Boris Johnson Wants Cyclist Headphone Ban

Boris Johnson has said cyclists who wear headphones should be banned from the capital's roads.

The London Mayor said those who chose to take to their bikes while listening to music were an "absolute scourge".

His comments came after a man in his 60s became the sixth cyclist to be killed on London's roads in two weeks. He died after a crash with a lorry on Camberwell Road in southeast London on Monday afternoon.

"I'm very alarmed about cyclists wearing headphones," Mr Johnson told BBC London 94.9.

"I would not be against a prohibition or ban on cyclists wearing headphones.

"Call me illiberal, but it makes me absolutely terrified to see them bowling along unable to hear the traffic."

The recent spate of cyclist deaths has sparked calls for better road safety measures for cyclists, as well as demands for cyclists to take more responsibility for their own safety.

Cyclist Chris Boardman has called for HGVs to be banned from London's roads during rush hour or, he said, more cyclists will be killed.

The former Olympic gold medallist said London should follow Paris, where lorries are only allowed on the roads between 10pm and 7am. No cyclists were killed on the French capital's roads last year.

Chris Boardman has called for a lorry ban

In an open letter to Mr Johnson, he wrote: "When I rode alongside you to help you launch your vision for cycling in March this year, you made a verbal promise to look at the successful experiences of Paris and many other cities in restricting the movements of heavy vehicles during peak hours.  

"London has an opportunity to emulate and surpass Paris and to lead the way for the other ambitious cycling cities across Britain. Let's not waste this opportunity to do something now. The longer we delay, the more lives will be lost."

There have been 14 cyclist deaths on London roads so far in 2013. HGVs were involved in nine of them, accounting for 64% of the fatalities even though they only make up less than 5% of traffic.

One of London's top police officers has urged cyclists to take more responsibility for their own safety as he launched a new initiative that will see 2,500 officers reinforcing traffic rules in the city's most notorious blackspots.

Chief Superintendent Glyn Jones said: "I think the more vulnerable you are, the more careful you need to be - even if the law is on your side.

"It is no comfort to a grieving family, but yes, the more vulnerable you are, the more care you need to take."

His comments echo those made by Mr Johnson last week when he told Nick Ferrari on LBC 97.3: "Some of the cases that we've seen in the last few days really make your heart bleed because you can see that people have taken decisions that really did put their lives in danger.

"You cannot blame the victim in these circumstances. But what you can say is that when people make decisions on the road that are very risky.

"Jumping red lights, moving across fast-moving traffic in a way that is completely unexpected and without looking to see what traffic is doing - it's very difficult for the traffic engineers to second-guess that."

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