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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

for telling a young girl off for cycling on the pavement??

244 replies

lottiejenkins · 09/08/2011 15:57

I went shopping in our local market town this morning with my ds Wilf (profoundly deaf). We stopped at the florists where my cousin works and as we were leaving Wilf went out of the front door ahead of me. He then suddenly stepped back and i saw that girl (aged about ten) had nearly knocked him over as she cycled past on the pavement!! Hmm I called after her and said that Wilf was deaf and that is one of the many reasons why she shouldnt be cycling on the pavement. I didnt see any parent with her. Surely if shes that nervous of traffic she shouldnt be out on her own???

OP posts:
niceguy2 · 09/08/2011 16:56

I think in this case that it doesnt matter if the girl was cycling or walking. OP's son still has a responsibility to look before he walks.

When exiting a shop do I just open the door and step out with the assumption I own the pavement? Of course not! You'd expect me to look first. There could be another person there or someone in one of them mobility buggies or yes....a child on a bike. Here OP's son did exactly that. There was no issue because he looked and reacted. Just like you expect.

Yes in THEORY the girl perhaps should have pushed her bike. But let's be fair, she's 10. A child! And guess what....a child makes mistakes! I doubt she was cycling around intent on knocking people over.

Are we really so intolerant of children that we automatically think the child is wrong for cycling on her bike?

ghosteditor · 09/08/2011 16:59

Glad to hear your DS was ok and I agree that people shouldn't cycle on pavements, with the possible exception of young children who are moving slowly. I have yet to take it up with any of the kids who cycle on the pavements in my town, mostly because they are moving too fast for them to hear Hmm.

On a related but tangential rant, DH came home the other day from a cycle ride very shaken up and pale. He was cycling at about 20 mph on the road (which is 30 mph) very near to our house, when a girl cycled out from a side road pavement right across the middle of the main road and into his path. DH reckons she was about ten or twelve. He managed to stop but had to do it so suddenly that his back wheel came up off the floor and he nearly went over the bars. He didn't actually hit the girl (and managed to restrain any expletives) or fall off, but he was properly shaken up. She didn't apologise - I can only assume she was only listening out for a car engine and rode straight out when she didn't hear one - but DH says if he'd been in a car and doing thirty it would have been very very nasty.

/rant. But anyone with children who cycle - please, please teach them always to stop before going into the road. And if they're cycling on the road rather than the pavement then all the better...

MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 09/08/2011 17:04

Surely the point though is that someone riding a bike (unless being especially careful) is likely to be going a lot faster than pedestrians and quite likely faster than mobility scooters, joggers etc too. Which also means you would need to look further than normal to see it, as it could cover more ground in the same time. Also a cyclist on a busy pavement is likely to find it harder to stop or swerve quickly and safely (without hitting someone else instead) than a jogger. So you could be stepping out/looking in a way that would be quite safe for normal pavement traffic, but still be at risk of getting hit by a cyclist.

This happened to DH, he stepped out of our driveway, which has a hedge running along it so you can't see up the street until you are at the end of it. He has never had a problem with normal pavement users as there is still plenty of time for them to see each other and react, but one day nearly got taken out by a young guy on a bike. The cyclist was clearly not looking out or considering the possiblity of people coming out of the driveways.

My line is that while cycling on pavements is illegal, I would make an exception for young children if they are prepared to ride extra slowly and carefully, and to recognise that pedestrians have priority on the pavement and be prepared to stop and wait for them if necessary. But it doesn't sound as though that was necessarily the case here.

tyler80 · 09/08/2011 17:07

I think you are perhaps a little unreasonable if she was under 10 (under age of criminal responsibility therefore no consequences for riding on the pavement), and no collision actually happened.

When the fixed penalty notice for riding on a footway was introduced the following advice was also given

"I should stress that the issue is about inconsiderate cycling on the pavements. The new provisions are not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of the traffic, and who show consideration to other road users when doing so. Chief officers recognise that the fixed penalty needs to be used with a considerable degree of discretion and it cannot be issued to anyone under the age of 16."

I would actually say that your son was at an advantage, I would assume he is used to using his eyes to look rather than relying on his ears to listen for traffic as many pedestrians seem to.

Meglet · 09/08/2011 17:08

Sadly yabu. Until the roads are safe for cyclists I am happy to share paths with them as long as they cycle slowly and use their bells. Fast, bad cyclists can take their chances with the cars.

Original poster
lottiejenkins · 09/08/2011 17:13

Thanks Kurri! He is ok!! Smile

OP posts:
InstantAtom · 09/08/2011 17:16

Pavements are for walking, roads are for cycling. If the road is too busy for cycling and you need to use the pavement, you walk.

