Cllr Mac McGuire a member of Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Panel spoke about his experience of cyclists in Cambridge during the panel’s 16th of March 2016 meeting. Cllr McGuire said:

as somebody who occasionally has to drive in Cambridge, I don’t live there, I find it is still terribly frustrating, I feel sometimes I’m running a gauntlet when dealing with cyclists

Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright said in his response:

you can’t just have a war on a group of people bearing in mind there are so many cyclists in Cambridge.

I was surprised to hear about the police confiscating bikes without brakes. The Police and Crime Commissioner said:

some of them don’t have brakes and we actually take them off the road there and then if that’s the case. We say this is it until that’s put right they’re not having it back.

I wonder how those whose bikes have been taken by the police can rectify the problem. I suspect the Police and Crime Commissioner has either misunderstood or mispoken.

Full Transcript

Cllr Mac McGuire (Conservative, Norman Cross): Chairman, under 8.3 you talk about, reference is made to, unroadworthy bicycles which I took to read, to mean, probably, bicycles without lights because you talk further on about your LIT programme. But I notice in the outcomes section, section 9, no reference has been made to that particular area of activity. Now as somebody who occasionally has to drive in Cambridge, I don’t live there, I find it is still terribly frustrating, I feel sometimes I’m running a gauntlet when dealing with cyclists and we still seem to have a fairly significant problem, not just with them, those who choose to ride without lights fitted but some who seem to think they can ignore traffic signals and the ability to change lane they drive right across you without even even looking over their shoulder or indicating some of them must obviously have got eyes in the back of their head. I just wonder how successful you think that LIT programme and any other programme the police might be undertaking so particularly in Cambridge City but I’m sure it’s not just within the city.

Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright(Conservative): As you know Mr Chairman I’ve taken a great deal of interest in this and I’ve been out with the force in particular with the specials and the PCSOs dealing with cyclists. It’s quite interesting that if we’re out and about it only takes half an hour before all the tweeters get going and the whole city know we’re out doing it. That’s good because we want to make them aware that they should be doing the right thing. Lights on bikes, you know it’s people taking their life into their own hands, it’s not fair on the motorist because the motorist can’t necessarily see them. There was a wonderful picture in the Cambridge Evening News where I was standing there and there was a cyclist coming towards us, no lights, a bus further down the road with big lights, and if you hadn’t have put a ring round it you wouldn’t have seen it was a cyclist. So that’s important. When I was out with them a few weeks back I was really heartened because we actually gave a ticket to somebody who’d ridden through a red light and this member of the public came up me and said this is wonderful he said, it’s about time someone did something about it because they’re taking their lives and others into their hands by doing it so you know again this goes around the community and I’ve got to say that the cycling organisations in Cambridge are very supportive of us trying to get this right and a lot of figures if you came out with them you would find you’ve got so many students that come from different parts of the world that they haven’t always some places quite surprised you know when you confront them with this. So we’re doing that an in terms of bicycles with lights it’s not only that some of them don’t have brakes and we actually take them off the road there and then if that’s the case. We say this is it until that’s put right they’re not having it back. So I think the work that’s been done here and you can’t just have a war on a group of people bearing in mind there are so many cyclists in Cambridge. You’ve got to get them on-side and and see that they understand that they are part and parcel of the traffic system but so too are pedestrians you know. They don’t have to wear lights.

Cllr Ben Shelton (Conservative,The Shelfords & Stapleford): Do you want to come back with a supplementary?

Cllr Mac McGuire (Conservative, Norman Cross): I do and you are confirming the problem Commissioner but it was really in terms of the outcomes, do you agree that the LIT programme and any of the others are really actually successful because those of us who are you know who live and work and test it if you like would suspect it is not making a great deal of difference so I suppose it is how do you measure success is the…

Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright(Conservative): It is because we get waves. Because as you approach the summer of course the students will go away and by then you’d hope a lot of them have understood what they’ve got to do but then you’ve got to understand what they’ve got to do. And then you’ve got to start again in the autumn when the new ones come in. We do work with the university and it’s part of Freshers so it does make an impact, there’s no question about it. I personally think you know because I drive through Cambridge and keep a very close watch on what’s going on, there are far more cyclists now with proper lights on them than we had a few years back. So it’s progressing, still not good enough though.

Cllr Ben Shelton (Conservative,The Shelfords & Stapleford): OK bring in Edward, I’ll just remind us we’ve got half an hour we’ve got to be out by four and we’ve got a couple

Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright(Conservative): Sorry Mr Chairman I’ll be

Cllr Ben Shelton (Conservative,The Shelfords & Stapleford): We’ve got a couple of other agenda items to go though. Edward.