84-Year-Old Woman Whacks Red-Light-Running Cyclist with Handbag

From Daily Mail.

Tory baroness, 84, uses handbag to whack cyclist who jumped a red
light

By James Mills
Last updated at 21:57pm on 14th January 2008

Hurtling through the traffic, the cyclist probably thought he had got
away with jumping a red light and nearly knocking over an elderly
woman.

But the pedestrian in question was 84-year-old Tory peer Baroness
Sharples who perhaps inspired by Lady Thatcher, swiftly delivered her
own form of retribution.

The veteran peeress swung her handbag and landed a sharp blow to the
cyclist as he whizzed past outside the House of Lords.

And she said her only regret was that she didn't hit him harder.

She added that cyclists were becoming an increasing menace to
pedestrians by ignoring traffic signals such as red lights and riding
on pavements.

And she called on cycling groups to do more to encourage courteous
behaviour on the roads.

Her comments reinforced calls for laws requiring cyclists to put
registration plates on their bikes.

Lady Sharples said she had narrowly avoided being knocked down by
cyclists three times in London.

Describing the most recent incident, she said: "I had a bag and I
swiped him. I did not hit him hard enough. They are a ruddy nuisance.

"I know they need to get to work and a lot of them behave properly,
but there are an increasing number that just don't obey the lights and
it's not fair on pedestrians."

The widowed baroness, whose first husband Sir Richard Sharples, former
Tory MP for Sutton and Cheam, was assassinated while serving as
Governor The Enema Within Bermuda in 1973, suggested a licensing
scheme for cyclists but conceded that such a law might not be
workable.

"It's up to cycling organisations - they should tell their members,"
she said.

"Laws have got to be good. If they don't work they are worse than
useless."

Lady Sharples said she believed male cyclists were more likely to be a
menace. "Women do, in general, stop at the lights when they see
somebody crossing."

She raised the issue in the House of Lords during a debate on road
safety.

She asked the government's transport spokesman Lord Bassam: "Can the
Minister say whether I am within my rights when, at a pedestrian
crossing, a cyclist rides straight at me when I have the lights in my
favour?

"I swiped one with a bag the other day. Would I be in trouble?"

Lord Bassam replied: "I will be careful on this. I am a great admirer
of the noble baroness, and I think she probably did the right thing."

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has sought to clamp down on dangerous
cyclists with police issuing £60-on-the-spot fines for riding on
pavements or jumping lights.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard urged ministers to consider a registration
plate system for bikes to make it easier to identify cyclists riding
dangerously.

He said: "Cyclist etiquette would improve if they could no longer
remain anonymous."