MP urges more reliance on bikes and less on cars

Yesterday in Parliament, Julian Huppert the LibDem MP for Cambridge, made a speech praising the economic, social and health benefits of cycling.

He said: “It is important that the difficult decisions we must make to tackle the structural deficit do not make us give up hope for what we can do in future.

“Perhaps we should see the recent economic crisis as an opportunity to remodel our economy, to make it more sustainable, diverse and innovative?

“However, to build such a stable economy, we need a transport system to match. We need to get away from our over-reliance on roads and cars, and move towards public transport, walking and cycling, and indeed towards travelling less altogether, with video conferencing and working from home becoming increasingly viable alternatives.”

Huppert has form on raising cycling matters in Parliament. During October and November last year, Huppert asked 13 parliamentary questions on the topic of cyclist safety.

In January 2011, he led a debate on cycling in the House of Commons, in which he called for greater use of 20mph speed limits in residential and shopping streets; urged local authorities to increase the use of ‘no entry except cycles’ traffic signs; asked for greater enforcement of the law on mandatory cycle lanes, so that motorised vehicles blocking cycle lanes can be prosecuted; and suggested a cycling and pedestrian awareness element to the driving test.

Huppert also called for the introduction of ‘strict liability’ in the UK making it easier for cyclists injured by motorists (and pedestrians injured by cyclists) to claim on insurance.

On his web site, Huppert shows he’s strong on sustainable transport:

“We cannot continue increasing our dependence on cars. The environmental impact is too great, but there is also a more self-interested reason – congestion is becoming increasingly problematic, and we cannot simply keep building more roads to relieve the congestion, especially since all studies show that new roads just generate more traffic. We need to promote more sustainable methods of transport.

“Cycling and walking are environmentally ideal forms of travel, and help to keep people healthy. We need to ensure that there are good-quality routes for people to use, where they feel safe and to not have to deviate from their direction of travel.”