WHAT an uninformed and judgmental letter from Steve Symonds (Make cyclists use the lanes, July 22).

His assumptions seem drawn from a very unhealthy view of cycling and driving.

Firstly, it has been proven in court that cyclists are not obliged to use cycle lanes and have every right to use the carriageway, unlike motorists who are only permitted to do so under licence.

Secondly, there is no doubt that Mr Symonds has never tried to undertake a cycle journey using the pitiful selection of extant cycle paths.

They can take you off your route, make you face multiple sets of lights to cross a junction, force you to give way to every minor road and that’s some of the least annoying issues.

They are poorly-designed afterthoughts; shoe-horned in so as not to disrupt motor traffic.

Cyclists are no different here to those in Holland; no different in mindset to motorists and pedestrians.

It is the badly engineered road environment that causes them to behave as they do – as we all do.

To claim they cause ‘chaos’ on the roads is a complete overstatement and belies the fact that road congestion, pollution and delays stem from over-saturation with motor traffic.

Every bike ride you see is one less car journey.

MIKE CHALKLEY, Cowper Road, Bournemouth