Tech company refuses to remove King’s Parks from app that encourages cyclists to ride faster

A US tech company has refused to remove King’s Parks from a GPS fitness app over fears speeding cyclists are endangering the lives of pedestrians, The Telegraph can reveal.

Strava has been repeatedly urged by the Royal Parks charity to remove its London green spaces from its digital platform because it encourages cyclists to “compete” for the best lap times and exceed 20mph speed limits.

The charity, which manages some of the capital’s most famous outdoor spaces including Regent’s Park and Richmond Park, wrote to Strava explaining how a pensioner died and others were seriously injured as cyclists raced through their parks.

Emails seen by The Telegraph show Strava bosses have rejected requests to remove such routes, which cyclists log on their app, because it would “not inspire the community to be active”.

Now Royal Parks’ lawyers are writing to Michael Martin, Strava’s chief executive, stressing that the eight parks owned by the king are private property – although the public has access – “so none of the roads or footpaths are a public highway.” “ ” and therefore should not be included in the Strava app.

Strava tracks routes – or “segments” – used by “athletes”, including cyclists and runners, and creates “leaderboards” where people can compare and log the fastest lap times.

In June, Royal Parks executives wrote to the company explaining how Hilda Griffiths, 81, died in 2022 after Brian Fitzgerald, a director at Credit Suisse and a member of the Muswell Hill Peloton cycling club, collided with her while riding with others Members were driving at 29 miles per hour in Regent’s Park with a 20 mph zone.

The Telegraph revealed in May that police could not prosecute Mr Fitzgerald because “there are no criminal offenses” that can be taken against cyclists who speed.

The email from Royal Parks called on Strava to stop cyclists from recording park routes on its app as it creates an “element of competition for those looking to improve on their final lap or segment” as sport cyclists “vie for the top spot compete”.

Strava responded: “Strava does not remove community-created segments as doing so would destroy their efforts and go against our goal of inspiring the community to be active while staying safe.”

The company claimed that removing the Crown’s 5,000 hectares of parkland from its app would “fail to achieve the Royal Parks’ intention of curbing competition from cyclists”.

Instead, Strava asked Royal Parks to “label segments as dangerous” to “warn users of the risks” and thus “remove the element of competition.”

The email exchange culminated in Royal Parks saying it was “unreasonable” to expect them to “mark probably hundreds of segments in your app,” adding that Strava is now “instructing” the Parks to be completely removed.

Her email continued: “Royal Parks themselves are owned by the Sovereign under Crown law and none of the roads or footpaths are public roads.

“The charity, as land managers, is of the considered view that the cycling segments in the Strava app encourage a significant number of sport cyclists to compete with each other and therefore encourage them to ride at excessive speeds, endangering other park users.”

Ms Griffiths’ son Gerard, who has campaigned for new laws against cyclists breaking road rules, said: “I think the competitive nature that Strava creates leads to an attitude of entitlement among some cyclists, particularly in Regent’s Park, where people compete for faster lap times.” .

“Repeated lap riding creates a familiarity which in turn breeds contempt for anyone who dares to get in the way of some cyclists.

“Strava has shown similar contempt for Royal Parks by ignoring their request to remove the parks from their app.”

A Strava spokesperson said: “We have had an open dialogue with the Royal Parks team. They have directly acknowledged that Strava is not the root cause of the problems.

“We also explained to them how to mark a segment as dangerous, which remains the most effective means of reporting safety concerns.”

A Royal Parks spokesperson said: “The competitive nature of apps such as Strava has resulted in cyclists competing with times set by others, resulting in dangerously high speeds being recorded in the parks.”

“We do not have the infrastructure to safely accommodate speeds above 20 miles per hour, and anyone exceeding these speeds endangers other park visitors.”

Earlier in November this year, The Telegraph revealed how a Royal Parks log recorded numerous incidents in which speeding cyclists or people breaking traffic rules collided with pedestrians or suffered near misses in the capital’s open spaces.

The charity introduced a 20mph speed limit across all parks in September 2020.

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