To cycle ON the pavement?

[Hum2]

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.

Just to add clarity on the insurance thing, people with contents insurance normally have public liability cover. I understand this would cover cycling accidents, unless there's some sort of racing involved.

*@nanettenanoo

How you can compare that to "wobbly" cycling on narrow pedestrian-only pavements is beyond me.*

When was the paths I use ever described as 'narrow'? That's your assumption here.

FWIW, I described myself as 'wobbly' after my very first time on a bike in years. That soon dissapeared as I re-acclimatised to using a bike. By all means continue with this mental caricature you are trying to portray - someone swaying side to side on your narrow path!

I just don't see where being disabled comes into this? A pedestrian is a pedestrian whether young/old/disabled/able bodied/mentally ill/sound of mind etc. Hurting someone is a horrific thing to do, it's not 'worse' to hurt a disabled person than an able bodied person. An able bodied person may be vulnerable for other reasons.

I think the consensus is a no no though op.

What I'm saying is, if I see a non disabled person on the path, I'm not going to whizz last them at close proximity and give a disabled person a wide berth. I'm going to to give ^everyone a wide berth! Being disabled is just your personal battle and whilst I have no doubts you find aspects of your life challenging, it doesn't make you a more valuable human.

I'm sorry that this point isn't probably coming across all that well, hopefully someone can make this point more eloquently. I guess my point here is equality - it goes both ways.

Cycle on the road. Where you are supposed to. Or do something else. Pedestrians are not part of your acclimatising process.

I can see that @whiteroseredrose but I have a feeling the title of this post has attracted people with the strongest opinions and those who are more laid back have not joined the discussion.

I also feel a lot of descriptions/anecdotes/opinions here are based around city type heavily used pavements and this is where pavement cycling may cause the biggest problems. Obviously there will always be freak accidents anyway but even a runner can knock someone over accidentally, along with the possibility of a walking stick tripping someone up, a wheelchair/mobility scooter catching someone's legs etc.

In reality motorists would not be pleased if more people stopped Cycling and started driving - I’m sure motorists don’t want to spend longer queing behind even more cars

The old cry’s of cyclists need testing, insurance and reg plates

Well North Korea is the only place in the world where cycles have reg plates. What would really be achieved by having reg plates? How many hit and runs with motorists do you think never get fiund even though they have reg plates. If someone wants to leave the site of a crash they will and reg plates aren’t going to help identify the cyclists and more than a hit and run with a motor car

Insurance, if the cyclist stops get there details and sue them - doesn’t matter whether they are insured or not you can still sue them

Testing, motorists are tested but it doesn’t stop them killing 5 people per day so it’s not really successful- come up with a better idea for the 20% of cyclists that don’t already have a full driving licence from passing a practical and theory test

Op I thought of you today as I came home and watched a young lady riding along the pavement on a big blue sit up and beg Victoria Pendleton Halfords bike doing about 8mph with not a pedestrian in site. Cars were stationary or jerking forward at 3mph. Tbh I think mostly around town cars are far to slow and get in the way of faster traffic. Probably be quicker on a scooter than in a car

@ivykaty44 Actually quite a few cars are identified and the drivers found and arrested after a hit and run.

As you asked, YABU.

And why the attitude? You asked and were answered.

Of the 5000 hit and run incidents in London each year - how many do you think get identified, quite a few being 100? 200?

There is a tow path near to me that doesn’t allow cyclists. Doesn’t stop them racing along it though. Causes problems when people are jumping off their narrow boats to moor on the tow path.

They scream at you to get off the cycle path. Er no, it’s a TOW path, morons.

@ivykaty44 that bike sounds cute but not me! I do love my sit up and beg though, no neck/arm ache/saddle sore so far so using it lots and leaving the car on the drive ☺️

@teaandtoast

I received 'attitude' lonnnng before I replied with it.

Agedknees
I wouldn’t expect a tow path to be an out of bounds place for a cycle ride, as so many do allow

It's not a hate thing from me but as I'm VI I cannot fell until it's nearly too late of a cyclist is coming behind/in front of me.

Speed is an interesting argument. I noticed that when I first started cycling (on my not speedy, heavy ‘sit up and beg’ bike) I was outpaced on some hills by joggers!

I’m lucky in that most of my cycle commute is through a park or quiet back streets, but I do feel bad on those road stretches when parked cars mean that traffic has to crawl behind me for a while, next to lovely wide pavements that become cycle lanes half a mile later!

if the cyclist stops get there details and sue them - doesn’t matter whether they are insured or not you can still sue them

Genuine question: how do you suggest anyone gets a cyclist's details?

A pedestrian who's just been damaged in some way is hardly likely to want the info to send a thank you card, are they? So what possible motivation would the cyclist have to hand it over, when they know that refusing will almost certainly mean getting away with whatever they've done?

The same as for any crime. Witness statements, CCTV, dashcams etc. If it's a serious crash the cyclist will probably also be injured and not able to carry on. Charlie Allistin didn't leg it.

When we see cases like that of Michael Mason, who was driven through on Regent Street and the police deemed that the driver wasn't culpable enough to be prosecuted (she simply claimed she didn't see him, well that's ok then...), it does feel like people have an axe to grind against cyclists.

Oh and to whoever laughed at abuse against cyclists being a hate crime: I got spat at on my way home tonight for no reason other than being on my bike and not getting out of the way, despite it being my right of way. That crime certainly felt to me like it was borne out of hate.

For those suggesting registering/licensing people on bikes... How?

If it's hit and runs (or jumping red lights) by rouge cyclists you're planning to tackle, licensing isn't going to make them any likelier to stop IMO so how would licensing them make them any more likely to be caught?

You'd need the bike itself to have something akin to a car licence plate -and about the same size for visibility! You just can't fit that sort of thing to most bikes.

If you can't visually identify the bike, and the police then who owns it, and force them to tell you who was cycling it at the time, I don't see how this would work. Unless you expect the cyclist themselves to wear some number, but given the range of postures people adopt when riding where would it go?!

Is it just me or are people just fed up with other people existing and doing things in the same places that you want to do other, similar yet slightly different, things?

Unless you expect the cyclist themselves to wear some number, but given the range of postures people adopt when riding where would it go?!

Something simple around the shoulders or waist perhaps, with some kind of ID "patch" worn against the back?

After all it works for cycle race competitors ...

Race numbers are a bit different, you don't need millions of them at the same time, and racers are unlikely to be wearing coats or backpacks etc.

If it's just a number for a person, what's stopping someone else wearing my number? Car licence plates aren't forged that often as the police do sometimes automatically pick them up as not matching the vehicle colour/model, but with people that'd not happen.

YABU. The smileys are also hugely irritating OP. By cycling on the pavement you put pedestrians in danger. We don't walk in straight lines. We can't hear a cyclist coming up behind us (although every bastard cyclist seems to think we have this superpower). I am sick.of bloody adults cycling on pavements in my neighbourhood. There's no excuse whatsoever for it.

What do people really think is going to achieve by register bikes - or by the sounds of it registering people according to puzzledpiss?

Is it just me or are people just fed up with other people existing and doing things in the same places that you want to do other, similar yet slightly different, things?

Not in the slightest. However your attitude is really making me want to push for cycle free pavements in the town and surrounding areas

I've hit quite a few pedestrians, 1 I knocked clean out

They all ram into the road without a care for their own or anyone else's safety.

That said I probably pass 10s of thousands of people in any given time period who don't try and kill me or themselves so maybe judging them all by the actions of a few silly ones is just really fkn stupid