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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To cycle ON the pavement?

532 replies

Hum2 · 30/06/2018 19:43

Haven't ridden in years and just getting back on it. Do not trust some of the cars on the road to overtake me with enough space. I'm still wobbly on it.

AIBU to ride on the pavement? Even when there is a cycle lane on the road (which was a locked at two points today by parked cars!).

I also use the 'green man' to cross the roads rather than moving to the road and crossing like a vehicle.

OP posts:
kitchensinkmum · 01/07/2018 18:13

Cycle on the pavement but give way to pedestrians. I'd rather get a fine than be killed by a car

VickieCherry · 01/07/2018 18:14

In answer to a previous poster, I do shout at cyclists who jump red lights and do other stupid things, because they give the rest of us a bad name and they're going to get themselves killed one day.

Last week I had a cyclist come up behind me while I was waiting to turn left onto a busy road. As I prepared to move off when a gap appeared, he suddenly appeared beside me, went around and tried to turn left himself, cutting me up! Dick.

JacquesHammer · 01/07/2018 18:15

There are multiple dangers with cycling on the pavement and it’s NOT just speed

Absolutely this.

When my DD was hit, a chap came around the corner of a building, clipped her and knocked her into the road at a junction. Fortunately the lights were red for traffic coming the side she fell, otherwise the repercussions aren’t very pleasant to consider.

I’m sure he thought he was riding carefully, by not riding at speed. But just the fact he was on a bike on a pavement could have caused a horrid accident

C8H10N4O2 · 01/07/2018 18:28

How many cyclists do you know without insurance? c8H

I don't keep a tally but it must be a couple of hundred in the last three years.

The only cyclists who have insurance when I ask about it are either drivers (for whom insurance on the road is probably normalised) or the few who are members of an organised cycling club or similar.

When I was able to cycle I always had insurance, DP has always had insurance for cycling on the road. I started asking the question because I was surprised at the number of London cyclists I met who had never considered insurance.

KitchenFloor · 01/07/2018 18:28

Jacques well, riding around the corner of a building with the inability to see if there are any pedestrians there falls into my definition of "unreasonable/inconsiderate" pavement cycling.

As for toddlers, I assume they will do something stupid and cycle accordingly, coming to a standstill if needed.

JacquesHammer · 01/07/2018 18:31

@KitchenFloor

Mine too. My point is I expect he thought he was being careful. It’s too subjective.

Maybe a ban in town centres would be a good start.

ivykaty44 · 01/07/2018 18:32

And how many of those 200 cyclists have needed third party insurance in the last 3 years to cover an accident that they were responsible for?

bakingdemon · 01/07/2018 18:33

@Runssometimes totally agree with you. I've only been knocked off my bike once and that was by a runner. I was in a two way segregated bike lane, he ran into the path without looking, knocked me off my bike and into the path of the bikes coming the other way. I am really, really wary of pedestrians now. And twice last week I was nearly knocked off my bike by drivers opening their car doors without looking. There are bad cyclists, bad pedestrians and bad drivers.

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 18:49

The only cyclists who have insurance when I ask about it are either drivers (for whom insurance on the road is probably normalised) or the few who are members of an organised cycling club or similar.

Surely this actually covers the vast majority of adult cyclists?

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 18:50

I am a driver AND a member of a cycling club

C8H10N4O2 · 01/07/2018 18:50

And how many of those 200 cyclists have needed third party insurance in the last 3 years to cover an accident that they were responsible for?

Oh for goodness sake.

At a guess the same percentage as car drivers? I've always had car and cycle insurance and never caused an accident but if I had misjudged a situation or simply been reckless my victim would have some protection. That is the point of insurance isn't it?

Would you also argue that car drivers don't need insurance if they don't have accidents? I found it more sobering how few even considered it.

C8H10N4O2 · 01/07/2018 18:51

Surely this actually covers the vast majority of adult cyclists?

I suspect it does, that is my point really. That was exactly what the police said when I did try to report a injury caused by a cyclist who was cycling dangerously.

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 18:53

At a guess the same percentage as car drivers?

I doubt it. 3rd party cyclist cover is a lot cheaper than car insurance.

categed · 01/07/2018 18:53

Cycling on pavementa is illegal for a reason. People have been killed by being hit by cyclists. Same as i wouldn't ride a horse on a pavement. All road users should have 3rd party insurance. You hope you never need it but it's there if you do. I always had it with horses and it coverd cycling as well. Go to a local park or off road cycle track to get your confidence up. I live in a rural area which sounds great but people drive too fast and cut corners so it's scary here too.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 01/07/2018 19:00

Well Puzzledandpissedoff I don't really appreciate being called a liar

I couldn't possibly call you a liar because I don't know you from Adam; I can (and did) only speak from my own experience, which is that the pavement cyclists I've known have, almost without exception, been the sort to insist they'll do one thing and then do something else completely

As mentioned I'm a cyclist myself, and those of us who don't feel we have the right to endanger others for our own selfish interests get pretty tired of being tarred with the same brush as the irresponsible

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 19:16

Yeah cos all cyclists run red lights and go up the inside of traffic queues don't they puzzled 🙄

C8H10N4O2 · 01/07/2018 19:26

I doubt it. 3rd party cyclist cover is a lot cheaper than car insurance.

Yes I know, DP has it and I used to when I could cycle.

How is that relevant to the point implying that cyclists don't need insurance if they haven't had an accident?

Lethaldrizzle · 01/07/2018 19:27

If I'm driving I prefer cyclists to jump the red lights if it safe for them cos then it's easier for me to pull off.

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 19:38

It isn't. The point is that insurance companies clearly consider cyclists to be lower risk than car drivers.

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 19:38

Not if they get flattened in the process lethal

Lethaldrizzle · 01/07/2018 19:41

Tea - like I said - 'if it's safe for them'

Teateaandmoretea · 01/07/2018 19:43

Running red lights isn't safe..... unless you have some very odd traffic lights round by you. I wouldn't run any of the ones I have to cross x

KitchenFloor · 01/07/2018 19:43

@C8H10N4O2 here are a few shared pedestrian / cyclist "facilities":

goo.gl/maps/UaNdUsL1KdH2 - runs alongside the busy road to help people avoid the road and junctions; city centre location.

goo.gl/maps/Sp4MbpmgQL52 - I'm struggling to find the signs but I'm pretty certain this pavement along the A44 between Oxford and Woodstock is a shared cycle / pedestrian facility. Countryside really.

goo.gl/maps/QuQWbF3ckAJ2 is another one - suburbs.

Lethaldrizzle · 01/07/2018 19:51

Tea - I know for a fact that my friend would still be alive if she'd run the red light that day rather than obediently sitting at the lights as a lorry came up next to her and proceeded to turn left over her and the bike

ivykaty44 · 01/07/2018 19:57

Oh for goodness sake....

Cyclists needing third party insurance not anywhere near the same percentage as motorists

If it was the government would change legislation, but the difference between the damage a bike can do compared with a car is far less & why insurance isn't a legal requirement.

Even cyclists here have stated that in collisions with pedestrians they have come if worse

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