90 quids in fines in two days

the city of london police have a task force to fine cyclists. operation 'some-thing' hence lots of fines in the city. (hammersmith maybe exception).

The police claim that they also enforce against users of motor vehicles, although it has to be said that there is little evidence that this enforcement is even-handed.

i think this is all related is to the fact that basically roads are designed to separate pedestrians (things that are random) and vehicles (steel metal boxes that are not) - there was never any intention to accommodate cyclists.

Not quite. Pedal cycles count as carriages in law and therefore belong in the carriageway (as opposed to the footway, usually referred to as 'pavement', often not present on roads but generally provided along city streets). Most streets are perfectly adequate for cycling on; what puts people off is the behaviour of drivers.

Pedestrians have slower forward movement than vehicles and readier lateral movement, but that doesn't make them "random". Also, they're obviously not 'things'. ;) While it makes sense to separate them from carriages and vehicles in many contexts, the movement towards traffic calming and 'de-engineering' (Google 'naked streets') has questioned this.

The original reason why footways were created, which is no longer highly necessary, was so that people could walk without sinking into the appalling, often muddy surfaces of unpaved city streets (churned up by horses, carts and carriages); footways were raised and paved, hence the name 'pavements', but 'footway' is the more accurate term (as most roads and streets are also paved or metalled nowadays) and shows what they are for.

police are just getting pressure from the media to try to do the best they can

Police priorities are set by a variety of mechanisms, including (if you can manage to find info about yours) the Community Advisory Panels (CAPs) that influence the work done by the Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Worth plugging into, whether you agree or disagree with existing policing priorities in your immediate area. Other targets that are set for the police are inherently political. And of course it is all influenced by laws, practicalities and the attitudes of police on the ground. As ever, there is good policing and poor policing.