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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To cycle on the pavement with children?

120 replies

Aquariusgirl86 · 08/11/2013 12:08

I commute to work on my bike and always cycle on the roads but recently bought a trailer for my bike so I can take my two children 14 months and 30 months out as we just got rid of the car. Is it ok to go on pavements? There are lots of cycle routes her but there's a few places I need to go that I can't use them, if I'm on small quiet roads I use the road but on medium- ish roads with wide pavements is it ok to use the pavement? I don't expect pedestrians to move out my way, I'm never in a huge hurry I just want to keep the kids safe.......aibu?

OP posts:

bundaberg · 08/11/2013 12:11

yabu in my opinion. it's illegal to ride on the pavement isn't it? unless it's a designated cycle path

NorthernLurker · 08/11/2013 12:12

Yes yabu. Cycles belong on roads. If you're cycling with your kids you need to be super assertive and take up enough road space to keep you all safe. Kids need helmets even in the trailer. I've cycled with my kids for years. Teach them to use the road safely. Pavements are not ok. Even at a slow pace you're a danger to pedestrians.

MrsGarlic · 08/11/2013 12:12

I think YABU. Sorry but cycling on pavements really gets my goat. If you don't feel safe taking your kids on the road then use alternative transport.

trainersandcake · 08/11/2013 12:15

Speaking as a cyclist, yes, YABU.

Bikes go on the roads.

AllDirections · 08/11/2013 12:15

It wouldn't bother me as long as you didn't run me over or ring your bell to get me to move over.

Morgause · 08/11/2013 12:16

Bikes go on the road. YABU.

BlackbeltinBS · 08/11/2013 12:18

You're not just a bike but a trailer too - you'll be taking up an awful lot of pavement. If you don't think it's safe to be on the road, then you need to think of another transport alternative.

gamerchick · 08/11/2013 12:19

Yeah you are. There is one parent who uses a trailer for the school run and it's a pain in the arse when the school gates a bottle neck as it is.

Anyway back to the point.. pavements are for walking.

CoffeeTea103 · 08/11/2013 12:20

Yabu! Surprised you have to even ask.

Original poster

Aquariusgirl86 · 08/11/2013 12:20

Fair enough, there's just one area that's completely inaccessible and I feel too busy roads for having the trailer on the road. They do wear helmets I just want them to be safe. It annoys me when I see people cycling on the pavements and deciding to use the pavements when there's a traffic jam, I'm not one of those people, I'm just trying to find a way of taking my children out to the places I need to go and someone told me it's ok cause kids are allowed to cycle on the pavement so didn't know where the keeping kids safe on the pavement line ended and the endangering them on the road line bagan :-S

OP posts:

monicalewinski · 08/11/2013 12:21

I would say if you are not getting in anyone's way then you are not BU at all.

Phineyj · 08/11/2013 12:21

YABU - really it is the UK as a whole BU (if you are in UK) but our poor provision for cycling doesn't mean you get to make people walk in the road.

WooWooOwl · 08/11/2013 12:23

Bikes should not be on pavements. YABVU.

gamerchick · 08/11/2013 12:23

Could you get off and push if you have to use a pavement at random points?

Fakebook · 08/11/2013 12:23

YABU. What will you do when there's a parent with a pushchair coming the other way?

Phineyj · 08/11/2013 12:23

I don't think children are allowed to cycle on the pavement. If you have a cycling promotion officer at your local council ring them up for some advice.

Bottom line, if you don't feel safe on the road you probably shouldn't be cycling.

NorthernLurker · 08/11/2013 12:24

You are NOT endangering your children by cycling on roads with them. Unless you're using a dual carriageway?
You presumably are mostly on 30 or 40 mph roads. Wear bright clothing, festoon the trailer with lights and reflectors and ASSERT your right to be on the road. Drivers should give you as much space to pass as they would a car. If you cycle fair and square in the road then you will compel them to do that. If you cram yourself in the gutter you make the ride harder for you and allow them to squeeze past which is unsafe. Give a ton of space for indication etc, look over your shoulder a lot and assuume everybody in a car is a bad driver and you'll be fine.

Doyouthinktheysaurus · 08/11/2013 12:25

I'm a cyclist and runner and intake a more pragmatic view.

Honestly, if the road is busy with traffic and the pavement is quiet, in your situation I would not have an issue with you using the pavement.

I do feel the rage when I'm running and get asked to move for adults on bikes! I personally always cycle on the roads except where there's is a cycle path and I expect other adults to do the same!

thehairybabysmum · 08/11/2013 12:25

Agree you shouldn't use the pavement.

I used a trailer when my two were younger, we live in a busy city centre with busy roads. I actually found that cars treated me like another car, would only overtake slowly and giving me a very wide berth. Much wider than I got when I just had a bike seat on the back.

I think you should try cycling on the roads, but behave like a car yourself, so don't try and hog the kerb...just position yourself comfortably on the road. Also make sure you have lots of lights on the trailer....I had two on the bar at the back and also one that attached to the flag pole so I was very visible.

Pan · 08/11/2013 12:26

No your not BU at all.

So long as you obv recognise the primacy of peds and be repectful, as you say, then it's fine. The laws are there to stop excessive use by other adults who just see it as an alternative.

harticus · 08/11/2013 12:26

A person like you ploughed into my DS when he was 3 years old.
How he escaped without major injury I don't know.

I wish we had better cycling facilities in the UK, but we don't.
So until we do ... YABU to cycle on the pavement.

Original poster

Aquariusgirl86 · 08/11/2013 12:27

I'm not making people walk in the road and I'm not ringing a bell to make them move, the actual bit of pavement I need to use is a double width pavement and barely anyone on it......
I am a cycle commuter and I would never contemplate going on the pavement by myself so please don't shoot me down I'm not that type of person. Many of the cycle paths here are Infact pavements that are wide :-S

OP posts:

WhatsHisChops · 08/11/2013 12:27

Please don't do this. It's illegal and desperately inconsiderate. I have lost count of the number of times parent and child cycle convoys have tried to run me and three children under three off the pavement, invariably with a 'bloody pedestrians can't you see you are in our way' air. I have taken to calling parents out on it now, at the very least it sets a poor example to to their own children who will grow up thinking its ok to tear around pavements on their bikes.

Ledkr · 08/11/2013 12:28

I don't mind children cycling on pavements as long as they slow down when a pedestrian cones along, I get pissed off with people who just whizz past me.

SoupDragon · 08/11/2013 12:28

It annoys me when I see people cycling on the pavements and deciding to use the pavements when there's a traffic jam, I'm not one of those people

If you are considering cycling on the pavements then yes, you are one of those people who think they are allowed to ride on the pavement.

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