We might start to see enforcement of red lights in the borough of Camden. My local councillor forwarded this.

I am writing to you to inform you of the imminent commencement of a transport initiative to improve the safety and comfort of people walking in Camden, nicknamed ‘Operation Calm Crossing’.
 
We know that feeling safe and comfortable when walking and crossing the road, is critical to enabling people to walk and wheel, and live their lives. Dangerous road behaviour (such as not stopping at pedestrian crossings) can cause significant emotional fear, influencing peoples decisions on whether to walk at all. Encouraging walking and wheeling is fundamental to achieving Camden’s aims of tackling the climate crisis, improving the health and well-being of its residents and visitors, and reducing congestion. An uptake in cycling across Camden over recent years, while welcome, has in some cases resulted in poor road user behaviour.
 
To this end, Camden Council is supporting the Met Police to increase safety and comfort of pedestrians at pedestrian crossing and pedestrian-only areas in ‘Operation Calm Crossing’. This will be done through additional enforcement of dangerous cycling, driving and speeding at key locations for pedestrians. Police officers will be undertaking this additional enforcement through overtime opportunities, so will not impact or detract from their core workload.
 
Led by Kentish Town Police Station, this pilot project is proposed to cover several months from October 2026, during with time the project will be analysed for its effectiveness to consider whether this initiative should be continued by Camden, and/or replicated across other boroughs.
 
Locations for additional enforcement will be chosen through information from multiple sources, including extensive local police knowledge, Council officer investigations, Ward Member suggestions and registered complaints. Residents can continue to register their concern about locations through[safetravel@camden.gov,uk](mailto:safetravel@camden.gov,uk).
 
Public information and promotion of the scheme will be led by the Met Police, with support and amplification by the Council, from 12th October onwards.
 
Whilst the focus of the initiative is on improving pedestrian safety and comfort, the list of offences to be covered would include:
 
Non-compliance at pedestrian crossings by cyclists (pedal and e-bike);
Non-compliance at pedestrian crossings by motor vehicle drivers and powered two-wheelers (including illegal e-bikes that are classified as a motorbike);
Non-compliance in pedestrian-only spaces and laneways by cyclists or powered two-wheelers;
Speeding by drivers;
Dangerous manoeuvres or other behaviours (such as use of mobile phone) by drivers, at or near pedestrian crossings.

Another day, another abysmally planned roadworks near Blackfriars, seemingly designed to cause as much difficulty as possible to any cyclists heading through. It's genuinely impressive how they manage to force cyclists into the way of both cars and pedestrians, causing maximum possible frustration for all involved.

This man appeared to be drunk or high. He was pushing over hire bikes and yelling at the traffic.

Obviously it's not the hire bike riders leaving them knocked down all over the place but they always get the blame. The people who hire them are going to want to use them without having to pick them up.

You can barely see them, but there are multiple Sheffield stands that are completely crowded by lime bikes.

Found near Buckingham palace road area.

Edit: Just to clarify, I’m not against Lime bikes being there in general. It’s specifically the (roughly) 10 bikes parked in between the Sheffield stands that are the issue. If those had been moved to the side instead, that would’ve been ideal.

I nearly had a smash earlier with a cyclist jumping red while I was cycling on the mixed use pavement. I was crossing on a green man to the other side. I had not clocked you coming on my right at speed. I saw you at the last minute flying in front of me jumping red. Had I not slammed my brakes on, we would have crashed.

Old Kent / New Kent roundabout. I was full of adrenaline after.

Having a go at me for crossing on a green man using a mixed use pavement was a bit ironic.

Sorry for shouting but I was riled up and when you started to approach me, I was expecting worse. Please stop jumping red.

Hi all, I’m currently working on an exciting project after hearing continuously from people who have nowhere to shower and/or safely leave their bike after riding to work (or anywhere else).

I’d really appreciate it if you could fill out this quick survey which will 2–3 minutes: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4WBZ5AXN_hAZBtIhbDwJ00Qi51dUj7DNPtdCLXtYWt-LPIQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=114642478312191001671

If you’re happy to chat further as well, drop me a message!

I want to examine this problem from an overall societal welfare perspective, minimizing total fatalities and serious injuries across different modes of transport.

