A CYCLIST was caught riding without lights almost every minute during a city centre operation.

The three-hour operation on Wednesday night in High Street and Botley Road saw 162 riders given £30 fixed penalty notices.

Dozens more with only one working light were ordered to get off and walk until they got their other light fixed.

Road Safety Constable Mark Pilling said cycle safety was more important than ever.

He said: “What our figures show is that all casualties are down, except pedal cyclists where casualties have increased by 10 per cent.

“We have more cyclists knocked off in the city centre, although that’s partly due to volume of traffic.

“When a police officer attends a collision we have to fill in an accident book and the cause is logged and that can be anything from excess speed, there are about 40 causes to pick from.

“In 40 per cent the causation factor is ‘looked, but didn’t see’ so this is a classic example of how cyclists can make themselves safer.”

In an attempt to make more cyclists switch on their lights before getting on their bikes, officers gave out fines which can be revoked if the recipient proves they have bought a set of lights.

It was good news for St Peter’s college student Emma Finlayson who had her bike lights stolen.

She said: “I think it is a good idea. I needed to buy them anyway.

“My lights were stolen when it was parked in the cycle rack by St Peter’s.”

Fellow student Jospeh Hayden, of St Edmund Hall college, was also philosophical about being fined.

He said: “I knew the risk, but I could not be bothered to buy lights. It is completely reasonable to stop me, I will buy lights now.”

Nurse Ason Valle and her boyfriend David Pujol escaped a fine, but were told to walk back after cops spotted them sharing a pair of lights.

Miss Valle said: “I forgot my lights, so we shared today. I went out in the daylight and now it’s dark, so I got caught out.”

Chilam Leung, who took a chance with his hired bike, was given a £30 fine.

He said: “It is a rental bike, I don’t own it. I can buy lights and they’ll waive the fine at the police station, but I don’t own the bike so that’s pointless for me.”

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