To think cyclists should ride on the road, not on the pavement?

[AgeLikeWine]

Every day, I go walking along our local country roads, which are very popular with cyclists, and every day I am forced to walk on the road or in the weeds to maintain social distancing from cyclists who are riding on the pavement.

I’m not criticising proper cyclists; the Lycra brigade invariably ride on the road. I’m referring to families, couples and teenagers out for a bike ride who think they are entitled to use the pavements and force pedestrians to choose between getting run over by them or take the risk of stepping onto the road. Why don’t they ride where they are supposed to ride?

YABU = Cyclists should ride on the pavement and force pedestrians to get out of their way.

YANBU = All cyclists should ride on the road.

As a cyclist, I always cycle on the road and it’s where I’d like to see all adult cyclists. Quite apart from the unfairness to pedestrians, it’s much easier to ride without going up and down kerbs and avoiding people all the time.

However, to twist a MN favourite, we don’t have a cyclist problem, we have a driver problem. The pavement cyclists are just a newer and therefore more noticeable symptom of the real problem which is bad driver behaviour on the roads.

We act like the danger from cars, buses and lorries is a force of nature we have to accept but every single one (bar a few prototypes) is under the control of an actual human being, so inside every dangerous vehicle is a human chosing to put others in danger and we need to stop pandering to those people.

Get driver behaviour under control, by which I mean meet speeders, close passers, amber gamblers, texters, illegal parkers and all the other perpetrators of “trivial, everyone does it, you can’t expect a person piloting 2 tonnes of metal at speed near unprotected humans to concentrate all the time” little acts of selfish and dangerous entitlement with both real legal sanctions and the social contempt we currently just reserve for drunk drivers, and you will magically find your pavement cyclist problems evaporate.

As an added bonus you’ll save a lot of pedestrian and yes, drivers’ lives as well.

@BackforGood agree! But there are plenty of posters here who think that it's absolutely normal to expect a 6 year old whose parents can't drive them to the park to walk a bike for 15 mins there, or just not be allowed to use one at all... Bet they're the same ones decrying modern child obesity and lack of independence.

Of course adults shouldn't be cycling on the pavement, of course children who can't observe the basics of road rules shouldn't either, but we have to strike a reasonable balance, and that is not banning all children from wheeled devices, at a time when buses are not recommended and we're trying to minimise cars.

In theory. But in practice, cyclists are more at risk from cars on the road than pedestrians are from bikes on the pavement. So I'd aim your ire at those who drive, instead.

www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-cyclists.html
Rule 64 you must not cycle on a pavement.

YANBU, my three year old rides on the pavement and I walk my bike until we get to the park/somewhere quiet enough for me to ride alongside him. I can't ride on the road next to him because there are metal railings separating pavement and road around here. If I'm on my own I go on the road. Even he understands the concept of "Mummy's bike is too big for the pavement".

I think primary aged kids are difficult - they are too big for most pavements, but don't have enough sense to go on the roads. But anyone over 12 should definitely be on the road IMO.

I always see male cyclists on the pavements of our quiet residential streets, DS was almost hit by one once as he stepped out of our garden onto the pavement. They are selfish bastards, the roads round here are not too dangerous to cycle on. When I tell them they are breaking the law and could kill a child they always tell me to fuck off. And teenagers cycle behind me and the DC walking home from school ringing their bloody bell, if they want to go faster than a small child can walk they can cycle on the road. Cyclists on pavements give me the rage, if they are too scared to cycle on the road they should walk like the rest of us.

It is against the law to ride a bicycle on the pavement. I don't care what the reasons some cyclists decide make them special enough to break the law are. Drink driving is against the law. I don't insist on doing it and cry, oh but it was too dangerous for me to walk home along the road so I decided to drive drunk instead. Cyclists saying it's too dangerous for them on the road so they break the law by cycling on the pavement are then making the pavements dangerous for pedestrians. But, of course many cyclists do seem to believe that they are the only ones that matter.
They happily and arrogantly hold up lots of cars, all going 10mph behind them, making people late or more inclined to make dodgy manoeuvres. They all just have to go at my speed, they think. They can wait. I don't care if their journey time has doubled. I don't care if they'll be late for work because I am a cyclist and more important. However, the bell starts ringing when they are breaking the law and riding illegally on pavements. They won't wait for the pedestrians. They don't want to be held up or have their journey time doubled. They don't want to be stop-starting because they are s cyclist and more important. They truly believe that they should take priority on road and pavement. Cars can wait behind them, pedestrians can jump out of their way, even when cyclists are behaving illegally. They don't like it if drivers beep their horns at them and as a pedestrian I don't like it if they ring their bells at me.

