Cyclists on pavements

[origamiunicorn]

Ok, please tell me if I ABU.

What's your opinion on people cycling on pavements? I don't mean young children who are clearly learning or parents who are accompanying them but adults. Full blown, fully grown adults.

Where I live it seems common place and I don't get it. AIBU to say if you are an adult and aren't comfortable on the road you shouldn't be riding a bike. It always seems to be middle aged men too who whizz past, so not an adult learner or someone who is gaining confidence.

Just now I was walking home from work and I hear this bell ringing and as I turn around this man in his 40s? whizzes past me and shouts "out the way!" to which I throw my hands up in the air at him and tell him to get off the pavement and then as I walk past him further up the road at a crossing he says something, calls me the C word and rides off. I mean what?!

I actually feel a little shaken with the confrontation so AIBU in my reaction? I thought it was justified considering. I mean if you're going to ride on the pavement like a child at least give people a chance to get out the way and... should people even be on cycling on the pavement?!

Not when you're considering the inherent danger of an action though :p

Not when you're considering the inherent danger of an action though

Maybe cyclists are just better in Australia. They can’t be much worse than what I see around here to be fair.

Surely they’re safe because the signage makes it clear that a pedestrian can reasonably expect to encounter a bicycle.

I don't see how that makes much difference, given that it is people cycling without considering others that generally makes it dangerous. If you're cycling on a shared pavement you should still be assuming that the pedestrian isn't going to think you are there. And in my experience they often don't have a clue, and I've even had people having a go at me when I've been cycling perfectly legally. Even the pavements where they've stuck a line down the middle to separate pedestrians and cyclists, you still get people wandering across. You should always make sure you slow down when coming up to a pedestrian in case they do something unexpected.

As it happens I've collided twice with pedestrians, both times in the road, as they have stepped out suddenly without looking. I can only think that they were only using their ears and not their eyes.

And can we please stop going on about disabled people on pavements being "terrorised" by cyclists. I'm not saying it never happens, but those cyclists are just idiots.

Well no, because people have every right to talk about their experiences. It's not ok to minimise that. Of course you're right in that not all cyclists are like this. The trouble is that I and many others encounter cyclists like this every day so it's clearly too big and issue to just brush off!

I have no problem with people cycling legally.

I have every problem with people cycling in places they specifically shouldn’t be cycling.

So if the law was to change tomorrow you'd be all for it?

Your specific objection is just that people aren't allowed to, owing to a law that predates bikes being in common usage?

So if the law was to change tomorrow you'd be all for it?

Well that depends, all pavements aren’t suitable for being shared spaces, certainly not around here.

And there are specific spaces e.g a couple of stretches on the towpath where cyclists are told to dismount (and don’t).

If the infrastructure was improved and it was clear then yes, why not?

I always wonder where all these awful cyclists are. I walk a lot too and can't say I notice many cyclists who are putting me in danger. Yes there are some who cycle on pavements but the vast majority I notice do slow down and don't expect pedestrians to just jump out of the way. I do remember one who was a right idiot who shouted at me to get out of the way, but that was about 5 years ago, and I remember it because it's a rare thing.

I walked about 5 miles through central London last week (which people seem to think is terrible for cyclists being idiots) and didn't have anyone cycling at me. The only thing that did happen was a taxi went through a zebra crossing when I was on it.

I am interested in what leads to this difference of perception of the actions of cyclists. There are obviously some people with a very negative perception. Similarly with people complaining about being held up by cyclists in group rides - I live in a very popular area for cycling but when I'm driving I never get held up for very long at all, but to listen to some people you'd think that they were routinely having to wait miles and miles to be able to get past cyclists.

I am interested in what leads to this difference of perception of the actions of cyclists

Seeing cyclists routinely do stupid stuff

am interested in what leads to this difference of perception of the actions of cyclists

Direct correlation with tendency to get savagely mauled by ferocious dogs every time they leave their house imo

Seeing cyclists routinely do stupid stuff

Are they routinely putting you in danger?

Are they routinely putting you in danger?

On the towpath, yes absolutely.

When the same person refuses to follow the rules of the road then yes, absolutely. Fortunately I know him very well by sight, enough to be vigilant because I know he’s going to do something stupid. Others aren’t so fortunate!

When cyclists decide they don’t want to wait at the red light and veer onto the pavement at a pedestrian crossing then yes, absolutely.

A child in my DD’s class was knocked into the canal by a cyclist ignoring the very clear “must dismount” signs. In the almost 11 years I have lived here, I have yet to see a cyclist dismount.

