Illegally-modified e-bikes with top speeds of ’60mph’ were seized by council enforcement officers as part of a crackdown on ‘dangerous’ cycling. The intervention was undertaken as part of plans to introduce new restrictions on ‘inconsiderate’ cycling in the city centre.
A consultation was launched last week to target cyclists who ride in a ‘dangerous, careless, or inconsiderate manner’. The proposed ‘cycling ban’ has drawn criticism from active travel campaigners who say the move could ‘criminalise cycling’ – although it has since been confirmed the ban would target ‘the manner in which people ride’ as opposed to all cycling.
Prior to the launch of the consultation, an intervention day held by Birmingham City Council in August 2024 saw ’17 bicycles seized due to poor maintenance or through adaption of the bicycles’. Some bikes were found to have been ‘illegally modified’ while others did not have working brakes.
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During a separate enforcement period in September 2024, local officers recorded several incidents of ‘poor riding behaviours’ within the zone covered by the proposed PSPO. The restricted area would include Centenary Square, New Street and part of Edgbaston Street.
A number of complaints were submitted to the city council prior to the launch of the consultation. One reads: “Over the past few years, I have noticed an increase in people racing around Town on bikes.
“I feel very strongly that they are a danger and menace to pedestrians, especially children, animals and the elderly. On numerous occasions I have felt threatened by these Cyclists and feel lucky that no-one has ridden into me yet.”
The areas of Birmingham city centre covered by the proposed PSPO. Taken from a consultation document.
The council previously insisted the order would not signal a ‘ban on cycling’ and acknowledged in a consultation document that ‘mixed feelings surrounding this issue.’ Active travel campaigners have suggested the PSPO has been ‘watered down to something not worth the paper it’s written on: a limit on anti-social riding through some streets.’
Campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham called the plans ‘clumsy and unworkable.’ The council is proposing the PSPO order be in force for three years and could see fines of up to £100 to anyone breaching the order, rising to £1,000 if the fine is not paid. The consultation, which can be found on the Birmingham Be Heard website, closes on January 31, 2025.