To think this cyclist was an entitled idiot?

[Slh122]

I was taking 7 mo DS to the park in his pushchair. The path is along a busy road and is quite narrow. A cyclist was coming towards us on the path and I fully expected him to move onto the road so I carried on walking. He had on all the cycling gear, glasses etc, on a bike like they all had on Tour de France.
He didn't move and I couldn't take my pushchair onto the busy road. There wasn't enough space for both of us on the footpath. I stopped and he stopped about an inch away from the front wheel of my pushchair and said 'you should have moved to let me past, I'll let you off this time but please remember in future'. WTF?! It was not a designated cycle path either!
I said I can't take my pushchair onto the road it's too busy. He said 'you need to give way to cyclists'. We stood there for a moment until he moved his bike onto the road and cycled off.
If there had been somewhere to pull in, etc, I would have done to let him go past. But AIBU to think he was being a twat?!

[Coddo]

weirdo
never mind - chalk it up

[Sunna]

YANBU He was a twat.

[jacks365]

Hwbu cyclists give way to pedestrians. Faster always gives way to slower on a shared usage however should he even have been on the pavement?

[mommy2ash]

he shouldn't have even been on the pavement so why should you have to give way?

[Primrose123]

I don't know the legality of this, but surely pavements are for pedestrians not cyclists? If it definitely wasn't a cycle path then YANBU. And the phrase, "I'll let you off this time", who does he think he is?

[DoctorTwo]

He was being a massive arse. Pedestrians have priority on a footpath, not cyclists.

[MrsCosmopilite]

He should have given way to you.

I was in the park yesterday with DD, and a woman with a double buggy was ahead of me. A teen came full-pelt into the park on his bike, straight at her and she moved to avoid him. He neither acknowledged her, nor apologised.

If I'd been nearer I'd have kicked his wheels and had him off the bike, inconsiderate arse.

[BeckAndCall]

Are you SURE it wasn't a cycle path? Round where I am, for instance, there are lines on the pavement which designate a bit for cyclists - crap idea, but nevertheless it's there.

[Coffeethrowtrampbitch]

Yes, he was BU and a selfish idiot to boot.

But I posted on the last MN cycling thread about my ds2 nearly being run over by an unsupervised child riding a bike on the pavement and there were still some people who thought I was BU. So I'm sure there will be at least some people who agree with him that your buggy belonged in the traffic more than his bike did.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Yanbu he was a twat.

I detest it when cyclists are on the pavement (not children)

[superram]

Hwbu, it is illegal for cyclists to be on the pavement. I let my 5 year old cycle on the pavement as she still has stabilisers but even she knows pedestrians have priority.

[Slh122]

Nope definitely not a cycle path. I walk down it everyday.

[BloodyNaffedOff]

Twat! As a horse rider, pedestrian and car driver .... I hate 75% of the cyclists I encounter (not mad keen on fellow horse riders, pedestrians or drivers either though to be fair!!)

[Flipflops7]

I'm not going to join a third thread about this. OP you will no doubt see some extremely entitled people join it shortly.

My question is, what can we do about this problem, who can we take it up with to enforce footpath safety for pedestrians? How can we get the police to take it up?

[jacks365]

I was in Blackpool the other week and on some pavements they have signs up pointing out that cycling on the pavement is illegal and a fixed penalty notice will be issued if seen. I'll assume that the two cyclists who came round the corner on the pavement were too distracted by the signs to see me and thats why I had to jump out of their way, couldn't be because they are entitled idiots who don't care about the rules.

[londonrach]

It's illegal to cycle on the pavement unless it's a cycle path and even then you have to give way to pushchairs etc. if a policeman be there he could have had a fine.... He an idiot.

[Goldmandra]

There are some people in this world who behave very oddly at times and others who deliberately misinterpret rules for their own gain. He is clearly one of those.

You are not required to put your baby in the road in order to give way to him.

Ignore him and move on.

[halfdrunkcoffee]

That's strange. I wonder why he wasn't on the road. That sort of cyclist with all the gear normally would be, and surely he knows that you're not supposed to cycle on the pavement unless it's a designated cycle path.

[Dumpylump]

A phenomenon I have noticed round where we live is that cyclists dressed in "normal" clothes on standard push bikes, or hybrid bikes, use the cycle lanes where they exist, or the roads sensibly where they don't. These are people who look as though they are cycling to and from work, or whatever.
The people dressed in skintight Lycra with goggles, water bottles and racing bikes are all over the pavement or in the middle of the road, two or three abreast, refusing to give way for anyone - whether it's pedestrians on the pavement, or a car trying to safely overtake.
I pointed this out to dp and a couple of my friends who have all said that since I did, and they started noticing, that this is their experience too!

[BoneyBackJefferson]

In an effort to bring the thread to an early finish in probability the following will be mentioned.

he was on the path as it was safer.
if drivers were better and more aware he would have been on the road.
he wasn't doing anything wrong, cycling on the path is at the discretion of the police.
something about cars going through red lights.
something about cars parking on pavements.
stats showing cars/drivers cause more injuries that cyclists.
some stuff about VED.
something about pollution, fitness, wear and tear on the roads.
something about breaking the law and not caring as its actually safer.
and something about all drivers should be forced to ride a bike for a certain amount of time.

The order in which they appear may change but that is the normal run of the thread.

[HangingBasketCase]

It's funny you mention this OP. I was on a bus into town yesterday when the driver had to break very suddenly to avoid hitting a cyclist who gone through a red light. The driver sounded his horn because he only missed him by inches. The cyclist then had the cheek to wave his arms about and shake his head like it was bus drivers fault. It wasn't. The cyclist has gone through a red light.

Another time I was walking near my home, heard a voice behind me shout "get out of the way" and looked around to see a fully grown male cyclist coming towards me on the pavement itself.

There was also an occasion where I was nearly hit by a pedestrian crossing by a cyclist who'd gone through a red light.

I don't want to cyclist bash, because I know they are not all like that, but a lot of them do have an entitlement complex and think the rules of the highway code don't apply to them.

[Salmotrutta]

[AlpacaYourThings]

BoneyBackJefferson

Totally agree.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

Bugger, I missed "bike bashing".