Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in August 2024. If you like it, please sign up on our Get Involved section – you will be showing your support for our work and you will receive our free monthly bulletins a month before they appear here.
IN THIS ISSUE… +++ Meeting with Royal Parks’ boss ahead of cycling review +++ Police to look at speeding motorists during the morning rush hour +++ Rundown of incidents police have been involved in over the past three months +++
Visit our sponsors: BellaVelo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles, Sigma Sports
PLENTY TO SHARE
A couple of weeks ago we met with Darren Share, The Royal Parks’ new Director of Parks, to begin discussions about TRP’s review of its cycling policies following the inquest in May into the pedestrian fatality in Regent’s Park. Also attending the meeting at TRP’s HQ in Hyde Park were Regent’s Park Cyclists’ chair Sean Epstein, Tim Lennon of the London Cycling Campaign, along with representatives from Richmond and Regent’s parks' policing teams.
TRP’s board of trustees has asked Darren to carry out the review. Consulting the full spectrum of stakeholders, including Richmond Park Cyclists, will be key to balancing the needs of all types of visitors to the royal parks, and we have asked for the review to be data-driven. TRP and the police appear to support this objective approach.
It was a pleasure to meet Darren, and we look forward to seeing him again in early September. In preparation, we have undertaken some work and will be reaching out to cycling, active travel and disabled groups for specialist expertise. Some of you have writen to us in the past expressing concerns over pedestrian and cycle safety in Richmond Park; if you’ve been holding back, do email us now if you’d like to give your view so we can feed it into our discussions with Darren.
You tell us you feel safer when you are walking and cycling in Richmond Park compared to typical roads. Let’s see if the data confirms that.
COMMUTER ERRORS
Long-time subscribers to our bulletins will know that the park’s police set their priorities every three months at the Safer Parks Police Panel, and as attendees we can advise what areas we believe they should focus on.
At the SPPP meeting last month, we suggested that motorists who speed and close pass cyclists during the morning rush hour was an aspect of road behaviour they could concentrate on, and Sgt Peter Sturgess has agreed to make it one of his team’s sub-priorities this quarter. While policing of the park between 7am and 8am is limited due to staffing issues, we are very grateful to Sgt Sturgess and his team for looking at this matter and for generally helping to make the park roads safer.
The full list of priorities, agreed by the panel, is as follows:
Pedestrian safety (courtesy crossings, middle road and gravel bikes on the Tamsin Trail)
Cycling safety (Beverly Brook Bridge, obedience and motorist behaviour)
Wildlife protection (deer protection, dogs around skylark fields)
REPORT RUNDOWN
As is standard practice at the Safer Parks Police Panel, Sgt Sturgess provided a list of incidents on the roadway and the Tamsin Trail that his team dealt with during the past three months, highlights of which we summarise below.
A car passenger committed a public order offence in May when they racially abused a cyclist and kicked their bike. The incident began when a motorist pulled out in front of the rider at Kingston Gate car park. The cyclist shouted at the driver, who proceeded to follow them. The two stopped and argued, and the cyclist took photos of the motorist as well as the car’s other occupants. A man got out of the vehicle, kicking the cyclist’s bike and racially abusing them.
In April, a driver swerved towards a cyclist, sounding their horn before close passing them. Both stopped at Pembroke Lodge. The driver got a hammer out of their vehicle, and threatened and verbally abused the victim – a public order offence.
In May a driver sounded their horn at a cyclist who was cycling in the middle of the lane and overtook them. The driver parked their car and got out, and the cyclist came from behind and punched them – an incident of common assault by the cyclist.
A cyclist was reported to have spat towards a moving vehicle in May.
Also in May, a person walking a dog who was wearing headphones was startled and jumped as a cyclist passed on the Tamsin Trail. The cyclist asked whether it was a good idea to wear headphones on the shared use path, and the dog walker pushed them, committing an act of common assault.
On separate dates in May, three bikes were stolen from Roehampton Gate Car Park, two of which we understand were from the cycle hire shop.
There were two falls in June. At Kingston Gate, there was an altercation between a cyclist and a motorist after a close pass. The cyclist undertook the driver to “have words” but lost balance, resulting in cuts and bruising. Later in the month, a cyclist steered around a runner on Sawyer’s Hill but lost their balance and dislocated their shoulder in a fall.
In April, two cyclists riding together at Sheen Cross came into contact and fell, with one sustaining a broken collar bone.
Traffic offences and relevant breaches of park regulations were as follows:
Trade vehicles – 192
Unauthorised parking/unattended – 143
Driving not on a road – 45
Speed – 28
Off track cycling – 20
Contravening signs (including closed roads) – 6
Driving a vehicle to endanger any person – 5
Driving without due care – 3
Using a mobile while driving – 3
No valid license – 2
No insurance – 1
No cycle lights after dark – 1
BAD REACTIONS
Finally, a note on rider behaviour on the park’s roads, which appear to have been busier than usual recently. Subscribers have told us they have seen a small minority riding inconsiderately through and around traffic, startling other cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. If you see any person on a bike who is behaving badly, politely advise them to adjust their conduct in future – and remember that the way you ride can affect how cyclists in the park are generally perceived.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
As ever, thank you for allowing us to pop into your inbox, and let us know what you think about anything related to cycling in Richmond Park – we reply personally to every email you send us. If you enjoyed this bulletin, please share it with your cycling friends – and if they like what they read, encourage them to sign up to our mailing list too. The more subscribers we have, the bigger our voice.
All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists