Letters: At last... number plates for cyclists

SIR – At long last, the government is considering the possibility of forcing cyclists to have number plates on their bikes.

What has kept them so long in getting this far? Politics maybe?

Apart from North Korea, we will still be the only ones in the world to have such a system. For the moment, it looks as though it will go off at half cock as the consideration is for London only. Daft idea as usual, why not apply it to the whole country?

Cyclists need some form of identification whilst out and about in order for them to be identified and held to account for any misdemeanours they commit.

At the moment, because they know identification is all but impossible, they can get away with pretty much anything; it’s human nature.

It also looks as though mandatory insurance will be added to the list, but why haven’t they gone the whole hog?

Personally, I would like to see the following:

Mandatory road and highway code training (like those for motorcycles). It’s madness to let a cyclist loose on our roads, completely clueless and with no idea of what’s what and possibly with very little clue as to how to ride a bike safely. That is an accident waiting to happen. The same laws (with a few exceptions) must apply to them as to motorists: that way everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

Mandatory wearing of hi-vis apparel so other road users can see them, plus the wearing of a helmet (some cyclists still think their heads are harder than the concrete they could be kissing – I have news for them!).

Banning the use of mobile phones and all earphones whilst in motion (so they can hear traffic).

No child under the age of 12 to be allowed on the roads alone, unless accompanied by a qualified adult rider.

All the above would also make policing the New Forest easier to patrol, so why don’t the authorities push for it?

It is not a case of being anti-cyclist – to me, it’s just common sense.

J. Walsh,
Address supplied

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SIR – I am not in favour of cyclists going wherever they want in the New Forest. However, some of the cycling paths I used to cycle on are not allowed now.

Over the years, I have noticed that commoners believe they own the Forest, forgetting who pays for their animals to roam free.

I have also noticed how many more commoner animals roam the land now.

I, like many others, wonder how much we pay these commoners who want to fence off areas and stop parking on the verges just so their overpopulated stock can eat.

I have also noticed so-called commoners being allowed to have a property built on land nobody else would be allowed to.

My last notice is: who does the most damage to the Forest? That is the animals.

G. Brown,
Ashley Heath