Cyclist on pavement

yes sorry mrs winkle and carrot i do know that, no offence meant but unfortunatly its not the law abiding ones that i remember! for the safety of all cyclists and pedestrians the laws need to be more tighlty enforced. i have seen the results of cyclists and vehicles coming together and its not pretty either. infact one of my best friends cycles to the office every day and has been hit at least twice by cars - i pesonally think she is bonkers cycling in central london and worry about her every time she does it.

I agree Goldfish, and I hate the lycra louts as much as anyone. I'm not brave enough to cycle in central London that's for sure :-)

Oh Chook, amongst all the 'good for you's I do worry that one day someone a little unhinged will turn around and open a can of whoop ass on you.

<worry>

I often cycle with my son in a seat on the back of my bike. I only cycle on cycle/bridle paths as I don't want to risk him getting injured. There is however one short stretch of road I have to negotiate to get between 2 cycle paths. The speed limit is 40 but this is often not kept to ☹️ it is a very narrow and windey and there have been numerous crashes and deaths on this road. I might take the chance on my own but the thought of doing it with my son gives me the absolute fear.

So I cycle up the footpath. If it is very busy I will get off the bike and push it keeping it out of the way of the pedestrians. If it isn't too bad i will cycle up it v-e-r-y slowly making sure I pull in out of the way of any pedestrians so they can pass with no interference from me on my bike.

Now I'm aware that this is still illegal but i've never had any 'run-ins' with any pedestrians. Is this a sensible alternative or should I really not be doing it at all?

Is that really true? If so it might be some comfort to my father who wouldn't let my 12 year old brother ride on the pavement, then watched a lorry take him under it's wheels. He's beaten himself up about it every single day since, and it was 28 years ago this August.

I hate cyclists on the road, they make me anxious. I hate cyclists on the pavement, it's all wrong. I wish there were cycle paths everywhere.

In my area we are lucky enough to have a good network of cycle paths. What gets my goat as a driver is when cyclists refuse to use them and insist on cycling on the dangerous, busy, fast and/or narrow road alongside the beautiful, safe, empty cycle path my council tax has paid for.

ETA: JK - how horrible ?

JK ? I was thinking of you all the way through reading this thread.

I'm a pedestrian who doesn't mind sharing the pavement with careful cyclists - there are a few cycle lanes near us but they don't link together - and the main roads are very very busy. Obviously not condoning high speed/reckless cyclists on the pavement but I really don't have a problem with the vast majority of cyclists using the pavement.

My friend was killed cycling to work when he was crossing a junction and a car hit him. So maybe I am more sensitive to this than the average person.

I really don't mind cyclists on the paths when they are as sensible as you, wodger_woo. I'm both a pedestrian and a driver and I would rather have a cyclist on a path than on the road, as long as they are doing what you are doing and being sensible. I suppose I prefer it as with driving there are so many obsticles to look out for, including other drivers, so cyclists added to the mix is just another thing to worry about.

There are limits to cyclists on the pavements though, I think they should cycle slowly, more slowley than on the road. They should stop or slow down a lot when pedestrians approch.

I live in a village and a lot of the paths round here rarely have people walking on them, especially the big one going out of the village, but the roads are quite hazerdous to cyclists as there are lots of parked cars on the busy road, so I would definately prefer them to go on the empty paths. I think though that if you're in a big town/city like London though that the paths are too busy and you shouldn't cycle on them.

In your case wodger_woo, I would also cycle on the path on that bit of road, you can't risk the safety of your son, and you're clearly respecting the pedestrians that you encounter.

Oh bless you, this wasn't a sympathy bid at all - it's a long long time ago now, another lifetime in fact. But for my Dad, the fact that he insisted he was too old to ride on the pavement tortures him constantly. I think it's probably the main reason he suggested they live in Greece - he prefers not to drive at all now too, and never comes back to the UK. I think it's all tied up with it. He can't bear having responsibility for my children, even shared with others. He has a morbid fear of them hurting themselves. Poor bugger - it really did affect him badly.

On reflection, given the choice, I'd rather cyclists rode on the pavement than ran the risk of injury TBH. Some roads/junctions are just too dangerous.

JK - your poor Dad

I actually don't have much of a problem with cyclists on paths around here.

My problem stems from some of the cyclists on the canal towpath (which is behind our house). The majority are so nice and considerate then there are the odd few who are just plain rude. I'm talking about the ones who don't have bells and wait until they're right behind you and yell "move"

Drives me bonkers

JK, someone posted a link on here recently saying about the 10 year old thing (will dig through to try and find it).

I remember when I did cycling proficiency I was told about the under 10 thing as well.

? for you and your dad, that must be hard to deal with even now.

I am actually pro cyclists, yes there are some "psycholists", but there are also bad drivers/pedestrians. I think we are talking here about people who are aggressive and rude which to be fair can be anyone on the roads or pavements.

I'm all for cyclists too - I am one sometimes - I don't even really care that the man was on the pavement. I've seen him plenty of times before and I've never said anything. My problem was his attitude to me after he made me jump. I also realise fcuking hell isn't overly polite but you're not always aware of what comes out of your mouth when something makes you jump. I thought he had some front having a go at me.

My pet peeve is walking around a blind corner on the pavement to find a cyclist right in my face! In this area is invariably a language student on a wobbly, poorly maintained bike, almost certain to have an accident, no matter where they ride! There are plenty of cycle paths down here too.