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.

lethaldrizzle on the road yes as does a loud voices but adults on bikes have no places on pavements.

I cycle occasionally, on the road, except for one small bit where I use a zebra crossing to get across a particularly busy road and near the end of the journey where there's another busy road.

The first one I stay on my bike as it's literally onto the pavement, stop, cross then straight back onto the road. The second I get off and push as I have to walk on the pavement a little way, cross the road, then walk on the pavement again.

I'm a very cautious cyclist, both in terms of my safety and the safety of those around me and I'm very aware of the damage a car could do to me and the damage I could do to a pedestrian. I've also see some idiotic behaviour from cyclists - such as coming up a busy road the wrong way through a crossing when people were actually crossing then swerving up onto the pavement, or, bizarrely, seeming to swerve to avoid the bike lane on a pedestrianised area causing me to jump out of the way. Most recently I saw someone using their phone while cycling downhill with both hands off the handlebars and two cars coming the other way - thankfully the car drivers were paying more attention than the cyclist.

What do people really think is going to achieve by register bikes (or people)

The same as is achieved by registering cars and drivers, perhaps ... so that you know who it belongs to or who's in charge of the thing?

I don't pretend the idea of "back numbers" is an ideal solution and Kitchen's quite right that somebody else could borrow one (though I'm not sure what the point would be) but it surely shows that there are solutions available if the will is there

Well done on taking up cycling. The more people who do the easier and safer cycling becomes for us all.

YABU, pedestrians should be able to walk down the pavement without risking being run down by a bike, but I can understand why you'd want to.

Some car drivers are deliberately twats around cyclists, many others just don't understand how to safely share the road with cyclists. It's appalling that this isn't emphasised more when people are lwarning to drive. Too many car drivers think driving is a right when it's actually a privilege which comes with a lot of responsibility.

It really doesn't help that lots of councils design infrastructure for cars and pedestrians then add in a bit of cycling infrastructure as an afterthought. Then they wonder why the infrastructure for cyclists doesn't work well and cyclists would rather take their chances on the road or risk a fine by being on the pavement. Sometimes cycle lanes are so confusing and change so regularly from being on the pavement to being part of the road that as a cyclist I end up on the pavement when I shouldn't be because the signage didn't tell me to switch to the road.

I can also think of numerous occasions when I've been cycling in a dual pavement/cycle lane (these are usually wide enough to accommodate both) and pedestrians have shouted at me for being there. I'm supposed to be there!

Then there are those pavements where there's a line down the middle and one side is for walkers and the other for cyclists. If cyclists are on the wrong side pedestrians go nuts but apparently it's okay for walkers to be in the cycle lane! Sometimes walkers in the cycling lane mean cyclists go in the walker lane as it's the only way to get past the walkers, then get shouted at by said walkers for being in the wrong lane!

Pedestrians often cross the road with their ears not their eyes. If they can't hear a car engine they think it's okay to cross, so they step out in front of my bicycle wheel then shout at me like it's my fault they didn't bother to look! Tbf there was one lovely lady who realised she was in the wrong and apologised profusely but she's the exception.

Then there are people who think that if a cyclist isn't wearing a helmet that any incident is their fault, despite evidence that it's safer to cycle without a helmet.

Rant over!

If your council does adult cycling lessons then they're often v good and will give you confidence around car drivers. They are plenty of small things you can to make it less likely drivers will act dangerously around you.

Most recently I saw someone using their phone while cycling downhill with both hands off the handlebars and two cars coming the other way - thankfully the car drivers were paying more attention than the cyclist.

This sort of behaviour really gets on my nerves. It gives all cyclists a bad name.

Haven't read the whole bunfight but quite simply, YABU. It's illegal.

Frenchjunebug - that's what brakes are for. They are particularly useful for jay-walking pedestrians stepping into the road with headphones on and texting on their phones

Jay-walking pedestrians is a straw man here. A pedestrian on the pavement is the very opposite of jay-walking

It would be lovely if we could “sure, cycle on the pavement if you’re careful”. Unfortunately a lot of people aren’t careful, a lot of people think they’re being careful and they’re not.

There is really no way you can justify knocking down a pedestrian on a pavement. However bad cycling is on the road. It isn’t a race to the bottom.

TBH although I know you are supposed to always ride on the road I think it's OK to use the pavements sometimes as long as you use common sense. Wide empty pavement along a very busy road, fine IMO to use the pavement. Busy pavement? Get on the road! Pedestrians are the bottom of the food chain and they need the most protection.

By the way YABVU not to use cycle paths if they exist.

BTW, cyclists, can I ask a question please?

If a new road has been built with a wide pavement that has one side marked for pedestrians and the other for cyclist, why would you use the road? We are getting a brand new power station built near me and lots of investment has been made on nearby roads. There is a series of new or improved roads leading to the site with nice wide cycle paths and load of serious lycra-clad cyclists in particular seem to favour the road. Why? Any ideas? Do they like having a long tailback of road traffic? Seems madness to me

@IrianOfW If they're lycraclad they're going to be moving pretty fast and most shared paths (whether there's a line down the middle or not) are not appropriate for them to be on.

More generally, around here the cycle paths on the pavement are usually uneven, full of all sorts of obstructions, end suddenly without warning and lose any sort of priority at any side street or driveway. I always (naively) tend to follow cycling signs or paths, I've usually been disappointed, or worse left in a dangerous position when they've suddenly ended with no prior warning right as the speed limit ramps up a few notches. I totally understand why your average person on a bike would ignore anything claiming to be a cycle facility. That's not to say the one near you is like this, mind, but they often are.

