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?!

If you had a stick handy you could of stuck it in his spokes.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this flash across my mind for dangerous pavement cyclists.

Round here you get motorcyclists on the pavement too.

I think one reason cyclists are killed is poor choices made by them. They are not always blameless.

not always but more than often the cars are to blame.

As someone who used to cycle every day on busy roads and someone who has been hit 3 times by cyclists whilst walking on the pavement there should be a special place in hell for them.

Twice they went into the back of me "because the didn't see me". I'm under 5ft but I'm round like a little ball... How the fuck could they you me? What if I was a young kid?? The third was they were speeding round a corner and went from the road to the pavement to avoid traffic and hit a group of us waiting to cross the road... what a cunt.

Kids learning to ride on the pavement is completely different as its a safe space and they aren't going for hell to leather. Plus most are always polite and say thank you. Adults cycling on the pavements? Rude and DAMN they ride SO FAST! They can fuck off.

You want to cycle? Then LEARN how to cycle on the roads, LEARN hand signals, WEAR bloody reflective clothing and have decent big lights. And don't wear your bloody headphones!

If you don't want to do that then fucking walk or use public transport.

The pavements are not there for their cycling enjoyment, they are there for people who walk. Unless they are so full of themselves they want us to start walking in the road just for their convenience...... eye twitches

deaths on pavements due to cyclists are incredibly rare. Deaths of cyclists are not. More people die due to dangerous drivers, not dangerous cyclists. Lets get this issue in proportion.

FFS, that's not how it works. If the roads are too dangerous to cycle on then don't cycle. It's not acceptable to endanger others because you're worried about yourself.

We move to the side a wee bit as we're walking. They say thanks. I say no worries

But it's not this simple...what if you're hearing impaired, or disabled, or anything that pp have mentioned. But as long as you're ok eh?

As others have said, it's illegal, it's dangerous. Don't bloody do it!

Certainly in my area, cycling infrastructure is not for purpose. Cycle paths and routes can be very arbitrary - stopping and starting in random places or narrowing to the width of a teaspoon. We have official shared pavements (which are normal pavements which previously would've been illegal to cycle on) but no separation marks so ringing bell your bell is absolutely necessary when you have a group of school kids walking 4 abreast and you want to go around them without worrying they will drift into your path as you manoeuvre. This is the reason why so many cyclists will ride on the road alongside this particular cycle path.

However, the amount of traffic in our area is a huge issue, ambulances are being held up in traffic jams all over town. There's no point getting a bus as they're stuck in traffic too. Something fundamental needs to happen to get people out of their cars. Be it walking or cycling and everyone just needs to be tolerant of each other. For me, I could walk to work which takes 40 minutes or I can cycle which takes 8 so I choose cycling but I do it with trepidation every single day.

as long as the cyclists are considerate they can imo ride on the pavement.
ideally they should ride in the road, but in the uk it's not very safe with cuntish selfish drivers who give cyclists hell.
2 cyclists were seriously injured on a road near me this year already by inconsiderate incompetent drivers.

Don't get me wrong too, I hate inconsiderate and dangerous drivers. I've nearly been hit a few times recently. The answer is not for me to be endangered by cyclists too.

there is another road in our town - it has a 4ft wide pavement, a 4ft wide strip of grass and a 2 way 4ft wide cycle path with a line down the middle at junctions, clearly marker with bike signs painted every 50 yrds or so

Where do you think the pedestrians walk?

Cycling on pavements is illegal for a reason. I was at a Council meeting recently and an elderly couple asked for help in stopping illegal cycling on pavements near them. The wife had been knocked over and was scared to go out on her own. The council officials made it clear that cycling on pavements was against the law and that the police should be involved in monitoring notorious hotspots.

There are many known cyclist black spots where conflict with vehicles is undesirable. The cyclist could dismount but they don’t. They prefer to gamble. That’s what I meant about being their fault. There were choices to be made. I frequently see cyclists creeping up the inside of lorries and vans. They don’t see the vehicle is turning left. Yes the driver should be using their mirrors but when the cyclist is going fast, they suddenly appear. Cyclists like this terrify me! As I said, you need 360 degree vision in London. Apart from cyclists understanding defensive riding, there isn’t an answer.

I stand my ground and allow them to move around me, sometimes pointing at the road for them. One time a twit pushing his bike with one hand on the saddle while reading a book with the other (thus taking up the whole of a wide pavement) walked very gently into me because I thought I’d see how long it took him to look up.

YANBU, but then most some cyclists are entitled arseholes with a massive chip on their shoulders. If their not on pavements they are driving through red lights, or riding in poor light with no reflective clothing on. Then have a cheek to moan about drivers, but they show little consideration to pedestrians. I run and the ammount of time Ive nearly been hit by cyclists is ridiculous.

Don't get me started on the ones who wear dashcams on their helmets...maybe pedestrians should start

I cycle on pavements when I have one of my DC in the child seat behind me, as on a couple of occasions the child seat back has been clipped by wing mirrors, and I've struggled to not fall off or weave into the traffic.
Some motorists don't leave enough space for child seats on bikes.

More than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motor vehicle. The real enemy is not the bicycle.

Round here you get motorcyclists on the pavement too.

That's crazy. Why the fuck do they do that?

The big advantages of motorcycling are that you can ride between queues of traffic and get to the front, and that most bikes can accelerate away more quickly than most cars, so it's quicker to get from A-B than driving. They'll lose that advantage once they're on a pavement and have to slow down to weave between pedestrians.

We have such narrow pavements where I live that a motorbike would struggle to get between the street furniture and the buildings. While DP will occasionally park his motorbike on a very wide pavement, he wouldn't dream of actually riding along one.

More than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motor vehicle. The real enemy is not the bicycle.

absolutely

more motor vehicle enforcement is needed. if bikes are safer on the road, they will cycle there.

green So it's ok for a cyclist to cycle on a pavement and injure someone then? Because that is what is bloody happening right now.

Will you only give a fuck if a pedestrian is killed by a cyclist before you think it is wrong?

I buggered my hip up for a year through no fault of my own but because some twat cycled into me on the pavement at high speed. I was even scared to walk that route to work again.

Because he didn't kill me, he just cycled off without checking I was ok there is nothing wrong with that and he should continue to cycle on the pavement? Should he wait until he kills someone before he stops?

I’m sure you feel that your rights as a pedestrian out weigh those of drivers but frankly ...they pay their road tax and you pay your council tax so why does one take presidence!

Because of this little thing called the law

So it's ok for a cyclist to cycle on a pavement and injure someone then?

absolutely not.
and I never said that.
but bikes are a good thing. generally. climate saving and all that.
but selfish car and lorry drivers make cycling in the road dangerous in many areas.

It all depends on the cyclist. I understand why people don't want to be on the road but I also encounter cyclists that show no care or awareness that you are not expecting a speeding bike to come whizzing by within an inch of your arm for example.

Cycling on pavements is illegal for a reason.

It should be but who upholds the law? not The Police that's for sure, never seen one not in a car and they are seldom seen either, unless in a speed camera van!
In an ideal world there would be proper cycle paths.

Pedestrians can easily avoid cars by remaining on pavements, because it’s vanishingly rare for cars to hit pedestrians who are walking on a pavement.

You're wrong I'm afraid. Pedestrians are pretty likely to be hit by cars on the pavement. In 2016, 43 pedestrians died in collisions involving a vehicle on the footway or verge. None of them involved a cycle.

The government guidance is not to fine cyclists on pavements unless they are doing so without taking care.