Transport minister: ‘I’d feel safe letting my children cycle on London’s roads’

Simon Lightwood said he would feel safe with his children cycling in London (Pictures: Kate Reilly James/Community Transport Association/Getty)

The transport minister says he would feel safe letting his children cycle on roads in London – despite campaigners warning over illegal e-bikes seized on London roads.

Transport minister Simon Lightwood weighed in on issues around active travel and getting children to cycle from a young age.

He was visiting a community transport provider Westway CT in northwest London today when we spoke about regulation of e-bikes and scooters, active travel and overhaul of Britain’s buses.

When asked if we would feel safe letting his children cycle in central London or is constituency in Wakefield, the father-of-two said ‘yes, I would.’

‘My children are seven and eight, I would be with them obviously and like any parent and be guarded of them, but it’s no particular reflection on roads in London or Wakefield,’ he added.

Giving children the ‘confidence’ to cycle from a young age was ‘so important.’

He said: ‘Obviously, one of the things we invest in is bike-ability, so that people from a young age are given the skills and confidence to then go out and cycle. I think it’s a really important stage for young people to instil those behaviours and values to be able to use active travel.’

The minister say giving children the confidence to cycle at a young age was important (Picture: Getty Images/Collection Mix: Sub)

It comes after the latest official figures suggest London roads have become safer in terms of fatalities. The number of people killed on London’s roads last year fell by 6% from 102 to 95 – the lowest level outside of the Covid pandemic years.

However, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists continue to make up 80% of all the people killed or seriously injured last year, road safety charity Roadpeace says.

E-bike and scooter regulation
Both legal and illegally modified e-bikes have made headlines recently after calls for tougher regulation.

A crackdown on illegally modified e-bikes saw police seize hundreds of ‘death trap’ bikes on UK roads – including a monster e-bike capable of speeding at up to 70mph. Campaigners called for tougher action to rid roads of the ‘dangerous’ illegal bikes.

Simon Lightwood spoke about various transport issues while visiting Westway CT in north London (Picture: Kate Reilly James/Community Transport Association)

As for legal e-cycles, a row has erupted in Brent over Lime bikes after complaints that rental bicycles are blocking pavements in the borough, causing ‘havoc’ to disabled people and pedestrians.

Now Simon has hinted at regulation of e-bikes and scooters.

When asked about it, he said: ‘It is something we are actively looking at in terms of the next steps.

‘We’ve extended some of the e-scooter trials as well, so continuing to learn from that information – I think it’s important we get that right. When parliamentary time is available then we look at what the next steps are we can bring to that.

There have been complaints that Lime bikes in London have been blocking pavements (Picture: Getty Images)

‘We also absolutely recognise some of the issues we’ve had with e-scooter and e-bike fires as well and that’s why the government has already put down a bill called Product Regulation and Metrology Bill which is all about how do we tackle those emerging technologies and some of the risks from some of the cheap import batteries et cetera.’

Simon estimated there are around ‘a million illegal e-scooters out there at the moment.’

He also touched on the prosecution of railcard users by Northern after it emerged that passengers who used a discount ticket at the wrong time of the day had been threatened with court action and fined.

Northern has since announced it has paused these types of prosecutions and that it is reviewing previous cases.

The government believes there are around a million illegal e-scooters in the UK (Pictures: Getty Images)

He said: ‘We expect all operators to ensure their policies on ticketing are really clear at all times and we have asked Northern and other operators to immediately review details of their Railcard cases.

‘I think it’s clear – and we’ve said this numerous times – that the current ticketing system is a labyrinth basically. It’s really complicated and that’s why we’re committed to the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation, including simplifying fares and making it’s easier for people to travel.’

Simon was visiting Westway Community Transport to speak to residents as Labour has reaffirmed its commitment to give control of local buses back to councils.

He heard how thousands of community organisations like Westway who operate on-demand taxis and dial-a-ride services get people to their hospital appointments, food shopping and tackle loneliness.

Simon described them as a ‘lifeline’ to vulnerable people.

The minister pictured with Westway CT employees (Picture: Kate Reilly James/Community Transport Association)

‘In terms of the Bus Bill, it will be the biggest reform of bus service in 40 years. I hope people take reassurance that this is right at the top of the government’s agenda,’ he said.

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The planned overhaul of bus services nationally aims to give councils the option to franchise bus services and integrate all different types of transport, including community services.

‘These guys at community transport are doing a really important job in supporting those more vulnerable communities, including in rural areas that have really struggled with bus services over the last 40 years,’ he said.

His visit came during Community Transport Week celebrating the efforts of volunteers and drivers behind dial-a-ride operations up and down the country.

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