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In a debate in parliament yesterday Conservative peer Lord James said cyclists "long to be run down so they can film it."
He attacked the cyclesafe campaign by The Times: "In its wisdom, the Times…is pursuing, to a ludicrous degree, the cause of cyclists to the point where they are creating a new and separate society in London, in which cyclists think they have a superior law and control over everybody in a motor car."
The car-centric peer, who in 2005 bid to take over MG Rover, was speaking during a debate that was supposed to be discussing introducing fines for littering from cars, but instead digressed into a rant about how cyclists supposedly think they have "superior law and authority" over drivers.
75-year-old Lord James’ remarked that the hitherto unknown "superior law and control" that cyclists have over motorists "is going to lead to some catastrophic accidents very soon."
Further digressing into some extremely ill-timed victim blaming, the off-topic James concluded: "On three mornings, driving up the A3 in the Balham and Clapham area, I have seen cyclists put their cycles up against the central reservation—not the line where the bus lane is—stand in the middle of the road with a camera and defy you to run them down while they photograph you doing it. That is what they are longing for. We need to have that sort of behaviour excluded because it is going to lead to their demise and our prosecution: it is ridiculous."
The area in question (CS7) is one of many pinch points in south London where cyclists and motorists are thrust together thanks to poor road design.
The video below shows a cyclist’s view point while cycling the Clapham stretch of CS7.
