Fine by me

Despite a three-minute delay on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo (on top of the two-minute delay caused by having to use this station due to Edgware Road [Bakerloo Line] seven-plus month closure), I made the fast train back to Hersham last night.  It was on time - a pleasant change!  Interestingly, the reason given for the (ultimately inconsequential) delay on the tube was that pickpockets were operating at stations between Oxford Circus and Embankment.  That's another new one on me!  Presumably they were stealing timetables from the tube drivers...

This morning, the train was also on time, and the connecting tube even arrived a minute early at Paddington.  That's still two minutes late compared to alighting at Edgware Road, so it's a one-minute delay overall, but not bad.  Just £2.50 to add to the bill this morning.

In the news today, TfL looks close to taking over from the Metropolitan Police the responsibility for stopping motorists from entering cycle lanes and advances stop lines (bike boxes).  Drivers may soon face up to a £60 fine and three points on their licence for being naughty.

While three points on the licence seems more than a tad excessive to me, I think the fine is a fine idea (ha!): cyclists do need better protection on London's streets.  I hope TfL will publicly commit to using monies gained from these fines to further improving life for cyclists in London.

What I'd really like to see, however, is some token at policing things the other way too: far too often I see cyclists ignoring dedicated cycle lanes to cause road havoc, cycling across zebra crossings instead of dismounting and walking, ignoring various traffic signs and more.  Anything that prevents motorists from behaving like raging dickheads is great for cyclists safety, but let's not pretend there are many, many cyclists who need to learn they don't own the road.  This will make life still safer for cyclists, as well as for pedestrians and, yes, drivers.