Trivia time! (Which may or may not be related to today’s political events) Q. What do Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Lance Armstrong, Miguel Induráin, Chris Froome and Jacques Anquetil all have in common? cycling
The Times publishes ‘Two Wheels Good’ editorial – nine months after calling for dangerous cycling law and riders to be licensed and insuredLast night, while everyone was glued to the latest shenanigans in the lobbies of Westminster, The Times performed its own shocking about-turn by publishing an article on the “increase in cycling” entitledIn the editorial, the newspaper described the “boost to cycling from quiet streets” as “among the few beneficial side-effects of the coronavirus crisis”,...
“Today, most cyclists are also motorists and many motorists are also cyclists. Contrary to received wisdom, almost all cyclists, just like motorists, obey the Highway Code. Those that don’t, should.” In late January, on the eve of the introduction of changes to the Highway Code, The Times called for cyclists to be licensed and insured and for a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling to be introduced.
Launched on 2 February 2012 – and accompanied by a front-page picture of Mary Bowers, the Times journalist left with life-changing injuries when a lorry driver struck her outside the newspaper’s then-headquarters in Wapping – the ‘Cities Fit For Cycling’ campaign set out an eight-point manifesto calling, among other things, for safety improvements concerning lorries and at junctions, the building of “world class” active travel infrastructure, and for cities to appoint a cycling commissioner.