To shout at these cyclists on the pavement?!!

[LeftMyRidingCropInTheMortuary]

I travel between 2 different places for work so AIBU about either...?

City A: very busy tourist destination in UK. Cyclists riding on pavement amongst crowds of tourists (many look foreign themselves if this is relevant? Diff rules?). One nearly hit me. I yelled at her, she apologised. OK. Made me a bit wary though.

Town B: Quiet, long, straight, wide pavements. Teenagers on BMXs, they pass a wee bit close for comfort. One gave me lip when I asked her to move onto the road saying "it's legal for BMXs to ride on the pavement".

FYI: none of them have been wearing helmets either?!

Thoughts please.
Thanks in advance.

Now starting a thread about car drivers....I'm grumpy today!!!

Cyclists on pavements has been pretty much done to death here, so here's my condensed version.

• Yes, it's annoying when people cycle on the pavement. It's (usually) not dangerous though.
• Sometimes it's a shared use path. The signage is often very poor, blink and you'll miss it.
• Wearing a helmet is not a legal requirement in the UK.

I think there are worse things to be upset about. As long as they're not speeding along it's not the end of the world.

Forgetting not all shared paths are marked, yanbu provided you also personally shout at all the car drivers who endanger cyclists whenever you spot them not adhering to the highway code.

I'm not sure why the helmets are relevant.

You've already told cyclists off and it still seems to be an issue. Maybe you'd be better off having a word with the local,police? Every now and then the police here have a crackdown on cyclists in the town centre pedestrianised bits.

lurked makes a very good point. I frequently get shouted at when cycling on a certain "pedestrianised" part of the city centre near me. Ive even been stopped by the police and was about to be given a fixed penalty ticket. Until I pointed out it's an unmarked cycle path. There are tiny signs at both ends but no markings on the block paving.

I saw a pavement cyclist ride at speed within a few inches of a very old, stooped woman once. If the woman had stepped to the right st the wrong time, she would probably have been killed and the young cyclist might have hit the deck hard as well. I can't bear cyclists in pavements, unless they're slow LOs learning to ride under adult supervision.

I cycle on the paths but take a big detour around our town centre to do so, I go through the parks and a quiet residential road. No way would I cycle through a town centre on road (dangerous) or pavements (busy).

I don't wear a helmet yet either. I'll buy one when I start cycling with the kids but otherwise I go boringly slow and avoid people.

pretty much what babybat and Viva say. Done to death, not pleasant when it happens, the law on 'pavement riding' is flexibly applied by local police (but not designed to defend this sort of behaviour), helmets are nothing to do with it.

Move along.

YABU. You aren't the police, and people who shout because they think they have the right to enforce the law are generally worse than those who do minor misdemenours like cycling on the pavement and injuring no-one.

Doubly YABU because this country has third world standards of cycling provision despite high taxes, and the cyclist were probably only trying to live.

Personally, given the choice, I'd rather live and actually be convicted of cycling on a pavement.

Oh, and as for the no helmet bit - where do you get off on with making up that particular ruling in your own head?

God complex?

Just be grateful you weren't dodging a bunch of idiot tourists on motorised bicycles and Segways as I was in Barcelona last week. Dreadful idea.

'people who shout because they think they have the right to enforce the law are generally worse than those who do minor misdemenours like cycling on the pavement and injuring no-one'

Seriously??? Worse??? How do you figure that one out?

I know someone who got hit by a cyclist on a pavement recently and ended up with a broken leg because of it. Nice.

I am sick and tired of cyclists on pavements whizzing past me and scaring me to death, and I'm not an elderly or pregnant or in any way vulnerable person. It is not legal to cycle on the pavement and its certainly not safe either. It may not be safe out there for cyclists but why is that a pedestrian's problem?

OP, I have been known to yell at cyclists too although I doubt its ever had any effect. YANBU.

YANBU! I live in London and don't generally come across this but unfortunately it is a big problem close to my work place.
Pedestrians, ill supervised children on bikes and scooters (in an area with about 4/5 schools in close proximity and adults cycling erratically on the pavement do not mix!!!

You would all hate me. I cycle on pavements sometimes. I haven't had my bike very long and I am not always confident enough to ride along busy roads or in areas where there are a lot of turn offs, roundabouts and traffic lights. I ride very slowly and try to be considerate.

A few people have made comments as I ride, but honestly, I don't give a shit what they think. Random strangers' opinions on what I do while in possession of none of the facts mean nothing to me.

""Just be grateful you weren't dodging a bunch of idiot tourists on motorised bicycles and Segways as I was in Barcelona last week.""

I'm going Segways riding around Berlin, I hope it doesn't catch on in the UK, though.

I witnessed a toddler knocked over by a speeding cyclist, I won't describe the injuries, but they are life long. The cyclist wasn't charged with anything, which must of upset the family/friends.

There should be a penalty system for speeding, not slowing in crowds and not having a means, bell, horn etc to alert people.

YANBU. Cyclists do not belong on the pavement.

I am becoming a grumpy old woman (rather than God) and love shouting at youngsters!!!! ;-)

Lots of shared footpaths/cycle routes around here, it mostly seems to work well. You just need to be considerate, alert and intelligent.

As a cyclist, my main bugbear isn't drivers, it's pedestrians in our nearby very touristy city who think it's fine to stroll along the actual roads. Some will even stand in the road to take selfies or whatever They look affronted when I ring my bell, and totally baffled when I explain that the road is for vehicles (which includes bikes) and the pavement is for pedestrians.

Elke - how would you feel if you hit an old lady?!!

'A few people have made comments as I ride, but honestly, I don't give a shit what they think'

Not a terrific attitude to have while in charge of a moving vehicle in public, which has the potential to injure or scare people

And the 'facts' are that it's illegal to ride a bike on the pavement and you're breaking the law by doing so

A cyclist riding on the pavement very nearly knocked me over once when I was running. I pushed them off their bike. Maybe if more people did this, they would learn it's not acceptable. Learn to ride on the roads properly, stick to cycle paths or don't ride your bike at all. It's dangerous and anti-social.

Gosh hedgehog01, can't condone that obviously but on the other hand, I am sick and tired of seeing cyclists whizzing around like they own the place so I do wish that more people would stand up to them. What reaction did you get, or did you push and run?!

Love how everyone's getting up in arms about the 'no helmets' comment in the OP and ignoring the "they look foreign" comment - as if that's relevant to anyone's cycling skills!!

I'm normally very pro-cyclist on any car-vs-cyclist thread but not so much if they are on the pavement. I don't really mind if it's an under-pedestrianised bit but my jaw nearly dropped with the cheek of one young man cycling on a very busy pavement in my city center, in an area that tends to be full of older and/or frail and disabled people, whilst complaining loudly into his phone about all the "fannies that were in his way".

I ran! I was stunned that I'd done it myself. Passers-by were stunned, as was the cyclist. I don't feel bad about it, she scared the life out of me.