YEP Letters: September 20

Keep trying – hard work does pay off

Emily Shardlow, Cowlersley, Huddersfield.

My name is Emily and I am 10 years old. I am very into photography and have been trying to get better at it over the school holidays.

I have been having some help from my friend and I have been listening carefully to what she tells me. Also she has given me lots of magazines to read and look through to get ideas and to get tips to help me get better. I took lots of photos of some red squirrels but they were a bit blurry so I tried and tried and tried again. Then I went to a bird sanctuary and I was so very happy with my photos. I am sending this message to everyone just to say that if you keep trying you can get just what you are aiming for. This is for all people – not just children. Keep persevering – and hard work does pay off.

Fines for driving close to close to cyclists?

Drivers in Britain could soon face a £100 fine for driving too close to cyclists on the road following plans to introduce a new law. The new law will require motorists to be at least 1.5 metres away from a cyclists when passing or overtaking with penalties incurred if drivers fail to comply. If a motorist is found to be driving closer than the minimum passing distance they could be hit with a £100 fine and three penalty points. Calls for the new law to be introduced come as a means to offer more protection for cyclists and reduce the number of cycling-related accidents. We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on social media..

Brendon Bremner Sullivan

Hope a law is introduced to get cyclists to have insurance now also and can they get done for going through red lights and made to wear high-viz clothing by law. It is time they were made accountable for their actions also as there are so many about who are a law unto themselves.

John Lloyd

Tell them to use the multi-million pound bike lane we had installed, instead of the roads. Everyone with a bike should have insurance to protect the car owners.

James Milner

Yes, because we should go against all the statistics and facts that clearly show that most accidents between motor vehicles and bicycles are the motorists’ fault.

Wendy Ellis

They should be fining them for going though red lights and riding on the pavement. It’s always the car drivers that are at fault.

Joan Holman

What about when they’re squeezing between cars? Do they get fined for scratching cars and knocking their wing mirrors, no because they’re off like a shot, and if you say anything to them they have headcams, then the car driver is at fault. I’m not saying all cyclists are the same.

Sarah Larking

And what about cyclist who jump red lights? Cycle the wrong way on one way streets, going the wrong way? Cycle in the dark with no lights on, if passengers in cars are legally obliged to wear seat belts, which does not prevent collisions occurring, then cyclist should be made to wear reflective clothing and have working lights on their bikes which could prevent collisions.

Michael Maynard

When I cycle I always follow the rule of the road, have a high-visibility top and lights on. Far too many don’t. They should impose fines on cyclists too if they do this.

Ivan Fawcett

There are too many that just get on a bike and ride it. They aren’t cyclists, we take our safety seriously.

Lisa Brian Farrar

Blimey it’s going to be a tight squeeze in that cycle lane for a car and a bike. Otherwise I don’t think a car could get that close. Oh no, it’s because the council have made the road narrower for the bike lane that hardly anybody uses. That’s a fantastic way to bring bikes closer to cars and then create a fine. Method in their madness.

Pat France

Great for us to be cycling, but I think the law should introduced for cyclists to cycle in single file and not in doubles.

Jo Pearson

How do motorists cope when there is a purpose made cycle path and the cyclists still use the road and at peak times? Cyclists are putting themselves at risk and not using the facilities made for them?

So frustrating when you are on your way to work on a narrow and busy road and the traffic has to stop to get round a cyclist when there is a path on that same road? Motorists aren’t always at fault.

Richard Lodge

Can’t come soon enough especially in Leeds – motorists completely inconsiderate to cyclists and would usually drive over you rather than give you room. Cyclists are a lot softer than a giant metal box on wheels.

Nathan Bedding

At the end of the day yes, it’s annoying when they get in the road in the way, even more so when they have a cycle lane, but why are you wanting to get that close to them anyway and maybe potentially harm someone on their way back to their family?

Just stay behind them til it’s safe to pass and not a tight squeeze.

You’re driving a motor vehicle, not a cloud, one small bump could send them flying.

Colin Mabey

I think they need to get insurance, like cars do and motorbikes. Some of them think they own the road or have the right of way.

I know drivers should be more aware of cyclists (as I am) but sometimes things happen that lead to incidents involving them.

Sometimes it’s the cyclist at fault, sometimes the driver. Rules for one and not the other.

Dawn Stanley- Donaghy

I don’t cycle but think about it. You bump into a car – dent. You bump into a cyclist – major injury. You are driving round in a tonne of metal!

Cat Wright

I think cyclists should only be allowed on the cycle path or designated area and nowhere else.

There should be no cycling zones in certain places. I used to cycle a lot and now I have a car too.

Let us know what you think? Email [email protected] with your opinions.