SERIOUS injuries to cyclists in Oxford have risen 40 per cent since 2003, although neither Cycling nor other traffic has increased that much. Most other road casualties have decreased. Are Oxford cyclists becoming more dangerous?

After dark on September 17, I counted cyclists using Banbury and Woodstock Roads; only 26 per cent were lawfully lit. Recently part of Broad Street was closed for a Moroccan market; when I visited, on September, 13 more cyclists rode illegally through the crowd than dismounted and walked.

For an hour in July I watched traffic through Iffley Road roadworks: 61 per cent of cyclists disobeyed red signals. Thirty-nine per cent rode illegally on the footway; another 22 per cent rode illegally against oncoming traffic.

Although most Oxford cyclists are habitual lawbreakers, Cyclox and its allies concentrate on blaming other modes of traffic. Some cycle campaigners even seem to endanger themselves and other road users.

Cyclox chairman James Styring crashes about once a year, including once “on a new racing bike and tailgating a bus on Cowley Road” (On Yer Bike, September 20). He had two other crashes “on the way home from the pub”. Not long ago, Honour Tomkinson said she and Kevin Moreland “sampled a lot of ale and cycled some 25 miles” (On Yer Bike, July 19).

Britain has no alcohol limit for cyclists, which impedes enforcement of ‘cycling while drunk’. To protect responsible cyclists like myself from irresponsible campaigners, Parliament should not only pass the current Dangerous and Reckless Cycling Bill but also enact a cycling alcohol limit.

HUGH JAEGER, Park Close, Oxford