Newly-formed pedestrian rights organisation Pedestrians Have Rights Too launches today a petition supporting calls by Professor The Lord Winston, the Labour peer and television presenter, to introduce licence plates for all road-going bicycles in the UK. 

Last year, there were 18,000 serious incidents involving cyclists on Britain's roads, with serious injuries topping 3,000, more than 100 deaths and 300 reported collisions with pedestrians. 

Today, bicycles are no longer the province of a small minority of enthusiasts: the annual number of miles travelled by cyclists is 3.27 billion, and more than 2.5 million bicycles are sold every year - a tenfold increase since the 1960’s.   We believe that cyclists now require a bare minimum of common-sense regulation and accountability to maintain road safety.

Lord Winston rightly acknowledges that the vast majority of British cyclists are safety-conscious and polite, but he notes that a significant minority are not and some of them are aggressive, if not downright dangerous to pedestrians.   We believe that enough is enough. It is time for all road users, including cyclists, to respect the Highway Code and show due regard for the needs and safety of other road users and especially defenceless pedestrians.

We call upon the Department of Transport to introduce a simple, hassle-free and practical measure to enforce the Highway Code on the minority of irresponsible cyclists who all too often act as if they were exempt from it – a common complaint from pedestrians and motorists. 

Licensing would have the additional benefit of helping to deter bike theft - a bicycle is stolen every 90 seconds in the UK – which is a catalyst for other, more serious criminal activities.   

#PlatesforBikes