Cycling and the law: what is your experience? asks Jenny Jones

I take my hat off to anyone who rides a bike in London or on any road other than a quiet country lane, they all deserve a medal for bravery.

I have recently done John O'Groats to Lands End and whilst doing so had what I regard as a rather worrying disagreement with a member of the constabulary which I hope is not representative of the norm. Four of us were doing the route in total and on this occasion 2 of us were riding side by side along a quiet road when a police car pulled alongside then pulled us over to the side of the road and told us we were breaking the law and should be riding single file. When I pointed out to him that he was in fact wrong as the highway code states "no more than 2 abreast" (in a polite and friendly manner) I was advised impolitely and with some threat to keep my gob shut. This is the second incident I have had recently with a member of the police force who had an erroneous grasp of the highway code in general & I really do hope this is not representative of the police forces interpretation of it and the law in reference to cycling and cyclists.

my comment would be that huge numbers of cyclists in London are regular law breakers - they ignore the highway code

I only commute 3 miles each way to work in my current job (at a bike shop), and follow the high way code to the letter: never jump red lights, give way to pedestrians on crossings, don't ride up one-way streets, signal when I turn, do not ride on the pavement, always use lights at night, maintain a visible position on the road, etc.

I follow these procedures to keep myself safer on the road, and with the logic that if anything happens during a road traffic collision, I cannot be held accountable in that I have not ignored the Highway code.

I am also a performance cyclist riding road bikes and mountain bikes, and find that adhering to the Highway Code makes no real difference to my commuting time as I can make a good (but sensible) pace between traffic lights.

however, something that really winds me up is the sheer stupidty of the majority of cyclists I encounter during this short commute (which covers NW to WC2)

for every red light I stop at, 8/10 other cyclists will jump the lights or ride onto the pavement to get around the red light. They are not going any faster because I am overtaking them between each set of lights.

The number of times I have seen other cyclists nearly become the victim of a RTC with a heavy goods vehicle, car or ride into a pedestrian is too many to mention. On Sunday in Regents Park saw a father and son on road bikes have a very near collision with a car because the cyclists ignored the red light which other serious, road cyclists were waiting for

I myself have been, as a pedestrian, have had cyclists ride into me on the pavement, or when crossing on a green pedestrian light in Camden where the cyclist has jumped the lights and crashed into me bruising my arm and jaw.

something really needs to be done to educate cyclists, because the majority do not give a sh*t about the Highway code, and this gives the motorists and pedestrians a genuine perception that cyclists are law-breaking scum who deserve no special treatment!