Everyone talks about how reckless and dangerous these cyclists running red lights are, but just how dangerous exactly? Before reading on, take a guess in your head how many pedestrian deaths are caused by cyclists, and also take a guess what % of these are due to rule breaking.

The first answer is 2 pedestrian fatalities across the whole UK in 2025 (compared to 245 due to cars), and only 7% of cyclist collisions injuring pedestrians had illegal manoeuvres as a cause, according to TfL in 2024 (FOI request). Wow, 7% is really not a lot in my opinion, it’s very surprising if you think about it.

If you look deeper at the actual data, every person who chooses to cycle decreases the fatality risk for everyone around them (compared to the average UK transport mode), and increases the fatality risk for themselves. Overall, considering both personal risk and risk to those around them, choosing to cycle saves around 2 lives per year per million people who switch (back of napkin math from available data), and 10 pedestrian lives per million people (again, this number is higher because the cyclists endanger themselves more). It’s clearly the selfless choice.

My point?

We should encourage cycling by any means possible. And journey time (and cost, for e-bike hire) is one of the biggest factors. I measured my commute waiting for the full light vs proceeding at red lights when clear. 22 minutes stopping, 16 minutes giving way (I have pedestrians at least 3-4 meters of space, more than a car lane). I also noticed that I felt personally much safer when not waiting for the full light. This is because when I wait with the cars at a junction, they will pass me once the light turns green which is scarier especially starting from a standstill, while if I went through I have more often fully empty tarmac ahead of me and can get well ahead of cars.

By increasing the time (and cost) of journeys by enforcing cyclists stopping at red lights with rules designed for something SIGNIFICANTLY more massive, we are discouraging cycling, and also perpetuating that cyclists are “dangerous” when the actual injuries caused by cycling (and even rule breaking) is miniscule. 7%, fractions of a fatality per year, and many fatalities saved when considering that the alternative is often driving/ride share.

I bet we don’t apply the same outrage to cars causing injuries to cyclists (improper sharing of lane, for example), even though I bet there’s many many more injuries and deaths caused by this. We seem to accept the risk of cars who own the road, and focus all our attention on the much lesser hazard.

Worth mentioning, It’s hard to find exact data on how poor tube air quality impacts health in terms of fatalities/lifespan reduction but studies do suggest it’s very much non negligible. Additionally studies obviously acknowledge the health benefits of active transport.

Still reading?

Your counter argument may be: yes, cycling is good, but we can be RESPONSIBLE cyclists too, sacrificing the 6 minute longer commute for being safer on the roads is the responsible choice, so we should enforce it. My response to this:

- The impact on safety is not as pronounced as expected (the 7% figure)
- The impact on the appeal of cycling and journey times is significant
- Cycling remains the choice that is the most selfless and safest to others. We should encourage it as much as possible.
- The narrative that cycling is dangerous is misleading, distracts attention and outrage away from the true danger of the road (cars), and will discourage people from cycling and discourage implementation of pro-cycling policies (e.g. bike lanes) that will save lives
- A “car-first” set of rules perpetuates cars as the “status quo” and everyone else as an afterthought, when really this should be scrutinized. You wonder why we shouldn’t design the road rules for cyclists, and more dangerous users should get more stringent rules.
- The enforcement of red light rules by police uses valuable resources that can be directed elsewhere (for example, by focusing on motor vehicles which are inherently much more dangerous, and how they treat other road users).
- It continues a culture war between “cyclists” and “pedestrians” which is unproductive for overall making our cities a better place

Countries like France and Belgium allow junctions to be designated as give way for cycling and the data doesn’t show an impact either way in terms of safety. Again, probably because running reds just isn’t as dangerous as people think.

Even better, we should design our roads to that cyclists rarely need to stop, like in the Netherlands.

EDIT:
A lot of people are saying “red means stop, you’re just trying to justify not following the rules”.

Exactly, but I’m trying to say that the rules are meant for cars, and cars are so dangerous that “running a red” carries an extremely negative connotation. However, bikes are way less dangerous, just look at the stats I put in the post. If we keep treating bikes as dangerous, we’ll eventually be less welcoming to pro-cycling policies and make cycling less appealing, leading people to choose worse transportation methods and reducing overall system safety.

