Law-breaking cyclists are fined in police crackdown

The four, two parents and two teenagers, all unrelated, were riding without lights.

They were prosecuted following a police crackdown last December on hundreds of cyclists in York who daily defy the law and put their lives at risk.

In just two weeks, police spotted more than 230 cyclists breaking the law in a range of ways from disobeying traffic signs to riding without lights.

Eleven of them were prosecuted. The rest received fixed penalty tickets or verbal warnings.

York magistrates heard that three of the four fined yesterday had been late for work.

Mother Christine Tracey Skaife, 38, was stopped near her home in Beckfield Lane, Acomb during the morning rush hour on December 9. She told the court she had not had time to go back to her house when she realised she had no lights.

Barry Crundwell, 29, of Bellhouse Way, Foxwood, was caught on the same day on Manor Drive, Acomb.

He told the court he was on his bike because his car had broken down and he had intended to buy lights during his lunchtime.

Both were fined £30 with £30 costs.

Mark Stuart Hill, 18, of Nursery Lane, Holgate, was stopped at 7.55am on Blossom Street, York, on December 11. His letter to magistrates said thieves had stolen his lights the previous day and he had been waiting until his next wage packet before buying new ones.

He was fined £20 with £30 costs, as was Gary John Endersey, 19, of Woodlea Bank, Acomb. He was stopped on York Road, Acomb, on December 9.

All four were on the road during lighting-up time when it is dangerous for any vehicle to move without lights.

Before the crackdown, an Evening Press survey during the morning rush hour spotted 42 cyclists riding without lights, 24 more had no front or rear lights, eight were riding the wrong way down a one way street and seven were riding on the pavement.

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