Cycling at speed on pavements

[porkyp1g]

It annoys me more when there are cycle paths and people still ride on the road. Also when cyclists just go through red lights when using the road, amazes me.

 

But I assume you aren't talking about cycle paths here.

[sequenci]

If a cyclist blatantly goes through a red light and gets hit they would have NO sympathy from me.

[renegadeimp]

Ive been riding for yeara, and as consumer dude said, its simple common sense. if you see people ahead and theres no grass verge to go on, why the hell would you continue to ride and foece people off the path?

[Consumer dude]

Ive been riding for yeara, and as consumer dude said, its simple common sense. if you see people ahead and theres no grass verge to go on, why the hell would you continue to ride and foece people off the path?

 

Because people have lost all respect for each other. Some people feel they can bully others and this is just another example. If a cyclist comes at me at speed without any thought for Me or others then if my arm reaches out and as a result that cyclist comes off then they have only themselves to blame..

[renegadeimp]

Personally i just stand in the way and refuse to move. If they crash into me and cause injury, they better have some good money in their bank.

[sequenci]

Personally i just stand in the way and refuse to move. If they crash into me and cause injury, they better have some good money in their bank.

 

If only everything was as clear cut as that eh?

[renegadeimp]

True, but im a pretty stocky guy, so he's either stopping or going around. He's not going through me

[andydd]

It annoys me more when there are cycle paths and people still ride on the road. Also when cyclists just go through red lights when using the road, amazes me.

 

But I assume you aren't talking about cycle paths here.

 

Unfortunately cycle paths can be very dangerous, sometimes too close to car doors, sometimes the design is dangerous.

 

In my lovely town of sunny Southend there are cycle paths along a lot of the seafront, I could show you umpteen video clips of cyclists riding along and then a pedestrian just wanders into the well marked bright red cycle path without looking, totally oblivious to the danger they put themselves in, in fact it is nigh on impossible to cycle a short stretch without braking and swerving, which brings me to the conclusion that the majority of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians, rare that they are, may well be the pedestrians fault yet strangely we dont see calls for them to be insured or taxed ?

 

Its my opinion that pedestrians see a cyclist or a skateboarder for that matter and instantly assume they are dangerously out of control and will hit them, of course 99.9% of the time they just go past without incident but many pedestrians will cry 'you see that, he nearly hit me', when the only danger was imagined, the tiny number of cyclist inflicted injuries reflects this.

 

On a lighter note, enjoy my video taken in the Alps >

 

Andy

[Consumer dude]

Even other people walk into yer as they are not paying attention. Don't get me going about mobile phones..

[Conniff]

Ive been riding for years ...

 

Ah, so it's you - Ok everyone, I've found the culprit

[andydd]

On another positive note, Boris's (tw*t though he is) plans for cycle only crossrail route through London looks impressive.

[renegadeimp]

It still amazes me how that idiot managed to become mayor.

[Desperate Daniella]

Absolutely hate pavement cyclists and the other idiots who go the wrong way down one way streets and jump red lights. They are an absolute menace.

 

I've lost count of the number of times some idiot has come racing up the pavement outside my house, and my elderly mother has jumped for her life on many occasions. I worry for my daughter's safety every time she steps through our gate on to the pavement in case she is mown down. Our local community policeman tried to tell me that they don't have the powers to stop and fine cyclists. Utter rubbish; they just don't want confrontation. The next time I saw him I asked how many people he had stopped and fined. He said he had stopped a couple of people but hadn't actually fined them. Fat lot of good that does. Further along our street there is a sign saying the maximum penalty for cycling on the pavement is £500, so why don't they stop people and fine them? Then it might stop.

 

On my way home from the morning school run I go down two one way streets and I can guarantee there will be some idiot on a bike coming the wrong way. I've seen them cycle past the police who don't pull them over. Can you imagine how much they would whinge if someone took their leg off, or they were paralysed for life if they got knocked off? Some of them even have a small child on the back. How stupid is that?

 

I am totally sick of cyclists being let off lightly. The police should pull over everyone and fine them on the spot. No money to pay the fine, then confiscate their bike. Fine not paid in a week, then sell it to pay the fine.

