Cycling: Helmets
Debate between Lord Blencathra and Lord Popat
Lord Popat
My Lords, let me take the question of expenditure first. The previous Government spent £2 per person; currently, we are spending £5; in our eight cycling cities we are spending £10. We have our cycling delivery plan and the final report will be published. It is our aspiration to spend £10, or even more, by 2020-21. We want to see more cyclists on our roads.
Lord Blencathra (Con)
My Lords, we must do more to protect the lives of cyclists but there is a serious point about protecting pedestrians as well. Will my noble friend look at the level of penalties and demand that the police take enforcement action against that small minority of arrogant Lycra louts who sail through red traffic lights as if the law does not apply to them, belt down the pavement and scatter pedestrians, and mow down some people on zebra crossings, including some people in wheelchairs—so I declare a personal interest?
Lord Popat
My Lords, the enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. Officers can issue verbal warnings or a fixed penalty—which has increased from £30 to £50—and rogue cyclists on the pavement can be prosecuted. We are doing what we can to carry out the necessary training and awareness programmes to make sure that bad cyclists do not give a bad name to the good cyclists.