We have had to have “cyclist calming” measures in the form of a chicane barrier at a certain point on the canal because of the regular accidents.

Cyclists dismount signs are normally advisory unless they are accompanied by a "No cycling" sign as well. Obviously that doesn't excuse dangerous cycling, but they might well be legal.

Like I say, I walk a lot, including on a towpath popular with cyclists, and can't say I notice it. You get the odd rude idiot but I honestly can't remember actually being endangered. It may be that there are particular hotspots, in which case I would pester the police to try and get some enforcement if it is that much of an issue.

Cyclists dismount signs are normally advisory unless they are accompanied by a "No cycling" sign as well. Obviously that doesn't excuse dangerous cycling, but they might well be legal

Nope - there is a lovely big "no cycling" sign too. So yes, definitely not legal.

The two stretches in particular are under tunnels, with extremely narrow towpaths. You have to be careful when passing people under them, so you can imagine what it's like with people who refuse to get off bikes.

Like I say, I walk a lot, including on a towpath popular with cyclists, and can't say I notice it

Different people have different experiences!

As I have said, I have absolutely no issue with cyclists. Happy for them to share the towpath provided they dismount where they're supposed to. Not happy for them to share the narrow pavements, when there's a perfectly decent cycle lane adjacent. Certainly not happy for them to behave as though they're the only road/pavement/towpath user and put other people (and themselves!) at risk.

I would pester the police to try and get some enforcement if it is that much of an issue

Where's the manpower to police people who seem to think perfectly clear signs don't apply to them. The guy in the lock-keeper's cottage tries his best to enforce them, but mainly gets either laughed at or sworn at.

That's obviously a particularly bad spot then. I only mention it because there are lots of people who are ignorant of what the actual law is, and have a go at cyclists doing nothing illegal. Similarly with cycling in groups, wearing helmets etc, there are lots of people who don't know the difference in the highway code between what is advice and what is law.

If there is a history at those specific locations of cyclists ignoring the law and there have been instances of people being hurt as a consequence then I would absolutely ask for enforcement. It doesn't have to be continuous but if the police went there for a couple of hours and dished out fines then it would act as a deterrent. Local councillors might be helpful in getting some enforcement organised.

If there is a history at those specific locations of cyclists ignoring the law and there have been instances of people being hurt as a consequence then I would absolutely ask for enforcement. It doesn't have to be continuous but if the police went there for a couple of hours and dished out fines then it would act as a deterrent. Local councillors might be helpful in getting some enforcement organised

It has been a bone of contention for a number of years. Head of Town Council is on it.

I just don't get why people feel signs don't apply to them. I mean what it really boils down to is them being arrogant twats.

Because they're people, and lots of people are selfish.

Bicycles should be in the road unless the pavement is designated a cycle way. As for them illegally on pavements being aggressive to pedestrians, those are absolute arseholes. They want cars to give way to them in the road as they are more vulnerable but they won’t extend the same courtesy for pedestrians who are the more vulnerable on the pavement.
As I said, arseholes.

Courteous, law abiding cyclists are great.

and are the sort of situation I'm talking about where people think they know the law.

Just don't see all these lunatic cyclists everywhere i go, in fact i hardly ever see any bad behavior and nothing that actually endangers me in my 1 ton metal box!

Need to have a sense of perspective, 1800 men women and children are killed every year by car drivers, another 25k are seriously injured.

The problems on our roads are not cyclists but we as car drivers !!!!

People like Chris Boardmans (olympic gold medalist) mum, mown down by a car driver or my friend hit by car driver, who then drove off, leaving him in a coma for 6 weeks and with life changing injuries or another, a former British Marine (served in Iraq and Afghan) run down by a van, again who drove off, leaving him with a broken back.

Cyclists may indeed be a PIA and no doubt do slow down your journey by 30 seconds BUT they are all someone's daughter, son, father or mother....

How would all these bicycle haters feel if it were there DC/best friend/parent in a mortuary? or fed through a tube?

The problems on our roads are not cyclists but we as car drivers

We’re not talking about problems on roads...

btw I don't ride on pavements cos I don't like riding on roads, I just want to ride on pavements sometimes so I do.

It depends what I'm riding, if I'm on my road bike I'm 99% of the time in the road, if I'm on my beemer I tend to ride on pavements and roads cos it only goes at a slow pace even when flat out and I have a similar level of control to just walking along

Have been attacked worse than shown in either of those videos while on my beemer, including being hit with a walking stick which the person had to walk quite a long way out of their way to get close enough to me to hit me with the stick