 

I have friends who commute to work on their bikes every morning. They do not ride on pavements, go the wrong way down one way streets, and they do not jump red lights and expect pedestrians to get out of their way.

 

I am not anti cyclist. I am anti moron.

[andydd]

In my experience, pavements cyclists are not a huge problem, it is more that people fear them and assume they are going to hit them, as explained in my last post, my local council has made mnay paths in town and the whole seafront a area a 'shared space', where cyclists and pedestrians share, this scheme has of course had some critiscim, but overall it does work well.

 

As for one way roads, the london councils were giving serious thought to actually allowing cyclists to go down one way roads, and many streets already allow this, so this isnt neccasarily a dangerous idea, for example I used to cycle from Liverpool St to Old Street, the cycle route is mostly along a one way street and it all works very well.

 

Andy

 

Andy

[Desperate Daniella]

I know that on some seafronts the pavement is wide enough for pedestrians and cyclists, but in central London the pavements can be narrow and people tend to ride mountain bikes at speed on the pavements. It is absolutely terrifying if you have a young child and have to yank them out of the way. The same applies to the yobs on bikes who jump red lights, weaving in out of pedestrians, including children, who have the right of way.

 

Several of the one way streets I drive down are narrow. They are one-way for a reason. I am patient, and if a cyclist is in front of me (going in the correct direction) I am happy to drive slowly behind them until I can pass safely as the road widens a little. Anyone coming at speed down the road in the wrong direction has only themselves to blame if someone accidentally knocks them off. They are choosing to break the law. Because cyclists are allowed to get away with this, motorcyclists are now doing the same. I had a very near miss just before Christmas as I turned left into a one-way street and nearly collided with a motorcyclist coming the wrong way who cursed and swore at me and turned round and chased me to the next junction, banged on my window and hurled more insults, only speeding off when some people came over.

 

Why should law-abiding drivers have to put up with this?

 

If councils are going to allow cyclists to go the wrong way down one way streets, they need to limit this to roads which are wide enough to have a dedicated cycle lane installed. In most of the streets near me cyclists have the option of going down a parallel street in the right direction, which would add all of 20 seconds to their journey, so I just don't see why they can't do that.

[Andrew-P]

There is no excuse for cycling on a pavement when pedestrians are there - especially at speed. However, when there are none, it causes little harm.To those cyclists - a minority - who make pavements dangerous for pedestrians because they feel the roads are dangerous they are nothing more than arrogant hypocrites who should be ashamed of themselves. Unfortunately the actions of a minority mean that the time has come for compulsory insurance and registration for anyone over a certain age (not sure what that would be though).Not that I am by any stretch condoning the activities of all car drivers - some, and again its a minority, need locking up for the way they treat cyclists.As for cycle lanes a lot of them are down right ridiculous - a bit of paint is not enough and they must be realistic and practical to be used. Some I have seen are not fit for purpose and therefore cyclists would not just be unwise to use them but simply unable to use them!In many locations the issues is a basic lack of space for all road users, whatever their mode of transport and I don't know how that can be remedied to the benefit of everyone.

[Desperate Daniella]

Compulsory registration and insurance would be a good thing, but the police could clamp down now far more than they ever do. 20 years ago cyclists generally did not ride on pavements or go the wrong way down one-way streets, or jump red lights. Then a few started and were never stopped and fined and so more people thought they could get away with it, and the problem became the nightmare it is today. You see groups of policemen pulling over unlicensed vehicles. It would send out a strong message if the same number of policemen were to spend an hour or two each month at pavement cycling/one-way street blackspots, and pulled everyone over and fined them. If they do not have the money on them the bike should be confiscated and kept for a maximum of two weeks so the cyclist can either pay, or the bike can be sold.

 

Every night pavement cyclists weave in and out of pedestrians on London bridges, so they would be a good place to start.

[Old Cogger]

What happened to the on the spot £10.00 fine for cycling on pavements? Oh! yes no coppers left on the beat they are feeding their hungry Pandas!

