to set up such a scheme again, and introduce licence plates for bicycles?

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James Mitchinson

Editor