Ride roughshod over road rules

BRENDA Mitchell, a lawyer and the founder of the pressure group Cycle Law Scotland, admits that she wants 
to change civil law so that motorists in accidents with cyclists would be presumed liable and then have to prove that the cyclist was at fault (News, 28 April).

No doubt rich pickings await her firm through compensation claims. Will she also urge for changes in the Highway Code? These could include:

n Cyclists permitted to jump red lights; pedestrians, especially those with prams, must give way to those cycling on the pavement even if this means stepping onto a busy road.

n Pedestrians on pelican or zebra crossings must give way to cyclists.

n Abolish Regulation 69 of the Highway Code, which says that cyclists must obey all traffic signs and traffic lights.

n Dangerous cycling is punishable by a fine of £2,500, careless cycling £1,000 and cycling on pavement £500. She will want this clause removed.

When the lights go out, with the closure of coal-fired power plants, cyclists in appreciation will be linked up to generators and they can pedal away to their heart’s content and keep the lights on for a grateful ­nation.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow