The Friends of Tooting Common wrote an open letter<\/a> to Wandsworth Council Cainet member for the Environment Paul White calling for both “increased police enforcement” and the imposition of “physical barriers or other effective constraints”.<\/p>\n The group told White that reisdents had reported a \u201cparticular problem with delivery riders\u201d and warned\u00a0the council that unless\u00a0increased speed checks were carried out barriers built to slow down cyclists, a \u201cserious accident or fatality is waiting to happen\u201d.<\/p>\n The letter added that “we are, of course, not anti-cycling. There are strong environmental and health reasons to encourage cycling, and many of our members are cyclists.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Among other things we are concerned that a cyclist could well be seriously injured in a collision with a speeding cyclist. Traffic calming measures do not deter considerate cyclists – on the contrary.”<\/p>\n >\u00a0Cyclists told to slow down in London parks as new cycling code of conduct launched \u2013 after 86% of Londoners said 20mph speed limits should apply to bikes<\/a><\/p>\n However, a council spokesperson has told road.cc that Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) were only being issued “as a last resort\u00a0for dangerous speeding and unauthorised cycling.”<\/p>\n As, cycling’s popularity has grown, scrutiny has risen over the conduct of cyclists in the capital. As a non-motorised mode of transport, cyclists are not ordinarily subject to most speed limits<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Royal Parks advise all cyclists to observe the vehicular speed limit on its grounds, varying between 5 and 20mph. The Square Mile of the City of London has also imposed a 20mph speed limit.<\/p>\n >\u00a0Cycling group and Royal Parks disagree over cyclist speed limit advice in Richmond Park<\/a><\/p>\n The 12mph speed limit in Tooting Bec Common, which can also to apply to other areas such as Finsbury Park and Wandsworth Common, has come under particular attention for it’s relatively low limit by comparison.<\/p>\n The limit reportedly owes its existence to bylaws created by the Greater London Council that governed London until 1986. The limit means that e-bikes, which legally have a motor that goes up to 15.5mph, could also be fined.<\/p>\n A separate but related issue concerns electric motorbikes that are often misidentified as e-bikes<\/a>. E-bikes are also subject to illegal modification that increases the motor’s speed beyond legal limits.<\/p>\n > “They’re technically motorcycles”: Police continue crackdown on illegal ‘e-bikes’ causing “persistent” issues in city centres<\/a><\/p>\n The topic of speeding cyclists has also been the subject of misinformation. Last year, the Daily Telegraph were found to have breached the Editors’ Code<\/a> of the\u00a0the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) after running a headline titled “52mph in a 20mph zone – Lycra lout cyclists are creating death traps all over Britain”<\/p>\n![\"20mph](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20mph-sign-cc-licensed-edinburghgreens-flickr.jpg\" "\\"20mph")
20mph sign (credit: CC licensed by EdinburghGreens via Flickr)<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/telegraph_0.png\" "\\"Telegraph")
Telegraph front page (credit: road.cc)<\/p>\n