Are cyclists REALLY ignoring the speed limit… or are dog walkers telling porkies? Speedometer reveals whether riders have turned Tooting Common into a ‘motorway’ by breaking 12mph limit

The Daily Mail found many cyclists blatantly ignoring the 12 mph speed limit in a popular London park, with some exceeding the limit by up to 7 mph.

A cyclist was fined £50 for speeding after going 16mph in a 12mph zone on Tooting Common in south-west London, but the fine was quashed when he appealed to Wandsworth Council.

While the Daily Mail was in the park for two hours with the speed gun, we recorded more than 20 cyclists going over the limit; the fastest was traveling at 30 kilometers per hour; that was almost 60 percent above the limit.

Friends of Tooting Common have launched an e-petition calling for more police to patrol the park and deal with nuisance speeders.

Susan Edkins, a 29-year Tooting resident, was inclined to join the campaign.

‘Cyclers go crazy when they come here,’ he said.

She said that during the years when she was raising her children and walking her dog in the park, she saw mothers leaving the playground “being run over by cyclists.”

‘Someone came at my husband and swore at him,’ she added.

“A lot of things are going fast and people are using it as a way of passing on long drives instead of going for walks or resting,” said local resident Dee Kelly.

“I walk here every day with my mother, who is nearly 100 years old, and it can be dangerous and scary for her,” said resident Margaret Kowalik.

12 mph signs have been put up by Wandsworth Council, who issued a £50 fine to a man who was cycling at 16 mph in the area.

A 19 km/h sign has been placed on the common pedestrian and cycle path in the park and police are patrolling the area to find speeding cyclists.

According to the Friends of Tooting Common, the most dangerous road in the park is the north-south path that runs adjacent to Culverden Road and Byrne Road towards the Tooting Triangle Playground.

Here, the Daily Mail noted several cyclists speeding, the fastest going at around 30 km/h.

On whether she agreed with the imposition of the controversial £50 fine, Ms Edkin said: ‘I’m afraid I do. Bicycles should definitely not be used on the road leading from here.’

Adding: ‘Motorized bikes are supposed to have speed governors limiting them to 20 mph, but they don’t.’

Another local, Rob, who did not give his surname, echoed Ms Edkin: ‘The penalty seems reasonable if you are driving dangerously.’

‘Some of these kids are going crazy and wandering around without their hands on the handlebars; ‘They won’t be able to stop.’

He added: ‘From what I’ve seen, most of the cyclists passing through here are relatively conscious but there are also a few ragtag-looking young men wearing dark goggles despite it being dark and balaclavas as if they were going to war.

Local Rob said, ‘Some of these kids are going crazy and wandering around with no hands on the handlebars; “They won’t be able to stop,” he said.

“There is a particular problem with delivery drivers using e-bikes or e-scooters,” Friends of Tooting Common said in an open letter to Wandsworth Council

‘What is this all about?’

His friend Morgan also agreed there was a problem with narrow roads being shared by both cyclists and pedestrians.

He said: ‘We are losing borders and parks used to be safe places for people not in cars to come.

‘Pavements need to be protected from vehicles but that’s not the case anymore because we have electric scooters and bikes and it’s only going to get worse.’

All three of these people remember that there once was a painted line in the middle of the road separating bicycle and pedestrian traffic, but that line has now been removed.

Rob said: ‘This isn’t such a bad idea as long as you make it clear which side is for cyclists and pedestrians but they don’t seem to take that into consideration.

‘At least you know not to get in front of the bike, but this may encourage bikes to go much faster and you may not be aware that a pedestrian could kick the ball or a child could run into the other lane.

‘You should be careful though.’

Margaret Kowalik walks the route every day with her 97-year-old grandmother and sees cyclists as a problem.

Margaret Kowalik walks this route every day with her 97-year-old grandmother and says it can be dangerous

A line was once drawn down the middle of the road to separate pedestrian and bicycle traffic but this has since been scraped away

He said: ‘They should build another cycle path because it’s dangerous. ‘I walk here every day with my mother, who is almost 100 years old, and it can be dangerous and scary for her.’

‘My son will be calling Wandsworth Council about bikes because they can be really dangerous.’

Even so, Ms. Kowalik thought the sentence might be a step too far in terms of enforcing it. He said: ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for it to be this expensive. ‘The problem is uneducated people.’

While Margaret walked in the park with her elderly mother, local father Prash, who did not give his last name, walked with his newborn baby in a stroller.

She said: ‘When you have a child you feel different.

‘I didn’t think about other people with families before and took a common sense approach, but I guess not everyone thinks that way.’

He added that the ‘recent increase in E-scooters and E-bikes’ had made walking in the park ‘more dangerous’.

But some residents seem to see no problem with cyclists speeding.

‘We are losing borders and parks used to be safe places for people not in cars to come’

Local cafe worker Larissa said: ‘They’re not speeding at all. It seems normal to me. This is more like family-based cycling; going out together all day long and stuff like that’.

Another dog walker, Dee Kelly, was also more moderate in her criticism of cyclists going too fast, saying she ‘probably would have done the same thing, so I’m not that upset about it’.

However, he spoke of the worrying ‘advent of electric bikes making the situation worse’, saying: ‘You kind of think about it, if it runs over your dog, it’s going to explode – they’re going to do more damage.’

Although, as a park user, other issues were more important to him. He said: ‘Littering and things like that make me more angry.’

Antisocial behavior was the most common crime report in the area from November 2024 to October 2025, with 240 reports.

Wandsworth Council said: ‘We want everyone to enjoy our award-winning green spaces safely and confidently.

‘Too many park users have told us they feel unsafe with speeding delivery drivers, illegally modified e-bikes and dangerous or reckless cyclists.

‘Our Park Police take action to protect the many people, including thoughtful cyclists, who use our parks responsibly.

‘Officers take an education-first approach, providing information and advice about the importance of slowing down and using designated cycle routes, and will only issue Fixed Penalty Notices for dangerous speeding and unauthorized cycling as a last resort.

‘This is about responding to residents’ concerns and keeping our parks, common areas and open spaces safe for everyone.’