Road safety: “You can’t cherry pick the law” says Sir Graham

Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Graham Bright says that everybody has a responsibility to ensure they are using roads safely to reduce deaths and injuries in Cambridgeshire.

The 2011 Cambridgeshire Joint Road Casualty Data Report states that 15 per cent of all casualties in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were pedal cyclists. 46 per cent of these were injured in Cambridge City where pedal cycles were involved in 60% of all accidents.

Speaking about his decision to ask the Chief Constable to focus on anti-social cycling in Cambridge, Sir Graham explained that during his election campaign to become Cambridgeshire’s first Police and Crime Commissioner, the issue was raised with him many times by the people who spoke to him.

“The law is the law, whether you are talking about pedestrians, cyclists or motorists – particularly those using mobile phones whilst driving. You can’t cherry pick which bits of the law you will adhere to. The fact is that there are more bicycles per head of population in Cambridge than almost anywhere else in the world and dangerous cycling in the city was brought to my attention during my election campaign. As a result I asked the Chief Constable to tackle it. Dangerous cycling is a risk to all road users, including the cyclists themselves. All road users have a responsibility to walk, cycle or drive safely.”

The Constabulary runs various road safety campaigns throughout the year. The ‘Operation Pedalo’ campaign to tackle anti-social cycling in Cambridge ran for two weeks in December and will run again in February

View the Accident data statistics for Cambridgeshire in 2011

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