From everything on the news and all the anecdotes here you’d expect cyclists to be the new danger, well they’re still a factor of 100 safer than cars. And they should be treated as such. Otherwise we will never design our roads correctly.

Many people complain that fines should be more readily placed on red light jumpers. But considering the risk of damage to a pedestrian is almost perfectly correlated with the offending vehicles weight (and speed), surely it would follow that fines for red light jumping should be scaled according to the it’s weight?

For example, let’s say you get fined at a rate of £5 per kg:

- Standard push bike, 10kg: £50 fine for red light jumping

- Lime bike, 40kg: £200 fine

- Moped, 100kg: £500 fine

- Mini Cooper, 1285kg: £6,425 fine

- Land Rover, 2500kg: £12,500 fine

- Double decker coach, 16000kg: £80,000 fine

This is what true equality under the law looks like.

I saw a comment that there’s nowt but moaning in our sub, so I thought I’d share some good news

My beloved Triban got nicked in august and I managed to score this beautiful Ribble for half price (not stolen, I was cautious)! And it has been a dream, so fun to ride. I’ve loved riding it to work and around town, it’s so speedy and responsive

Everyone says it’s a beautiful colour and it is, but I’m arranging a frame paint job to make it a little less attractive. Be safe and smart out there folks! Happy new bike day to me

After years of my bike living outside st my university I’m in a building with secure parking. It’s amazing. So I’m not ungrateful but… people asked for lockers so that clothes etc can be kept there instead of all round the offices.

And they gave us lockers, killing off about a third of the bike stands in the process… you could probably get a Brompton in there, folded up.

Sigh. [luckily the remaining ones are enough, but only just in the summer).

Hi everyone

Yesterday, I was commuting back home when I approached that roundabout in Elephant and Castle. I was in the cycle lane with a lot of fellow cyclists waiting for the green light. Once it was on, there was an SUV blocking our path and a bus right behind it, leaving almost no space for us to cycle through. I saw a cyclist then tapping on the back of the SUV with their hand, nothing too strong, but the driver went completely mad. The driver then just reversed the car while a bunch of cyclists were cycling through (including me), and I almost lost my balance. I was quite shaken but ended up getting home safely. The guy kept screaming at us. How common is this sort of behaviour? I'm afraid it might put me off of cycling :(

Blackfriars bridge this morning about 8.45am was cycling carnage due to temporary traffic lights - I can't travel at any other time tomorrow, can anyone tell me about crossing on Southwark bridge (northbound) at the same time of day, is that any better?

I keep seeing this all over Islington and Kentish Town. This photo was taken on Market Road. As far as I understand, the dashed white line marks a cycle lane, not a parking bay.

I completely understand why people park here, it’s right next to the football pitches and sports facilities, which is great to see being used. But as a cyclist, it can make this stretch feel quite unsafe. Parked cars effectively block the cycle lane, forcing cyclists out into the main traffic lane, where vans and other vehicles sometimes pass very closely at high speed (specifically vans)

I’m genuinely curious: is parking like this actually legal? It seems to be fairly tolerated around Islington and Kentish Town. I’ve even seen police vehicles parked in similar places.

As a tax payer, It feels like Islington could invest a little more in proper parking infrastructure around busy sports facilities, rather than effectively allowing cycle lanes to become parking spaces. At the moment, it creates an unnecessary conflict between people driving, parking and cycling.

Thoughts?

A scheme to improve the Fiveways road junction at Waddon was shelved over 8 years ago. It's one of the busiest intersections in the borough — also the main bottleneck for traffic to Gatwick, the Purley Way retail parks, and Croydon town centre. Back then 81% supported some scheme and for me as a cyclist, pedestrian and motorist it must merit a further look. What do you think?

When I cycle around London sometimes I move aside to let cars past as I know I’ll still get to my destination on time as I’ll use cycle lanes and back roads.

A few times I was up in Yorkshire and countryside and god dammit. On a single country lane a cyclist was holding a load of cars back.

