LETTER: Protect cyclists not diesel drivers

I'm pleased to see that Theresa May has pledged to protect diesel-car owners, but I'd much more prefer she pledged to protect cyclists.

I inherited a diesel car from my late father, and on pension credits (age 68), it will likely serve me until I must give up driving.

However, because I hate polluting the air and contributing to global warming, and my money is better spent on a healthy diet, gas and electric, I’d much prefer to use my bicycle, eg 60-mile round trip to see my brother in a care home.

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Because I’ve cycled since childhood (I dreamt of winning the Tour de France), and cycled extensively to work, toured, raced, and for charity, suffice to say I consider myself to be a ‘human dynamo’, and practice yoga by way of maintenance.

Give me favourable roads and fair weather and I’ll average 20mph ‘all day long’, and at times, I’m well capable of riding at 30mph.

If Britain is as civilised as it claims to be, I and every other ‘human dynamo’, should not be overtaken by motor vehicles when riding at 20mph in 20mph zones, especially not by buses, bin-lorries, and gas-guzzling SUVs, driven by people with weight problems and blue badges. People who walk/run to work, should also be entitled to fair, safe and pleasant ‘working’ conditions.

Every cyclist should also be entitled to the same level of protection as human beings are afforded by the Health and Safety Executive, and the Food Standards Agency. Rogue drivers/traders have no place in a fair trade market place.

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For Britain to compete successfully in a global market, it can’t afford to have the worst congested roads in Europe, and more than 100 cyclists a year being killed by ‘driver error’. Given Britain’s lead in technology, and its willingness to create life in a test tube, there should be no excuse for not using speed restrictors for motor vehicles, (‘human dynamos’ have maximum heart rates), to reduce pollution, and CO2, and create a wholly united human race.

Allan Ramsay

By email

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