Moment woman cyclist with THREE children riding on back pedals through a red light and holds up her hand to try and stop cars as she dodges traffic

By FRANCINE WOLFISZ, NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:22, 16 June 2026 | Updated: 21:24, 16 June 2026 This is the moment a woman was spotted cycling through two red lights at a busy West London junction before holding up her hand to slow oncoming traffic - with three children riding on the back. Footage of the incident, which was posted on Tuesday, has sent social media users into a heated online debate over whether her actions placed the youngsters at 'risk'. In the first clip, the woman can be seen in Sloane Avenue, West London, approaching a pedestrian crossing. Ahead of her is a car that has already passed through the lights and is waiting on the junction to turn right. The female cyclist, who was also not wearing a helmet, proceeds ahead despite a traffic light in the distance showing red - and pedestrians beginning to walk across the road. There are three young girls seated behind the woman, with two wearing school boaters and only the one at the rear with a helmet.  The cyclist does not look to her left despite pedestrians emerging onto the crossing.  She narrowly avoids a motorcyclist coming from the right as she advances onto the junction, before putting her hand up to a large white van on her left. This is the moment a woman was spotted cycling through a red light at a busy West London junction as pedestrians crossed the road - with three children riding on the back The incident was recorded at the juntion of Sloane Avenue and Brompton Road in West London The driver of the van slows down as she turns right into Brompton Road. In a second clip, the cyclist can be seen approaching the nearby junction between Brompton Road and Thurloe Place.  The traffic lights are at red, but the woman can be seen edging over the line. A short moment after, the lights change to amber.  Reacting to the footage, which was posted on X, social media users criticised the cyclist for being 'incredibly irresponsible' and 'disgraceful'. One wrote: 'You can see the crossing vehicles...This was just a stupid decision.' Another wrote: 'Always thought kids on any of those types of bike were dangerous. Even if you are really careful what's stopping a vehicle hitting you, it's not worth risking the children's welfare.' According to Transport for London (TfL) and the Highway Code, cyclists should stop at red lights - failure to do so can result in a £50 fine - and also allow people to cross at junctions before proceeding.  There is no legal requirement to wear a helmet while cycling in the UK, however the Highway Code strongly recommends wearing one that is 'the correct size and securely fastened.'  It adds: 'Evidence suggests that a correctly fitted helmet will reduce your risk of sustaining a head injury in certain circumstances.' The footage has emerged just days after new figures from TfL show the number of fatalities and serious injuries among cyclists in 2025 jumped by 20.3 per cent compared to 2024 - and is at a record high since 2017, The Evening Standard reported. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.