thoughtless or entitled?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

I was out unusually early this morning and witnessed the following:

A little girl on her micro scooter scooting along to the primary school on our road. She was about 5, I'd say, at a guess. Her parent/carer, a man on a bike, was following her on the pavement. This is a typical London side street of terraced houses, the roads were quiet because it was early and before the school run (it was 8am, so they must have been on their way to breakfast club).

Actually, I think my thread title is bollocks, come to think of it. The parent couldn't possibly think it's ok to cycle on the pavement, so he decided to do it because his little girl was scooting.

I conclude ... an entitled twit!

"London is too horrible on a bike to be on the roads"

Is this for real? It must be a joke.

There are cycle lanes on some pavements where I live. They are used by responsible cyclists. There are also lots of pavements that are for pedestrians only and I have been nearly knocked over 2 or 3 times by idiots on bikes. Several years ago my elderly mother was nearly knocked over by a lad in his early 20s cycling on the pavement, who I am absolutely delighted to say fell off his bike when he swerved to avoid her, due to the speed he was doing.

There also seems to be a plethora of colour blind cyclists near where I work as they constantly ignore red lights and whizz through crossings when the lights are on green for pedestrians.

I know it can be dangerous for cyclists on the road - a colleague of mine was hit and broke his arm and collarbone - and I'm not saying a sensible cyclist should never get on the pavement as long as they use due care but as far as I can see there was no real reason for this man to be riding his bike in the first place.

Personally I think it's a shame bikes don't have licence plates then the reckless idiots could be identified and we'd all be happy.

A quick google tells me there are 23 million cycling journeys per year in London, with 14 deaths in 2014. I don't think those sort of statistics justify all 23 million of those journeys being conducted on the pavement.

Oh and don't get me started on grown adults who use those adult scooters on the pavement either.

Years ago I saw a cyclist go full pelt into a bin on the pavement.

It was hilarious!

*he wasn't hurt.

Not to mention bibbity there are lots of cycle lanes in London (especially along Embankment, which now means traffic crawls along at 5 miles an hour.)

It's amazing really, those entitled cyclists, riding on the pavement when they're so welcomed and safe on the road, riding on the road getting in cars' way, when there's a the pavement to (not) be on.
Some people just don't want cyclists to exist anywhere. A man riding at just over walking speed with his child on a scooter has probably never been a scenario where anyone else has been injured.
The law around cycling on pavements really isn't designed to address that scenario, it's for people riding without care and attention at a speed incompatible with the safety of pedestrians.
It may be a shock to you but I've ridden on pavements, mainly while with my children, where the road system was unsafe for them, and when doing so we always ride slowly and give way to pedestrians.
This non-event is just an excuse to batter someone do something you don't like, which you can imagine might have some kind of risk.
The world's a complex place full of people living different lives, with different priorities and interests, sometimes they'll butt up against each other, unless there's real risk or a real event, it's better to realise we can't have everything exactly our way.

Be careful what you're saying Pietari. I am a cyclist. I cycle in London a lot. I have taught both my children to ride a bike.

There was NO NEED for this guy to be cycling on the pavement. He was not avoiding a busy road. His daughter was not safer because he was cycling behind her. He was being thoughtless or entitled.

Araiwa 😂
If it was me op I'd have rung 101 and get the nasty little incident logged! You can't be too careful these days!

OP, do you ever feel entitled to break the speed limit?

Maybe, because it's late at night and there's no-one else around?

"entitled" means you believe you have the right to something.

It is perfectly possible that the pavement cyclist knew it was illegal but thought it was, in this situation, safe to break the law (he was unlikely to get caught). And possibly safer for him and his daughter. It does not mean he believes he has a right to be on the pavement. Or did you ask him that?

How did it impact you - did it inconvenience you somehow? I'm confused. Or did you just find it annoying and want to moan about it? If former -YANBU if latter, YABU

Was he causing a danger to you or anyone?

IfICanDream I'm sorry about what happened to your son, I understand that it must have been a terrifying incident for both him and yourself.

However (and I don't mean this in a nasty or "goady" way) should your son be on the pavement alone if he is deaf? I mean surely similar could have happened if another child was skating wildly down the pavement or heaven forbid a car lost control and landed on the pavement?

There are many variables of similar situations that could potentially pose a danger to a person on a pavement (deaf or not) and often the dangers actually derive from the behaviour of certain children; I know where I live there are a number who enjoy playing on their scooters at considerable speed on the pavement but I would rather they did that than on the road. (Some are teens on bikes but I wouldn't advocate riding on the road).

I can't believe people think enough about this type of thing to post about it

Is nobody allowed to post about mild irritations anymore?

It'll get pretty quiet in here soon...

Emerald you are right to a certain extent, when DS was little, he wasn't allowed out solo at the same ages as my other DC as he did need more supervision and care. He is older now though (and was when he was knocked over) and can't be accompanied for the rest of his life. All we can do is minimise the danger as much as possible (so he would wait longer to cross the road and choose a very visible spot for example).

A bike riding illegally on the pavement can't be avoided by him though and it shouldn't have to be - it's illegal exactly because it's a danger to others. DS like all of us has had the usual little children scoot into his legs near the school playgrounds etc but the potential damage from being knocked over by a cyclist is much greater than a small child on a scooter.

Of course pavement cyclists would say the chances of them running into (literally!) a deaf person are small - but the risk is there. The cyclist who ran into DS was a teenager and he felt terrible as it was, imagine the consequences if DS had hit his head any harder - it would ruin the cyclist's life. It simply isn't a risk worth taking for anyone and if people choose to take it for their own comfort, I think they are selfish and pretty stupid.

Why on earth shouldn't a deaf person be allowed on the pavement in case some clown on a bicycle mows them down, Emerald?
The pedestrian is the one who shouldn't be there? You can't be serious, surely?

I think emerald thought my DS was perhaps a younger child than he was, and thus should have been supervised when out, in fairness. Emerald didn't say deaf people shouldn't be allowed on pavements.

Although it's always interesting to me how many people are surprised that deaf people "are allowed" to drive....

I got knocked over by a twit on a bike on the pavement. I'm fit and healthy. I was annoyed, bruised my hip and wished I could have caught them up to give them a mouthful.

If my elderly grandmother got knocked over by a twit on a bike on the pavement, the consequences would have gone way beyond annoyance and a bruised hip.

This is a weird phenomenon with most of the cyclists I've come across.

It's like the bike comes with built-in arrogant twattery.

The audacity of them thinking they can cycle on the pavement! If you want to be on the pavement, you walk.

I would never move out of a cyclist's way on a footpath. Not if you paid me.

And if someone ever hit off my kids or an elderly parent, I would flip!