Affluent parents won’t let kids cycle despite millions spent on new infrastructure

Parents in Ealing have said they will not let their children ride because of safety concerns, despite the council saying it has spent millions on new cycling infrastructure. In Ealing Broadway, parents say illegal and inconsiderate parking, congested roads and a lack of traffic enforcement have made parts of cycle lanes virtually useless, forcing children and adults to cycle on pavements or busy roads.

Videos have emerged of children being forced to walk in the middle of roads due to cycle lanes blocked by parked cars, something resident Mark Eccleston says is all too common. Mark is a father of three who has lived in Ealing for the past 18 years – he’s also a keen cyclist.

“I think this is one of the worst boroughs in London,” he tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). “There is a feeling that there is a clock ticking until you get hit.

“My wife was eliminated, my child was (also beaten) on the way to school. One of my children is disabled and had a mobility tricycle, but it just became impossible for him to leave the house, so we had to get rid of it because there is not enough protection for cyclists.”

Mark says he’s faced dangerous driving and abuse in the past that has left him second-guessing himself on the bike. He said: “People will roll down their windows and shout at you, you go up to passers-by and wave at them and they follow you down a back alley. If you ride your bike for several hours every day, this will happen every time.

“It only takes one or two in a day where you say ‘it was so dangerous or so abusive’ that you think ‘you know what I’m not going to risk’ and then you drive again.” From his own experience and that of his children, Mark says he has become so concerned about cycling that he no longer lets his children do it.

“You don’t need that mindset in your day — ‘I hope I don’t get hit’ — while you’re trying to get home,” he said.

“Kids should be able to cycle, they should be able to travel actively, but there just aren’t enough safe school roads.” When Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs) were introduced in Ealing, Mark says he felt much more comfortable cycling his children to school.

However, Ealing opted to scrap many of its LTNs around two years ago. Mark says this was instrumental in his decision to stop his children from cycling.

“When we had the LTNs it was a different world and our children could get to school safely but we stopped them once they were removed. When the cars came back, it was a bit like, ‘Well, I’m not going to stay home and wait to see if they survive’, so now I’m taking them to school.”

He accuses the council of being “political cowards” who bow down to motorists, who he believes are building a culture hostile to cyclists in the neighbourhood. “The message from the top of the council seems to be that as a motorist there is nothing you can do,” he said.

“I would like to see more enforcement. It sends a message that they (elders) have responsibilities. It is not a natural freedom to be able to drive wherever you want. It’s a luxury.”

While cycling has become increasingly political in London, often with battle lines drawn along the capital’s roads more firmly than any road markings, campaigner and Ealing resident Mark Uddin says the focus is on children’s safety.

As the father of an avid cyclist himself, Mark says his son has to take unnecessary risks on a daily basis simply to enjoy the most basic of childhood activities. “My son should be able to leave the house without fear of being knocked down, but it’s dangerous,” he told LDRS.

Mark took the LDRS on the usual route his son would have taken to get to school just 10 minutes away by bike, which includes the very busy Ealing Broadway.

Mark is quick to point out cars parked on the high street, blocking safe access for cyclists who would like to use the bus lanes to put a safe distance between themselves and traffic. He complains about the lack of enforcement of road wardens who he believes give drivers permission to park wherever they want.

“Look, he shouldn’t be here. None of these cars are,” he says as he points down the high street of Ealing Broadway. Mark has caught many cases of children in risky situations due to cars parked in inappropriate places, he claims.

Taking to his Twitter account, Mark shared a video of school children being forced into the center of a main road to avoid a car parked in a cycle lane, with the caption: ‘West Ealing High Street. Sometimes a picture tells its own story.”

Nick Moffitt, of the Ealing Cycling Campaign, says that as a father of a daughter who has been cycling for a decade, he has seen what were once quiet and safe streets turned into rat races.

He said: “Speaking as a father, over the past decade we have seen the rise of SatNav applications dramatically change the character of our residential streets. Ten years ago, my daughter and I could walk quiet back streets with very little traffic.

“These days, everyone has a phone or an in-dash device that directs them down some of these streets in a hurry. They became a quick link on a longer journey, like any freeway detour.”

Despite the risks, Nick says he believes a child who has been well trained to cycle should be safe in Ealing: “My daughter currently goes to high school on her own and has done since she was 13. I had ridden the trail with her for a few years prior to this and talked in depth about what it would mean for her to ride alone. I didn’t take it lightly, but I was confident that she could learn to make the trip safely.”

Nick says Ealing is behind its neighbors such as Hounslow when it comes to cycling infrastructure, a sentiment echoed by Mark Eccleston. He also raised parking enforcement as a serious cycling safety concern.

He added: “In terms of parking enforcement, it is clear that paint is not enough to fix our streets. Even the slightly raised curb of a graded runway is often ignored by drivers; I regularly see mass transit cars parked on double yellow lines, treating the stepped tracks as loading zones – even outside primary schools.

“I understand that Ealing Council have recently taken over the enforcement of indoor parking and have just announced that they are employing more dedicated staff to deal with this, so hopefully there will be an improvement soon.”

A spokesman for Ealing Council said: “We have invested millions of pounds in new cycle lanes and safe routes to school for local children, as well as bringing parking services back inland so we can close down illegal parking on bike lanes.

“We have introduced 28 ‘school streets’, closing roads near schools at morning and afternoon drop-off to allow hundreds more children to walk, walk or cycle to school. We have recently opened new separated cycleways in Northolt and Greenford and are finishing work on the next section of the Uxbridge Road cycleway. We are also hiring 20 new parking enforcement officers to keep the streets clear of congestion and bad parking.

“We’re investing in new mechanical cleaners – which are small enough to clean separated cycle lanes – and this term we’re also running free Bikeability courses for children at many of our schools.”