cyclists on footpaths
-
Posts
-
It is time something was done about the number of cyclists using the public footpaths instead of the allocated cycle ways, or heaven forbid that they should think of using the road’s. In the last month alone my wife and I have narrowly missed being run down and injured three times by these inconsiderate people,who dont, seem to realise they are in fact breaking the law. And if you dare to say anything to them you receive a mouth full of abuse. My wife and I are pensioners and I am shore not the only one’s who are finding our footpaths getting more and more dangerous. Come on Wrexhamites do we have to put up with this behaviour.
I’ve seen some people riding dangerously on the pavement.
it’s not good because I don’t want to see anybody get hurt,.
on the other hand, the events in london this past few days really does illustrate that there is a greater danger to cyclists on the road. ( I’ve never heard of a pedestrian getting killed by a bicycle, but a cyclist can get crushed by a lorry regardless of helmet or protective gear. )
I myself avoid going on the road specifically because of that danger. although I am always taking care to ride as safely as possible, I rarely go over jogging speed and usually go at tip-toe pace in middle of town.
it’s true that it is technically against the highway code, but I have seen police riding on the pavement in the past. I personally feel that the law needs to be changed, to allow bicycles free reign on the pavement to avoid road accidents, but to have a clear and well publicised speed limit. that would also apply to roller-bladers and those little scooters that kids ride. also mobility scooters. yes, I have seen some old age pensioners riding those things at rather high speeds on a footpath and they are actually a motorised vehicle.edit:
I’d also like to add that on more than a few occasions, I have had to move off the bike path onto the footpath because of pedestrians walking on the bike path. not that the bike paths even go anywhere that i need to go in the first place, but I do endeavour to use them if and when possible.It’s clear that needs to be changed. I see far more people on the path than on the road. and car drivers round here are so dangerous. If I had a solid steel frame around me, I wouldn’t mind so much.
edit:
just to illustrate something, because i do feel strongly about this,
what if a person was running as fast as they could, with a bicycle next to them? (perhaps 20mph)
that is legal.
compare that to somebody like me, going at the speed of a light jog, in perfect control of the cycle. (perhaps 4-7mph)
which is safer?
the legal version or the illegal version?
this is what is wrong with the law and why police tend not to enforce it.sorry to add more, but I just remembered something.
I was actually going down town hill on the bike path that is on the road the day before yesterday. oddly enough, there was a man on the bike path with a walking frame, evidently having trouble getting down the hill on the path. the walking frame took up the breadth of the bike path and he was going very slowly, understandably. at the same time, cars were coming up the hill on the car bit.
I had two choices.. no three choices.
the two I initially thought of was to stop and wait. perhaps 5 minutes judging by the pace. or go on the pavement.
the third choice is to run the man down, but that’s not really a valid option in my opinion though others may not share this view judging by how upset some people seem to be about this issue.
I chose to go on the pavement to get past.
I thought it was the best choice as I didn’t want the man to feel like he was a burden on anybody.Wrexham isn’t great to cycle around – for example, the cyclepath by Tesco needlessly changes sides of the pavement, and in many places the road-base cyclepaths abruptly stop – Whilst I make every effort to cycle on the roads and designated cyclepaths, there are many places in the town where pavement based cyclepaths just stop existing for no reason.
See this chap’s blog:
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
