Leaders disagree over Cambridge cycling reform
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert and the local Crime Commissioner have failed to reach agreement over proposed reforms to national cycling legislation

Following the success of Britain’s cycling team in the Olympics last summer and a renewed interest in cycling by members of the public, the Cambridge MP Julian Huppert has called for investment and reform to cycling policy to encourage Brits to get on their bikes.
Dr. Huppert led a debate in the House of Commons on the Get Britain Cycling report, which was released by the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group.
The publication advocated the appointment of a national cycling tsar with the overall goal of increasing the total number of all journeys made around Britain by bicycle to 10 per cent by 2025. The group also asked for an annual sum of £10 per head to be spent on cycling. Huppert told Varsity: “In Cambridge we promote cycling by trying to put cyclists at the forefront of planning and design; there is still far more to do, but we have the largest number of cyclists in the UK.
“We also need to strengthen the enforcement of road traffic law, including speed limits, and ensure that driving offences are treated sufficiently seriously by police, prosecutors and judges."
However the Cambridgeshire Crime Commissioner has branded Dr. Huppert’s harsher crime policy “very silly.”
Sir Graham Bright has said of Huppert’s plans: “The proposal is nonsense. Whenever there’s an accident someone’s at fault but it’s not always the motorist – far from it. You’ve only got to drive through Cambridge to realise that you’ve got to be doubly alert if you’re driving.
“And if there was an accident it could happen by someone coming straight out in front of you. So that is in my opinion a very silly thing to float. He doesn’t float many silly things, but that’s one of them.”
In response to the Commissioner’s criticism, Huppert has said: “Cyclists and pedestrians are vulnerable road users and come off far worse in a collision with a motor vehicle. On occasions, a driver will use the excuse that he or she just hasn’t seen the cyclist. This is not acceptable.
“Proportionate liability...puts the onus on the more dangerous vehicle for the collision. It would help protect car drivers from HGVs, bikes from cars and pedestrians from bikes."
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