OVER two days in Oxford last week, the police issued 261 penalty charges to cyclists for not using lights.

As a cyclist who has nearly been killed by drivers on the phone, it was infuriating to read this week that drivers caught using phones were merely cautioned!

To my knowledge, no one has been killed by a cyclist. If cyclists are too stupid to not use lights in the dark, they are the ones at risk.

By contrast, however, three children and two adults have been killed by drivers on the phone during the past few months alone.

Two lorry drivers were given prison sentences for killing the above victims in separate incidents. No doubt they will be free in two or three years to go out and do the same again, as no driving ban was included in the sentence.

The situation in Oxfordshire is so bad that a 10-year driving ban should be the minimal sentence for using a phone at the wheel.

You can see drivers using phones every day, because they know that a caution is all they can expect.

A friend was nearly knocked off her bicycle by a taxi driver last week, he pulled out in front of her with a phone to his right ear. She did not report it because she said that taxi drivers have police protection – they are the ‘eyes and ears of the police’.

MARTIN GROSSMAN

Ock Street

Abingdon