Pavements for people?

Mamacaz, people riding horses take pride in awareness of other road users, but many cyclists are thoughtless. Maybe it's because the riders have to think for their powerful sentient animal whereas the cyclist's bike is a metalic extension of herself

I ride a bike.... and believe me when I say the only time I am forced onto pavements is to avoid prams.... groups of usually women gossiping..... wheelie bins.... cars....kids loitering with mobiles ...all taking up space on the cycle tracks. It seems cycle tracks mean anybody can do anything on them or around them. THAT drives me mad. I never shout at people even when they’re sauntering in the track , I slow down and try to get round the. They then have the temerity to yell at me!, There’s two sides to every story!!

I support cycling. But as a person who can sometimes walk short distances but is not very able, I am often nervous, stressed and tired on footpaths shared with cyclists. In a nearby park, the path is divided into separate lanes with some markings but it is not that clear and if anyone strays onto the cycle path it is very dangerous as they come downhill at great speed. But on narrow paths the practice is that they ring their bells so as not to have to stop as they come up behind you and you are supposed to move out of their way. It is constant. I get flustered and confused. I am coming to feel hatred for them, which is unreasonable, because it just feels arrogant rather than that they actually are arrogant. It is nice for cyclists to be able to cycle off road through the city, safe from cars and their pollution. But it makes some paths unpleasant to use for people like me. But I would say I am less important, really.

I use my bike every bike and do use the pavement as the main road is very busy. BUT each time there is a pedestrian I do stop the bike and let them pass often moving to the side as I do not wish to cause any arguments with using the pavement and most people smile at me and they thank me and I thank them. I would add there is a cycle path at the side of the road but cars and buses come so near to you it is frightening. I don't think they realise how close they are to you. But I wouldn't dream of cycling fast and causing a problem to pedestrians because at the end of the day I am fully aware I should be on the road and not on the pavement.

The problem here in the UK is that our towns and cities have grown from little villages and often have very narrow pavements which are not suitable for cycling (see my picture of the pub on the corner)! There is sometimes only 24 inches of footpath and yet cyclists still cycle there, sometimes at speed.

Many cyclists today have no road sense whatsoever and do not anticipate danger, something car drivers are taught to do. Unless they are tested, insured and licensed with a number plate I can't see this changing. They are unidentifiable and can just shoot off and disappear.

Cyclists anywhere drive me mad. We have a lot of narrow country lanes round here & the cyclists are so inconsiderate. They ride2or 3 abreast & will not move for cars to get past. I think it is time they can only go on cycle tracks. It is a real issue locally.

I support cycling, because it avoids pollution, congestion and using up irreplaceable fossil fuels, so I don’t mind cyclists on the pavement IF they exercise care and don’t put pedestrians in danger. I was once nearly knocked over when very pregnant by a cyclist coming round a corner on the pavement in a city centre.

As a young mum I was more bothered about drivers pulling out of their parking spaces made in their front gardens as my children went along our road with me. If they used a tricycle or scooter and were a bit ahead of me they risked someone pulling out without looking.

I never park on pavements. I don’t think it’s fair. But I can see why someone might if there was no other way to park near their house.

Pavement parking and cyclists are maddening. Near me we all have driveways most double, and there are also parking bays for anyone to use. During the day there are often cars parked on pavements on corners. These are usually cars used by young people visiting other young people with children. Sometimes there is only one car in the driveway would say partner gone to work, but don't ask folk to use the space or the parking bay. Too difficult to turn a wheel to get onto a drive or to walk 50 feet from parking bay to a house. No, just abandon the car anywhere and on the footpath. Cyclists come in droves. Live near a park and cyclists use the streets to access wooded areas so we have groups, clubs, them all really all on footpaths and you daren't get in their way. One that especially annoys me is these headlamps they use when dark. When sitting in a car they shine right in your face blinding you for a few seconds. As for respect from cyclists, just doesn't exists. DH is hearing impaired, doesn't hear anything approaching from behind, lije bells are of no use whatsoever, neither is shouting. The number of times I have nearly resorted to violence when out for a walk and a cyclist has started mouthing off about us not getting out of the way I cannot count. I do try to haul or push him out of the way but I am scared I knock him off balance and he falls. In reality we have stopped walking in parks and anywhere where cycles are allowed to mix with pedestrians - Governments need to realise this does not work. Sorry this is so long but the cycling in particular really affects our life.

Know the feeling well. I have two dogs I walk regularly and am forever having to either void people on bikes or cars/vans parked on the pavement. So infuriating. Was shouted at some weeks ago by a pedal cyclist because I was taking y time crossing the road due to my old Labrador having difficulty walking. Won’t repeat what my comments were!!!

