Grant Shapps' 'half-witted' ideas criticised by West Sussex cyclists

In an interview with a national newspaper earlier this month, the Conservative politician took aim at ‘dangerous’ cyclists by proposing they have registration numbers, insurance and are made to observe speed limits.

However after some initial ridicule, Mr Shapps rowed back on some of his comments, saying he did not want to introduce registration plates on bicycles.

His initial opinion piece said the current government had been a ‘consistent supporter of the cyclist’ and a new version of the Highway Code stipulates a hierarchy of responsibility on our roads.

But he went on to say this ‘does not mean that we should forgive dangerous cycling’.

His proposals were given short shrift in West Sussex.

Geoff Farrell, chair of umbrella organisation the West Sussex Cycle Forum, felt the comments were designed to appeal to car drivers, of which he is one, who are looking for fairness, but the argument should be about ‘will any of this make the roads safer and how will it work’.

He pointed out how compulsory insurance does not stop uninsured or untraceable car drivers being involved in 130 fatalities each year, with the comparable cycle-related incidents being tiny. Meanwhile 20mph is ‘actually a fairly good speed on a bike’ with e-bikes cutting out at 15.5mph and would only work if bikes were all fitted with speedometers, while 20mph zones ‘aren’t policed at the moment in any meaningful way’.

And when it came to registration, he asked whether this would be the bike or the rider as he has a number of different bikes and the process to register each one would be costly for everyone.

Mr Farrell added: “Overall, I think this half-witted idea has come up before and abandoned because it is unworkable and wouldn’t help road safety.

"Furthermore, as we all should know by now, cycling is a way of improving personal and public health as well as cutting congestion and pollution and helping to minimise the effects of climate change.

"Some years ago, Australia decided to make the wearing of cycle helmets compulsory. The outcome was that fewer people cycled and the net health of Australia declined. The same thing would happen here if irrational obstacles reduced the number of people cycling.

“We should be encouraging cycling and all forms of active travel – as I thought the Government was doing with the appointment of Chris Boardman as active travel commissioner. For a government minister to give the Daily Mail this kind of unworkable nonsense - well it’s impossible to work out why he did it.”

Many of these points were echoed by local cycling forums across the county.

Francis Vernon and Ruth Fletcher, from the Horsham District Cycling Forum, said: “In response to the damaging suggestion today from Grant Shapps about bike registration, we fully support this comment from Edmund King, the AA President: ‘It is in the interests of all road users, and indeed our environment, that as a society we encourage more use of active travel, such as walking and cycling, and also the transition to zero emission vehicles. Introducing more barriers to slow the take-up of safe cycling would be a retrograde step. What we really need is better infrastructure for cycling so that some of the present-day issues on the roads are removed’.”

Adam Bell, from the Bognor Bike Hub, added: “His comments are completely contrary to what his Department and other Government ministers have consistently stated over the years, that it's not practical, nor cost effective to look at any form of licencing or registration for anyone riding a bike. Any country that has tried it, has rapidly backpedalled when they realise it's a costly mistake and causes cycling levels to plummet.

“At a time when the UK is facing increasing levels of obesity, pollution and traffic congestion, why would anyone consider a backwards step of added bureaucracy which would force people away from cycling? Even the head of the AA has condemned Grant Shapps' comments.

“Bearing in mind the numbers of deaths caused by the actions of irresponsible cyclists is one or two a year, compared with 1,800 caused by drivers, along with hundreds of thousands of injuries, Grant Shapps should be focusing his attention on the real menace on UK roads, which aren't people riding bikes.”

A spokesman from Shoreham-By-Cycle said: “We feel this is merely a headline-grabbing tactic from Mr Shapps, without any serious intention. All credible planners and politicians know that the challenge of fixing our transport mess highlights the task of making cycling easier, not placing barriers in the way of people's local journeys.

"It's a real shame that distractions like this risk stoking unnecessary animosity on our streets, when we should be working together to give people more choices for their journeys. We don't expect these recycled proposals to make any headway in Parliament, but if there is such a debate, we are ready to work with our MP, Tim Loughton, to bring some reason and perspective to the matter.”

Meanwhile the Lib Dems also criticised what they called Tory red tape and a proposed tax on cycling and urged the government to focus on the cost of living crisis and not ‘attacking cyclists’.

Kate O’Kelly, county councillor for Midhurst, said they wanted to see better cycle routes so less confident cyclists will be encouraged to leave their cars at home to improve health as well as the environment.

Fellow Lib Dem district councillor Adrian Moss added: “We do not want to discourage cycling by piling on layers of bureaucracy on everyone. This is a proposal for yet more red tape. It is illiberal, counterproductive and totally unnecessary.”