Reckless delivery drivers on bikes ‘should be forced to pass road tests’: MP calls for tougher laws after she was hit by a cyclist going the wrong direction on a one-way street
- MP Nickie Aiken is proposing a Bill to make companies responsible for workers
- This would compel firms to ensure cyclists working for them know road laws
- She nearly collided with the man who was cycling in the wrong direction
New laws could be drawn up to curb reckless delivery drivers on bikes by forcing them to take proficiency tests.
Tory MP Nickie Aiken is proposing a Bill to make companies responsible for workers and ensure they obey the rules of the road.
It comes after a delivery cyclist hit Mrs Aiken, the Conservative Party‘s deputy chairman, as he was going the wrong way on the pavement down a one-way street.
He then smashed her phone and threw her bag across the road before the police were called.
Now Mrs Aiken plans to introduce a private members’ Bill to compel companies to ensure cyclists working for them understand the law. Should the Bill receive the backing of the Government, it could become law.
Tory MP Nickie Aiken is proposing a Bill to make companies responsible for workers
The MP for the Cities of London and Westminster was walking through central London last month when she saw a cyclist with a Gorillas delivery bag cycling along the pavement towards her.
As she turned into the next road – which was one way – she nearly collided with the man who was still cycling on the pavement and going in the wrong direction.
‘I could tell he was big and was going to hit me and I put out my arm to protect myself. We made contact and he fell off,’ she said.
‘Then he came back at me and was going ballistic – screaming, shouting, swearing, telling me “How dare you push me off my bike”. I squared up to him and I thought “This guy is going to hit me”. I just thought “I’m 54 and I’m a woman – go on hit me. I won’t back down”.
‘I was quite shaken up after the incident but I think the adrenaline had kicked in at the time.’
Mrs Aiken said the man was breaking the law and the Highway Code by cycling on the pavement the wrong way down a street.
The MP, who is 5ft 4in, said the man, who was at least 6ft, was ‘really big and really angry’ and shouted ‘every swear word under the sun’ at her.
She added: ‘I then got my phone out to call the police and he grabbed it and smashed it on the floor. Then he grabbed my bag and he threw it into the road.
‘It could have hit a driver or cyclist. He didn’t care.’
The man then cycled off before having a similar altercation with another man further up the road and also smashing his phone.
Extraordinarily, the cyclist then located the property he was looking for and made his delivery before cycling off again.
After an initial conversation with Getir, which owns Gorillas grocery delivery, the MP has not heard back. Mrs Aiken said she had also spoken to several cycling organisations and charities that would be willing to work with delivery companies on a cycling proficiency test.
She has also met or is due to meet representatives from delivery companies Deliveroo and Uber.
