I've always encouraged my kids to cycle, but, as teenagers, my daughters didn't feel Haringey's roads were safe enough to ride alone.

They chose walking or public transport instead. Unlike the Netherlands, where every teenager can cycle independently to school and around town.

Here, the school run creates car chaos. Yet proposals to enable safer walking and cycling excite vocal opposition.

Many of Highgate's 5,000 schoolchildren are driven to school, clogging the streets with heavy traffic. Safer walking and cycling could change that.

Take the Highgate Society's uproar over plans to make Dartmouth Park safer for walking and cycling – ironic considering the Highgate Society was founded by local people who had successfully fought plans to route heavy traffic through Highgate.

In her first year at university, my younger daughter commuted an hour each way from Hornsey by public transport. She spent more than £1,000 in fares.

Ben House has always encouraged his daughters to cycleBen House has always encouraged his daughters to cycle (Image: Ben House) Wanting to spend less and cut her carbon footprint, she needed to find a safe, quiet cycle route to campus. A win-win: she saves time and money, frees up a seat on public transport, and gets regular exercise.

She found a quiet route, except for Turnpike Lane (where she walks) and Tottenham Lane past Hornsey station. The road there is only a single-lane, but the traffic is heavy and fast. Homes on one side, businesses, railway and industrial estates on the other. There’s parking along both sides, often empty spaces, but wherever cars are parked, cyclists are forced into fast-moving traffic.

My daughter rides here every week. She often faces close passes by vehicles, including heavy lorries heading to the industrial estates. Without cycle lanes or space for cyclists, this stretch is stressful and hazardous.

Haringey Council’s plan for a segregated two-way cycle route here would make cycling much safer. It would eliminate long detours on main roads to reach Hornsey station.

Media claims that the new cycle route would "halve the road's capacity" are false. The road is already a single lane. The proposed cycle track would let more people use it safely in both directions.

For my daughter, the climate crisis is real and will impact her generation. Inactivity is also a concern – hers is the first generation likely to be less healthy than their parents.

Road danger is huge. More than 100 people are killed and 3,000 seriously injured on London's roads each year. Yet repurposing a few parking spaces is portrayed as apocalyptic, while doing nothing is considered acceptable.

  • Ben House is from the Haringey branch of London Cycling Campaign (lcc.org.uk).