If a new road has been built with a wide pavement that has one side marked for pedestrians and the other for cyclist, why would you use the road?

I cycle on cycle lanes whenever I can but it's not without risk. Pedestrians wander into the cycle lane all the time and the biggest pains are dog walkers who use the walking lane and allow their on-lead muts to wander across the cycle lane and into the grass verge beyond.

shatnerwig I’ve been shouted out for Cycling the ‘wring’ way down a one way street... only many streets do have signs that say “except” cycles

And yet even though I’m allowed the man shouted at me I told him I was allowed as I’m on a bike and he shouted - you cyclists think you’re above the law

Er no the law is there for cars being driven not the 🚲

@Puzzledandpissedoff I'm sure they tried bike registration in Switzerland and it didn't work as it cost far more money then it saved.

To be fair lots of countries stipulate that you are suppose to go around with some type of ID on you, so if asked you show it.

@IrianOfW The cycle paths I don't use are:

1. Where dog walkers with long leads use them, or people with a cluster of children including one/two in a buggy and a couple of dogs walk really slowly down them not paying attention. I've seen a couple of women scream and start shouting at cyclists who warn them they are approaching. Unfortunately for the women if the cyclist did go into them there are enough witnesses who would blame them, not the cyclist.
2. They are bi-directional on the opposite side of the pavement but I'm going on the next turning left. So to get on the cycle lane I have to use a crossing to get on it but there is no crossing before the next turning left to get on off it.
3. End abruptly and throw you out in the road at a dangerous point.
4. I can't see where the cycle path starts and it is one you can't get on later. I actually see a lot of cyclists miss getting on to some of the cycle paths in my area while driving as the start points are badly signed posted.

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?wink

Pavements are for pedestrians. And wheelchairs.

It's illegal and beyond selfish to cycle on the pavement.

Is that really difficult to grasp?

Yab vvvvvvv u.

Thank you for the explanations. I can imagine that pedestrians don't always stick to the right lane.

I was just bemused as I though that cycle paths were what people had been calling for for years.

@IrianOfW some cycle paths are very poorly designed and it’s safer not to use them. Examples local to me are: cycle path that starts on the dropped kerb of a side road (main road is three lanes approaching a roundabout near a hospital). Cycle path is joined at a sharp corner, goes along for 250metres, then stops on another corner (90 degree turn to come off) where I need to turn left. I cycled it once, and then nearly got hit by a left turning van who told me to be careful love, I was using the cycle lane. I just ride on the three lane road now.

In general many problems are:

often poorly maintained with debris, stop quickly so you are forced to join traffic and they aren’t expecting you to appear suddenly ( example above), difficult to join, have pedestrians on them, difficult to leave - one I use daily is narrow, no barrier between me and a busy road, pedestrians onften spilling over to the cycle side, I need to do a right turn so I either ride on the road, if of I have my son we ride on the cycle lane but need to use the pedestrian crossing to leave the cycle lane as there’s no safe way of turning right otherwise. If it’s busy I’ll dismount if there is room. It’s very narrow though and sometimes there’s actually no room for me to dismount.

I still prefer the cycle lanes to riding on the roads but I'm not trying to get anywhere in much of a hurry.

Can you see the red tarmac cycle path - just placed at the correct place for a car to door the cyclist..... last year a cyclist was doored here and his neck broken, the car was written off

It’s not just unsafe, it’s a death trap 💀 literally

It would be lovely if we could “sure, cycle on the pavement if you’re careful”. Unfortunately a lot of people aren’t careful, a lot of people think they’re being careful and they’re not.

And yet there are lots of pavements which are legal to cycle on. So people are trusted to be careful. Just as we generally trust drivers and pedestrians to be careful. We are all interacting with each other and if we didn't have a certain degree of trust we wouldn't be able to get anywhere.

I've seen lots of people cycle on pavements (when it has been legal and not) and the vast majority do so without incident. I can only remember one idiot who shouted at me to get out of the way when he was cycling towards me (I didn't).

I am a keen cyclist and also a driver. I occasionally put my kid on the back of my mountain bike to take him to school. It feels really dangerous on the road and equally dangerous on the cycle path! They need to create decent cycle paths that people of all abilities can feel safe on.

The roads are so quiet here right now, i’ve just taken my 6 year old out on her new bike/early birthday present on the roads. We barely saw anyone else. England games could be a time to build up road cycling confidence!

Saturday might be another opportunity

@irianofw

I frequently ignore non road based cycle paths owing to poor design. When there is a cycle path on the pavement you normally find that cars, justifiably, pull up to the road junction and sit cutting the cycle path off, or even dicier moments if you hit that point at the same time

It's illegal to cycle on the pavement.

What you are doing at the crossing is potentially suicidal. You are a road user, if you are hit by a car on a crossing you are at fault.

If I'm in a car driving and I see someone on the pavement I am not going to assume they will suddenly behave like a pedestrian so iuf you get yo to the crossing where I have been sitting watching people cross and you get there just before the light changes I am not going to think you will cross and I'm going to set off.

*Polly 2345

Then there are people who think that if a cyclist isn't wearing a helmet that any incident is their fault, despite evidence that it's safer to cycle without a helmet.*

What evidence??