AS a cyclist, I would like to respond to correspondent GB (Letters, June 11) and his comments about Allan Ramsay's road safety campaign.

Yes, I do pay an insurance premium to ride my bike, as do many cyclists. It is not £500; it is £85 per year to cover myself and any third party.

With regard to road tax, the public roads are exactly that -- public. They are paid for out of public funds, and anyone can use them at any time, for walking, horse-riding, cycling etc. To use a motorised vehicle on public roads, you have to pay extra, but if GB really believes that the road tax he/she pays actually goes towards road building and maintenance, then he/she is naive in the extreme.

So GB, you pay 61p per litre tax on petrol. So do I. Yes, cyclists drive cars too!

I agree entirely with GB that a crackdown on cyclists who ride on the pavement would be desirable, with the exception of young children.

However, before they start prosecuting these offenders, perhaps the police could prosecute drivers who park their cars on the pavement, often forcing pedestrians to walk in the road. Perhaps when the police have cleared all the illegally-parked cars from the pavements, they could then start on the cyclists.

I don't know Allan Ramsay personally, but I believe him to be a tireless campaigner for road safety for all road users. I cannot understand why anyone would wish to do anything other than applaud his efforts. After all, any one of us could be the next statistic.

BOB DUCKWORTH,

Tottington.