Why can’t the cyclist do what I do, briefly move aside let the cars pass. There are probably only a few cars let them pass and then you won’t have to worry about holding traffic back. Or take the backroads, cycle lanes or parks, council estates, car parks there are many short cuts you can use

A few friends and I were talking about cycling in London this weekend. None of us are what you'd call "proper cyclists", but we all commute by bike and, over time, have developed a completely irrational system for judging fellow riders.

Not in a malicious way. More in a "Will this person stop at the lights?" or "Am I about to overtake them six times in the next mile?" sort of way.

So, after extensive anecdotal research and absolutely no supporting data whatsoever, here's our ranking of London's cyclists from best to worst.

Disclaimer: This is a joke. Please do not submit it for peer review.

1. Normal road bike rider

The gold standard. Generally stops at lights, rides predictably, maintains a sensible pace, and doesn't feel the need to prove anything to anyone.

2. Swapfiets riders

Trustworthy. Dependable. Possibly because they're paying a monthly fee and therefore have at least some emotional investment in the bicycle.

3. Santander bike riders

The elder statesmen of hire bikes. Experienced enough to know what's going on and usually just trying to get somewhere.

4. Forest riders

Surprisingly solid. Not entirely sure why. Maybe the green bikes create a calming effect. Helmet usage appears optional, but overall they tend not to cause much drama.

5. Brompton riders

Generally courteous and civilised. The only issue is occasionally forgetting they're on a folding bike and not in the Tour de France. Mesmerising cadence-to-speed ratio.

6. MAMILs

Clearly racing somebody. It is never obvious who. Fortunately, they're usually gone before anyone has time to be annoyed by them.

7. Deliveroo/Uber Eats e-bike riders

Honestly not as bad as expected. Often make reasonable progress and tend to know what they're doing. Red lights are viewed more as suggestions than rules, but they're working, so society has collectively decided to tolerate it.

8. Camera-MAMILs

The evolved form of the MAMIL.

Identifiable by enough camera equipment to film a small nature documentary. Somehow manages to be both participant and commentator. Strong sense that every road user is moments away from appearing in a YouTube compilation.

9. Lime riders

The undisputed champions of being overtaken repeatedly.

Queue-jump at every opportunity, run the occasional red, wobble unpredictably, and yet somehow never arrive much faster. You'll pass the same Lime rider four or five times on a single commute.

10. Private e-bike riders

The reason everyone develops owl-like neck flexibility while cycling in London.

Silent, fast, and capable of materialising behind you at alarming speed. Usually ridden by someone who appears to believe they are operating a lightweight motorcycle.

11. Rickshaws

There was considerable debate over whether these count as cyclists at all.

Eventually included because when encountered, they are impossible to ignore. Random stopping, nightclub-level sound systems, and roughly the same width as a small family car.

Just bought my first road bike for a new, much longer commute into the city (previously had a hybrid).
It’s a Specialized E5 Sport and it came with 30mm tyres which have a pretty smooth tread.

I’m not used to slimmer tyres and feeling apprehensive about getting punctures or getting torn to shreds by some of the stoney off-road trails I ride through. What tyres do you use or what would you recommend for mixed surface riding around London? My bike has clearance for 35mm tyres. Thanks!

I'm new to cycling [& e-scooter riding]. And London has become so cold, so suddenly. 🥶 Every time I cycle (which are usually very early mornings and very late nights, given my shifts) the weather freezes my face and ears off.

I know it might be kinda of a weird feeling, but I'm not really sure about wearing balaclavas. ESPECIALLY in London/the UK, because of their negative connotation and everything... I don't wanna look like a gang member or smth. 🥴

Anyway, I guess I'm here to ask two things:
- How do u feel about wearing balaclavas? Would you personally rather wearing smth else? Is it socially inept or gauche in any way?
- And if so, then what?

I had a little mishap today and came off my bike for the first time in years, during which my front light decided to fly through the air and smash into pieces. I'm currently skint but with evenings now being dark on my way home from work, I need a replacement immediately.

Anyone got any recommendations on Amazon for a decent front light for around £20? I know it won't get me the best light ever but it'll keep me seen and safer than none.

Thanks all.

C10 on Wellington St, heading south onto Waterloo Bridge.

Did anyone else get fined today morning by police ?