Cycling in London: hoover factories and red lights

In the 1930s some Londoners traveled many miles to work by bicycle - and, unlike the present mayor, appear to have obeyed every traffic signal along the wayAt last Wednesday's mayor's question time Boris Johnson said he thought he'd seen a figure that 62% of cyclists killed or seriously injured (KSI) had been, "associated with some infraction by the cyclists themselves of the rules of the road." As Peter Walker reported on Friday, this surprising, passing claim is strongly contradicted by the most authoritative source on blame in bike accidents. Peter added that City Hall was unable to source the mayor's statistic beyond saying that he'd been "told it by a member of the public," at a recent hustings." He was assured that the mayor, "has asked his team to look into whether that statistic can be confirmed."Still no joy so far. Ah well, we can wait. To pass the time, here's an account of cycling in the capital from the mid-1930s by Londoner Les White: I used to live in Bow, and I worked at Hoover's in Perivale, which is some 17 miles away, and this journey I used to do by cycle. I started work at seven o'clock in the morning, which meant I had to leave home at about a quarter past five. When I got to Aldgate I used to meet my friend from west ham and we'd cycle together most mornings, side by side, chatting about all sorts of things, the weather, football, family - it helped pass the time.We had a few dodges as well, to get to work more quickly, because if you were late at Hoover's, they locked you out. Oxford Street was full of traffic lights and we used to get to know these lights quite well travelling morning after morning, and being early morning there was little traffic about, so you could see almost the whole length of Oxford Street, all the traffic lights from one end to the other.So we worked it out that, if you caught one light, if you pedalled like mad, you'd be able to catch the next seven lights without stopping - they'd all be green. We got expert at that.That's an impressive pedal-powered commute, but I'm equally struck by the deference Les and his friend showed to traffic signals. Though a strong advocate of a far more cycle-friendly London, I also favour cyclists stopping at red lights. No, this is not an oblique defence of mayoral disinformation. It is an unrelated observation that too often I or other members of my family have had almost literal brushes with death or injury when crossing roads thanks to cyclists hurtling onwards when cars, vans and buses have come to a halt. There may not be many who are as reckless as that, but the pro-cyclist case would be easier to make if there were fewer. And, of course, the mayor himself has form for taking red light liberties. Speech over. Les White's story can be found in Gavin Weightman and Steve Humphries's marvelous The Making of Modern London. The Hoover building in Perivale, now a supermarket, has been immortalised in song by Elvis Costello.Cycling holidaysElvis CostelloTransportTransport policyBoris JohnsonLondon politicsLondonDave Hillguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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