\n<\/p>\n
Simon Jenkins is right that traffic rules can feel bureaucratic, but using Hans Monderman\u2019s \u201cshared space\u201d to justify running red lights misses the entire point of Monderman\u2019s philosophy (I\u2019ll admit it: I\u2019ve cycled through red lights. But Britain\u2019s traffic laws are to blame, not me, 21 August).<\/p>\n
Monderman didn\u2019t champion anarchy so individuals could cherrypick which laws to follow; he suggested infrastructure be removed precisely to force collective cooperation, eye contact and mutual caution.<\/p>\n
The moment cyclists ignore that negotiation process while vulnerable pedestrians are left unprotected, the delicate psychological balance collapses. Freedom without universal accountability isn\u2019t shared space. It is just a system that rewards the most aggressive road user.<\/p>\n
That is precisely why high-profile implementations like London\u2019s Exhibition Road faced a fierce backlash and were reversed, and why the UK government eventually halted new level-surface shared-space projects: when compliance breaks down, it is blind and elderly people, and vulnerable pedestrians, who pay the price for an idealised view of human nature. As a lifelong cyclist may I point out an alternative view to that of Simon Jenkins? I don\u2019t mind red lights; they offer unplanned fartlek opportunities on a training ride, skill development in maintaining a track stand for an unpredictable length of time, and stomp intervals in getting away from them. And if I\u2019m knackered, a nice unplanned rest and chance to take a drink. I\u2019m not sure Jenkins\u2019 anarchic behaviour and justification for it does much to help the case of cyclists. I ride a bike and a motorbike, and drive a car, and on all three I stop at red lights. Cyclists who ignore traffic lights contribute to the growing antagonism towards the rest of us. Simon Jenkins should know better. Four years ago, aged 83, I was knocked down by a young man on a bike. Damaged wrist. He rode away quickly after making sure I wasn\u2019t dead. April this year, aged 87, I was knocked down on a pedestrian crossing by a black ebike. Deep wound on leg, police, ambulance, hospital. Four months later, the leg is still being treated. The rider rode off after making sure I wasn\u2019t dead. Shame on you, Simon Jenkins. Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/strong><\/em>email<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong><\/em>us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/strong><\/em>letters<\/strong><\/em> section.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Simon Jenkins is right that traffic rules can feel bureaucratic, but using Hans Monderman\u2019s \u201cshared space\u201d to justify running red lights misses the entire point of Monderman\u2019s philosophy (I\u2019ll admit it: I\u2019ve cycled through red lights. But Britain\u2019s traffic laws are to blame, not me, 21 August). Monderman didn\u2019t champion anarchy so individuals could cherrypick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[8743,16657,12424,2264,1411,415,3542],"class_list":{"0":"post-51993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-cyclists","10":"tag-decide","11":"tag-lights","12":"tag-red","13":"tag-stop","14":"tag-traffic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Gary Ogin<\/strong>
London<\/em><\/p>\n
Peter Anderson<\/strong>
Barwick-in-Elmet, West Yorkshire<\/em><\/p>\n
Edward Collier<\/strong>
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire<\/em><\/p>\n
Joan Grabham<\/strong>
Cambridge<\/em><\/p>\n