I have refrained from criticising your cycling columnist James Styring until now, but his latest rambling (Oxford Mail, January 12) cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged.

Several times have I held back while he has idiotically encouraged cyclists to break the law, such as by ignoring speed limits and red traffic lights and questioning the necessity of displaying lights during the hours of darkness.

He now has the gall to admit that he is using a cycle with a worn out and thus ineffectual brake.

As far as I am aware, cycles with wheels over a certain size are required to have two working brakes, except in the case of cycles with fixed wheel drive, which need only a front brake.

He should also know that most cycle helmets are supplied with a liner made of a thin material which will go some way to keeping the head protected from the elements while still performing its intended purpose.

As someone who has apparently taken it upon himself to speak for cyclists in Oxford, he, of all people, should ensure that he is always within the law.

On the subject of the law, motorists are now to be considered always the guilty party in any collision between them and a cyclist, regardless of the cause.

Could this lead to a driver deciding not to stop after an accident caused wholly by a careless cyclist rather than be held responsible for something for which he is blameless?

Ken Agutter, Poulton Place, Oxford