Runoutofideas · 09/08/2011 17:29

My 6yr old can ride her bike without stabilisers but there is no way she is mature enough to judge the speed of other traffic or predict behaviour of other road users so I do not let her cycle on the road. As I don't like her cycling on pavements either, (as she does not consider drive ways well enough, and gets going too fast for me to catch her), this results in the mad situation of us driving to our local park (about 200m) so that she can ride her bike safely. Cycling=green? Not in our case!

anewyear · 09/08/2011 17:33

We have bikeability at our school also, its for year's 5 & 6,
so that 11 & 12 year olds.

Wallace · 09/08/2011 17:46

lol at being old enough to ride a bike without stabilisers means you should ride on the road. My ds was 2 when he learnt to ride - imagine that on the road!

pigletmania · 09/08/2011 18:23

I certainly would not let my dd 4 cycle on the road. Love the cycle paths of Milton Keynes where I live

Kladdkaka · 09/08/2011 18:25

I know the answer to whether you can cycle on the pavements or not. I wrote to the Department of Transport and asked for clarification when my daughter wanted to ride to school. They said that it is now unlawful to cycle on the pavements however:

  1. Children under 10 cannot break the law and therefore no action can be taken against under 10s.
  1. The method of enforcement will be the fixed penalty notice. Fixed penalty notices are not issued to those under 16. Therefore it is highly unlikely that action will be taken against those under 16.
  1. The police have discretion for the issuing of fixed penalty notices. DoT guidelines tell them to weigh up the dangers of cycling on that particular stretch of road against the dangers of their cycling on the pavement (eg speed, density of pedestrians) and to only issue a notice if their being on the pavement is a greater danger than them being on the road.
  1. The law doesn't apply to pedestrianised areas, such as town centres or shopping precincts unless the local council have brought in a bylaw specific to the area and clearly marked.
DarrellRivers · 09/08/2011 18:29

YABU
Children should not be cycling on the roads

pigletmania · 09/08/2011 18:34

There is noway would I have my primary school child cycling on a busy road with cars flying about, adults and teens yes but not young kids. The government should invest in more safe cycle paths.

pigletmania · 09/08/2011 18:35

Cars are going at high speed, how the hell would a young child be able to negotiate a busy roundabout Hmm

ZZZenAgain · 09/08/2011 18:38

that's interesting kladd

SoupDragon · 09/08/2011 18:42

The girl shouldn't have been riding on a busy pavement. But...

"He shouldnt have to look before he steps out of a shop he should have access to the pavement without being nearly knocked over"

Of course needs to learn to look before stepping out of a shop! As has been pointed out, there are more hazards than a bike.
A bolting small child, a dog, someone running because they are late.

meala · 09/08/2011 18:43

roads are definitely too dangerous for kids. Pavement every time for my DC. In a busy shopping street though i would expect them to cycle very slowly if they have to cycle there at all.

Saski · 09/08/2011 18:49

I don't let my kids (5&8) ride on the road unless there's very little traffic. I understand it's annoying for pedestrians and I do constantly remind them that pedestrians have the right of way, but I can't let them ride in a busy street. I wouldn't even want them to ride on a busy road when they're (for example) 12, and by this time they're certainly capable of going out on their own a bit. But kids who ride on the pavement should be taught to ride slowly, with one foot skimming the ground, in dense areas.

InstantAtom · 09/08/2011 18:50

Why can't people get off the bicycle and walk with it? Or just walk in the first place?

SardineQueen · 09/08/2011 18:59

YANBU it is illegal to cycle on the pavement and always has been.

I saw two children about 10 get ticked off by local officers recently for cycling on the pavement, they told them to get off and push their bikes or cycle in the road.

I never cease to be amazed that so many people think they can pick and choose which laws they adhere to (parking, cycling on pavement, using mobile whilst driving etc). And the post from Kladd earlier sums it up. It is ILLEGAL but they can't prosecute under one age and are unlikely to for under another age so go on people just do it and break the law with impunity?

It's so bloody selfish.

SardineQueen · 09/08/2011 19:04

Also boggling that people are seriously suggesting that it is normal or reasonable to stop before you exit a shop and peer up and down as if crossing a busy road.

It is normal to glance, most people are not expecting a bicycle to be whizzing in their direction.

His mum should hold his hands at all times FFS the girl should not have been on the pavement she was acting illegally.

TheOriginalNutcracker · 09/08/2011 19:09

My dc are 13, 11 and 8 and I tell them to ride on the pavement but, I wouldn't let them ride through a busy area such as the op has described.

SoupDragon · 09/08/2011 19:13

Do you just step out blindly then, Sardine? Or do you perhaps give a quick glance and use your ears to hear hazards? The OPs son can't do this so he needs to be more vigilant when looking.

I look far more casually if I have headphones on for example. It is amazing how much you rrely on hearing without realising it.

SoupDragon · 09/08/2011 19:14

Lol... Damn autocorrect.

I look far more carefully not casually.

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