City of London's red-light 'sin bin' for cyclists: what the crash data says

City of London Police has started offering cyclists caught riding through red lights a choice: watch a short road safety film on the spot, or take the fixed penalty. The force announced the scheme on 14 October 2026 and the press quickly named it a "sin bin".

Our analysis of Department for Transport STATS19 data shows 122 cyclists were injured in the City of London in 2025, up 39% on 2024 and the highest of the five years from 2021. 30% were hurt at junctions with traffic lights, against 13% across Britain.

The film includes a cyclist who was hit by a bus and shows what red-light riding means for blind and partially sighted pedestrians. It is part of a campaign the force calls STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, CHANGE.

Does the sin bin replace fines?

No. Officers decide case by case. Sergeant Stuart Ford, who leads the force's Cycle Team, said it "does not replace enforcement" and that "where enforcement is necessary, we will enforce."

The force issued 1,315 fixed penalty notices to cyclists in 2025/26, for offences including going through red lights. That is more than double the 643 issued the year before. A red-light fixed penalty for a cyclist is £50, with no points, because points go on a driving licence and cycling needs no licence.

Why the Square Mile: what the crash data shows

We ran the Department for Transport's police-reported collision records (STATS19) for the City of London police area. Cycling in the City has grown, and so have the casualties.

Two things stand out:

• 2025 was the worst of the five years. 122 cyclists were hurt in the Square Mile, up 39% on 2024, and 33 were killed or seriously injured.
• Junctions with traffic lights matter far more here. 30% of the City's cyclist casualties in 2025 happened at a junction controlled by traffic signals. Across London's Metropolitan Police area it was 23%, and across Britain 13%.

That figure tells you where the collisions happened, not who had the red light. The public STATS19 data does not record which road user went through the signal, so a cyclist hurt at a junction with lights may well have been hit by a driver.

The pedestrians the film is about

The police film focuses on people walking. The data backs that up. In the City of London, 82 pedestrians were injured in collisions that involved only bicycles between 2021 and 2025, and 33 of them were killed or seriously injured. In 2021 the figure was 9. In 2025 it was 20.

Across Britain, 683 pedestrians were hurt in bicycle-only collisions in 2025, up 66% from 412 in 2021. 225 of them were killed or seriously injured and 2 died. Those numbers are small next to the 16,042 cyclists injured on Britain's roads in 2025, most of them in collisions with motor vehicles, but they are rising fast.

What the law says about cyclists and red lights

• A red light applies to cyclists exactly as it does to drivers. Highway Code rule 175 tells everyone to stop at the white line, and Highway Code rule 178 makes clear that at an advanced stop line a cyclist must stop at the first white line when the light is red.
• There is no left-turn-on-red exception for cyclists in the UK, and no exception for an empty junction.
• Pedestrians already on a crossing have priority when the lights change.

What riders should take from it

If you ride in the City, expect officers on bikes and expect to be stopped. The film is offered at the officer's discretion, so it is a second chance, not a right.

For everyone else, the numbers are a reminder that a junction with lights is not automatically a safe junction. Our dangerous roads data and the regional breakdown for every police force area show where cyclists and motorcyclists are most often killed or seriously injured.