Boris's bikers must not rule the roads

What was bad news for newt fanciers has proved good for London cyclists. Ken may be gone but cyclists have found a champion in Boris Johnson, whose £111 million investment programme will - all going to plan - make 6,000 bicycles available for instant hire across the city. But what will that mean for pedestrians?

As long as the new rental bicycles don't get piled onto the back of a lorry heading for Bucharest, London can look forward to a projected 40,000 extra cycle trips across the city every day.

Anyone who has been to Hanoi will know what it's like being in a street filled with cyclists. They move like a shoal of fish - albeit fishes with bells.

With such a massive increase in the number of cycles there is talk of laws being tightened up, with fines for motorists who drive too close to bikes.

While the focus is on cyclists' security, rules about riders' behaviour need to be shrink-wrapped too -not all are innocent victims and many are as much of a menace as they are menaced.

Last winter, my neighbour broke a rib when a pavement rider felled her. Only yesterday a cyclist wobbled all over the road in front of me; when I finally passed him, I watched in my rear-view mirror as he did the same to a bus before finally making it to the side, so drunk that he then just lay down.

If cyclists are going to multiply on the capital's roads, many of them need to change their behaviour.

For a start, helmets may not look cool but it's no surprise that cyclists who don't wear them are referred to simply as "donors" by accident and emergency staff. Boringly, helmets should be compulsory.

We also need to sort out the red light rule. Some statistics say it's actually safer for bikes to run them - so where does that leave the person who is hit by one while crossing on green?

No lights at night render any vehicle invisible: those cycling without them deserve a heavy spot fine or to have their machine impounded. Why manufacturers don't build light brackets onto their frames, like on scooters, is a mystery.

Whatever mode of transport we choose, we all irrationally think of ourselves as king of the road.

Bicycles are wondrous: even in hilly areas the unfit can dismount and use them as Zimmer frames, as I frequently do. But they must share the road.