The front door to my upstairs flat, at the end of a very narrow corridor, opens straight onto a 3 foot pavement. In recent years on more than one occasion, I've opened my door to find a moving car 2 feet away from me, with a driver who doesn't even notice me! Fortunately DGD is not in a buggy any more (that was terrifying), and will happily hold my hand, but I also take the dog out!

It's high time cyclists were called out and made to adhere to the same legislation as motor vehicles, ie: road tax, registration plates, MOT, insurance.

Their holier-than-thou smugness about not polluting the environment like cars is wiped out by their antics on pavements and not having to stick to any of the rules in the above paragraph.

Smug motorists more like. I personally had two friends killed while cycling in roads. In both instances the drivers were found to be at fault. One was a middle aged woman the other an OAP.

Because a few cyclists give the rest a bad name (like every sphere of life) then we get the sort of attitude that creates antipathy towards cyclists as a whole. This can translate into some motorists deliberately driving badly to scare them.

Shocking Margs that you seem to feel that way too

I am a disabled person who walks using crutches. I have been knocked down twice by cyclists. One of these times i was standing at a crossing waiting for the lights to change for me to cross. I was knocked over from behind by a cyclist who was going so fast rhey couldnt stop. The female cyclist starting shouting at me saying it was my fault, i should have moved out of her way etc. People who came to get me up where very angry with her, pointing out that i couldnt see behind me and she should have stopped long before she hit me. The cyclist just rode quickly away leaving me injured and very upset. My own belief is that cyclists should have insurance and have a registration similar to a car for their safety as well as everyone else!

Liz46

We have exactly the same problem, give it a couple of days with all this rain, and it’ll look like a ploughed field!

This however, made me furious, once I’d stopped shaking. I had four children with me, one in a pushchair, and we were walking to the village park. We came across a van, reversed into a drive, completely covering the pavement, and into the road. I halted all the children, and when I saw behind us that the road was clear, I told them to go, the youngest one misunderstood the situation, and ran across the road, a car coming in the opposite direction had to break sharply, he panicked, I abandoned all the others to get to him, I felt sick and shaky, it was horrible.

He could so very easily have been hit, I’m aware that I obviously didn’t explain the situation to him properly, so have to take some blame, but I was furious with the van driver, still am.

I think this all comes down to having respect for others. If the motorists drove more carefully then cyclists wouldn’t need to ride on the pavements. If those who few do ride on the pavement had more respect for pedestrians then there would be no accidents.

I have a huge bruise on my shin when a mobility scooter hit me yesterday. She was reversing trying to get around a car parked on the pavement.

I blame the county planners in part for allowing such narrow roads on new estates. I know the driver is the one directly at fault though, and I've no doubt many of them suffer from scratches caused by passing pedestrians with buckles on handbags, etc.
Fortunately I'm in an area where there are no pathways really, only verges and they're verges that are not designed to make it a comfortable ride for a cyclist so they tend to stick to the road. And in my local town it's mobility scooters that cause more accidents than cyclists (as an occasional mobility scooter user myself this is in no way a criticism of them, just stating facts.)

One problem with cars straddling pavements is that modern cars do not fit into garages. The spec for garages was decided when cars were much smaller and has never been updated. As a result a new housing estate of 31/2 thousand near me has been built, all with garages, but only a handful of cars will fit .
Builders are not interested in building larger garages as it means that they can cram fewer houses in. Therefore the narrow estate roads are filled with cars on pavements so buses can squeeze by

I was crossing the road where there was a pedestrian island in the middle. A cyclist rode through the other way and whacked my arm with his handlebars. He shouted "Sorry" as he disappeared, but never bothered to find out if I was injured. He could easily have broken my arm, but luckily I only had a huge bruise.
Another time I stopped to wait to cross the road as the traffic lights were changing and my dog (still a puppy) sat obediently next to me. A cyclist behind me decided to race across in front of the cars and rode over my dog's tail. Incredibly he had a small child on his handlebars. My dog yelped and jumped into the road. Fortunately the people in the first car saw what had happened and were visibly shocked. They allowed me to sort my poor dog out before they moved off. She was always scared of bikes after that experience.

I think if there is a cycle lane then cyclist must use it. There is a stretch of road with a steep hill and a cycle path but cyclist still insist on cycling up the hill on the road ending up with a line of cars and lorries not able to pass. Cars are parking two wheels on pavements to not block roads the only answer will be yellow lines and residents parking.

Lots of building work going on. Builders vans, delivery lorries skip trucks etc all over the place. On a mobility scooter i often have to take to the road. I can go at 4mph cyclists overtake frighteningly. I hate going on the road to pass pavement parking. On the pavement people texting or just looking at their phones with no care for their surroundings are my concern. I just stop and let them walk into me or see me in time. Even pushing pushchairs they are only interested in their phones. I have been bumped even when i am saying excuse me i am here.