[Desperate Daniella]

They don't bother to stop anyone. And PCSOs are supposed to stop them too. I saw a cyclist go straight down a one way street in the wrong direction past one of our local ones, so I asked him why he hadn't pulled the cyclist over and he said he did not have the right to do so. Having checked with the local police station I informed this PCSO that he should be stopping errant cyclists. When I saw him a fortnight later, and he couldn't avoid me!, he said he had stopped three pavement cyclists, but he hadn't been able to fine them as he didn't have the right book on him at the time. We have a sign in our street saying that the fine for cycling on the pavement is £500. What a complete joke.

[andydd]

I have to disagree with the abiove points, my local council has introduced many shared spaces, effectively pavements where both cyclists and pedestrians can walk, these work quite well and there certainly isnt tons of accidents, in fact, many say that this is far safer for all concerned compared to individual cycle lanes.

 

Secondly local and national government are trying hard to persuede more of us to start cycling due to health and transport congestion reasons, introducing compulsary 'registration' and insurance would serve no real purpose and would cut the number of cyclists drastically overnight, ultimately meaning more cars on the road and more deaths and polution.

 

Andy

[Desperate Daniella]

I can only assume that you do not live in an area where cyclists are rude and aggressive. It wouldn't be such a problem if cyclists rode slowly, but where I live most of them don't. They are lycra louts who weave in out of pedestrians, expecting small children and pensioners to move out of their way. I must admit that where my mother lives in the country cyclists generally are more law-abiding. The problem with cycles not being registered is that without any means of identification law-breaking cyclists get away with everything.

 

If the government wants more bikes on the road then they do need to think about compulsory registration and insurance. A friend of mine was mown down on a zebra crossing by a cyclist who was overtaking a line of stationary traffic with no care or consideration for anyone on the crossing at all. He hit her at about 30 mph, and almost completely shattered her ankle. Then he started screaming at her. Fortunately her (very large) boyfriend grabbed him and prevented him from cycling away before the police arrived. She spent months recovering from very painful operations to rebuild her ankle.

 

It is these menaces that we hate. We are not talking about cyclists who respect other road users and the law. The menaces need to be stopped and fined, because if they stopped their appalling behaviour everyone would be safer.

[renegadeimp]

I can only assume that you do not live in an area where cyclists are rude and aggressive. It wouldn't be such a problem if cyclists rode slowly, but where I live most of them don't. They are lycra louts who weave in out of pedestrians, expecting small children and pensioners to move out of their way. I must admit that where my mother lives in the country cyclists generally are more law-abiding. The problem with cycles not being registered is that without any means of identification law-breaking cyclists get away with everything.

 

If the government wants more bikes on the road then they do need to think about compulsory registration and insurance. A friend of mine was mown down on a zebra crossing by a cyclist who was overtaking a line of stationary traffic with no care or consideration for anyone on the crossing at all. He hit her at about 30 mph, and almost completely shattered her ankle. Then he started screaming at her. Fortunately her (very large) boyfriend grabbed him and prevented him from cycling away before the police arrived. She spent months recovering from very painful operations to rebuild her ankle.

 

It is these menaces that we hate. We are not talking about cyclists who respect other road users and the law. The menaces need to be stopped and fined, because if they stopped their appalling behaviour everyone would be safer.

 

I hear you there. The dreaded "city cyclist". The kind of cyclist who thinks they are in the tour de france, and only do it for "fame" with their friends. While the REAL cyclists are out in the country cycling for miles obeying all road laws. I live on the outskirts of chester pretty much in the country, and there is a HUGE difference between the riders that cycle in the country and the city itself.

[Desperate Daniella]

There is, and until something is done about "city cyclists" pedestrians will be injured in accidents like the one I've described above. That's not the only one I've witnessed, but it's the only one where I've actually known the victim. And, as I said, he was blaming her for the accident. And while she was lying there in agony he was demanding she pay for the repairs to his bike, or even buy him a new one if it couldn't be repaired.

[renegadeimp]

God help them if they tried that in chester. The REAL cyclist who cycle for fun and their health know who the "city cyclists" are, and are well prepared to name and shame them and spread the info around the dozen or so cycling groups in the borough.

[Desperate Daniella]

The police/PCSOs could catch at least a dozen every night between 5-7 p.m. in the one-way street parallel to where I live. But they don't.

 

It doesn't bother the cyclists if a car is coming towards them in the right direction - they just swerve on to the pavement and make the pedestrians jump out of the way.