Tony Williams, Team Principal of Equipe Flamme Rouge, says every day he sees people driving dangerously to him or other cyclists while he is out on his bike.
He said: “You cannot imagine the death defying things people will do going down Mont Millais or Beaumont hill or any hill to get past you, going down those hills, they then get to the bottom and then sit for 10 minutes in a traffic jam!
“It won’t stop until someone is killed and people realise the impact of what they do.”
Motorists in the UK who drive too close to cyclists now face prosecution if they don’t give them a metre-and-a-half of room when they are overtaking and Police officers on bikes fitted with cameras have started patrolling busy roads in the West Midlands. According to national reports they have now issued 14 prosecution notices off the back of helmet cam footage given to them by cyclists.
Mr Williams has caught a number of dangerous drivers on camera himself while he’s been out on his bike.
Cyclist view of incident from Bailiwick Express on Vimeo.
He said: “Sadly, criminalising them for their irrational behaviour may be the only answer. Education doesn’t seem to be working. I honestly think it will take an accident getting caught on camera.”
Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel said: “Anyone encroaching inside that safe passing distance, widely considered to be a minimum of 1.5 metres, runs the risk of being prosecuted for driving “without due care and attention”.
“This is of course a policing and public prosecution matter, but my own experience suggests that it is as much of a problem on the Island as elsewhere.
“If the campaign by the West Midlands police is successful in changing behaviour and encouraging mutual respect between different road users, I believe there would be merit in the Jersey police considering a similar approach to bad driving, this would equally apply to equestrians and possibly in some instances pedestrians.
“While it’s a matter for the police, my opinion is that it is a good idea although there would be a backlash demanding stricter enforcement of the rules for cycling.”
Mr Williams said drivers don’t like coming across a big bunch of cyclists who look to be hogging the roads at the weekend but says riding two abreast is the safest way.
He said: “We sit two abreast in a line. When you are riding in a group you want to be riding 2 or 3 inches behind the one in front so that your wheels don’t overlap .
“You ride just to the right or the left so that you can see what’s in front of you, so you have an uninterrupted view of the road and so that you don’t hit another bike.
“But from the car’s point of view it looks like the bikes are all over the road, it’s actually an optical illusion.
“We’re as entitled to be on the road as anyone else, we are faster than a tractor, we are faster than a horse. We travel on average 25 miles an hour and we are riding together because it’s the safest way.”