Yesterday a man on a child's scooter came right up behind me on the pavement and made me jump. A few yards later he threw it down in the middle of the pavement and went into a shop. So thoughtless, anyone could easily have gone flying over it.

It is illegal for cars etc to park on the kerb. They can be fined for doing this.

Half the time round here, the pavement just disappears, caused by two-wheel parking next to a hedge which has been allowed to bush out halfway across the pavement. I’m sure that those hedge owners should be cutting them back to be in line with the boundary of their property, and not letting them take over half the pavement.

And as far as cyclists go - such a lack of tolerance on this thread.

If I understand some of the posts on this thread correctly, cyclists
•shouldn’t be on the road OR the pavement (Jane10 and Craftycat),
• shouldn’t be allowed on a bike at all ( Chestnut ),
•shouldn’t use their bells to alert other people that they are approaching (Doodledog ),
•should not ride 2 abreast on a country road ( Reelashosser ) (Highway Code says - give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215). Riding two abreast is safer for cyclists as it makes them as wide as a car and stops vehicles from passing in places that are too narrow for safety
•shouldn’t make themselves as visible as possible (and therefore safe) by using bright lights at night ( 4allweknow ),
•are smug and have a holier-than-thou attitude because they don’t use polluting vehicles (sweeping generalisation!) ( Margs )
•and shouldn’t be taught how to use the roads safely during cycling proficiency training, because it causes the motorist to have to wait a short while Riggie )

And according to Missfoodlove, no one else should be on the pavement at all as the full width plus any grass verge are required for her and her dog,

Barmeyoldbat has written a perfect post

Yehbutnobut wins my vote for this most reasonable post
“I think this all comes down to having respect for others. If the motorists drove more carefully then cyclists wouldn’t need to ride on the pavements. If those who few do ride on the pavement had more respect for pedestrians then there would be no accidents.”

I cycle to and from work. Fortunately for me, of the three mile journey each way, two and a half of them are on a dedicated cycle path with no traffic. However, the other half mile is along roads and I don’t think motorists realise (or, actually, care) about the dangers for cyclists on them. Potholes, which are an irritation for motorists, can be lethal for cyclists. Drains at the side of the road can be dropped, or filled with puddles and therefore invisible, and also lethal – which is why most cyclists should ride well away from the pavement edge.

The alternative route I can take is all road or shared space pavement, and Doodlebug, I have to ask, just how I should be alerting people to the fact that I am approaching them from behind. I use my bell for the safety of both me and pedestrians, but maybe you could tell me what I should be doing, if using a bell is unacceptable.

Motorists seem to treat cyclists as target practice and forgive me, but is there an unwritten rule that the competition is to see who can get closest to a cyclist without actually touching them? Or who can cause a cyclist to wobble because of the air movement when a vehicle speeds past?

I have had drivers pull straight out of their driveways and out of side streets into my path (whilst I was riding on the road – with bright lights on to make myself as visible as possible ). Personally I don't think motorists should be allowed to drive unless they have been cyclists first (tongue in cheek - but maybe not too far fetched a suggestion)

I used to cycle (when my eyesight was better) and have NEVER used the pavement - other than when a cycling lane is provided, together with pedestrian access.

I do firmly believe that pedal cycles (and Motor Bikes) should only be sold after the prospective owner has completed a proficiency test. A Certificate should be given on completion. If everyone did this, there would, in my opinion, be fewer problems on the roads and pavements by cycle users. It is quite simply wrong that anyone can purchase a bike and walk away and use this, without necessarily having any knowledge of how to use the road, or indeed the Highway Code.

In London there is a fixed penalty for parking a car/van etc. on the pavement. There is talk of legislation coming into force for the rest of the Country. The sooner the better. I was a cyclist and rode on the road, not on the footway. Cars parked across cycle lanes don't help, though. Through disability, I have recently taken to using a mobility scooter and have found that there are many inconsiderate motorists that block the pavements necessitating my having to ride in the road. I am restricted to 4mph on the pavement, but rarely reach that speed. On the road, I am allowed to do 8mph, which is a dangerous speed, as it is far too slow and frustrates drivers behind me, so I tend to stick to the 4mph on footways. There are cyclists that come up behind me and aren't very happy about having to leave the footway and go into the road, to pass me. The footpaths in my area are in a terrible state and people would pay money to go to Alton Towers for the same sort of scary ride. Police can deal with motorists that drive on the footway but the parking is down to the local authority, at the moment. Mind you, I am not sure how the vehicle could be parked on the pavement, unless it had been driven there!