I have my child cycle in the pavement, but she has been instructed to stop at a drive or other spot off to the side if she sees someone approaching. Not allowed to just ride past people either.

@Ohtherewearethen

You can't have it both ways. Op is totally right - cyclists should not cycle on pavements (except maybe some children). But that obviously means they will be in the roads. So yes, they will be holding up traffic and you will need to be patient when driving.

I think @Ohtherewearethen doesn't like cyclists.

I agree with you OP. I tend to get a bit unpredictable in my movements when I'm walking on a pavement and hear a bike coming up behind me.

Small children on the pavement is fine so long as they slow down to pass people as it's much safer for them. I'm currently teaching 6yo DS to cycle on the road.

@qweryuiop but surely then cyclists should afford cars the same courtesy and move out of their way, just like they expect pedestrians to move out of their way with their obnoxious bell ringing.

I don't actually mind cyclists being on pavements, as long as they are being considerate and careful. Good to see more people cycling. I'm not going to get into the road for them to ensure social distancing though.

[quote Ohtherewearethen]@qweryuiop but surely then cyclists should afford cars the same courtesy and move out of their way, just like they expect pedestrians to move out of their way with their obnoxious bell ringing.[/quote]
Unless I'm misunderstanding, you're talking about two different groups. Cyclists on the pavement shouldn't be on the pavement. So they certainly shouldn't ve expecting people to get out of their way. Cyclists on the road have equal right to be there as cars. Most of the time there is no way to get out of the way of cars, in the same way that there is no way for a tractor to get out of the way. Where should they go? Climb over a hedge? Go onto the pavement? Yes, it's annoying, but it's not dangerous like cycling on the pavement.

On the school run there is a dad and son who insists on cycling on the path, they cycle right up behind other parents with children and start dinging their bell until they move out of the way all the time doing that stupid slow, move your front wheel left and right, cycle. They do it to parents with small children, or with push chairs, when there is often a perfectly empty road right next to them. They cycle through the very tight small gates and right up to the bicycle sheds. Then when the dad drops his son off, he cycles back through the gates and carries on cycling home on the pavement. How to teach your child to be an inconsiderate arse!

We do have a car problem, . Cycling is a cheap safe healthy self sufficient way of travelling used all over the world for over 100 years. Its so British that we have decided we're too good for this and instead cyclists are a dangerous menace. Motor vehicles and incompetent drivers are the dangerous menace.

People should still not cycle on the pavement, its not a shared path is it?

I think we need to triple the sentences for driving offences and threaten lifetime bans. At the start of lock down we had the case of a car deliberately sounding their horn (a Mexican type one) by a cyclist in his 70's. The man has ended up in hospital with broken bones from the fall.

Motorists don't seem to care about the consequences of their selfish driving, in regards to the victim, so the only thing left is to have tough sentences.

Since lock down we've had an increase in speeding. You can't safely cycle on roads were I live.

FrancisCrawford*, but walking takes a lot longer and isn't quite the same exercise.

As a pedestrian, cyclist and driver, by far the worst danger there has ever been to my life is as a cyclist and by far the worst vehicle misdemeanors I have ever witnessed are from motorised vehicles. Cycling on pavements doesn't bother or affect me half as much as dog shit.

Younger children should stick to the paths but teens and adults should be on the road.
All should wear helmets, all should have lights and suitable clothing (high via for low light and evening). All should have a bell. All should give way to pedestrians.

We have a small group of teens here who ride at you on the pavement. Plus adults with no cycle helmets - one of whom is often out with his dog (he often picks it up and carries it under his arm).

Agree with you OP - this has felt like a bit of a bugbear during lockdown. I don't understand why an adult cyclist needs to ride on a pavement, particularly when the roads are quiet, and I'm certainly not sure why they'd expect a pedestrian to move out of their way. If you absolutely can't cycle on roads, push your bike to a park, or at least get off it and walk when the pavement is 'blocked' by legitimate pavement users.

Riftgibbon - Lot of 'shoulds' in your post

Prior to the current situation (if I had a periscope to look over the gate before I take the bins out now, I’d use it 😁), I opened the gate and put a foot out just as a cyclist belted past. From the shocked look on her (mature adult) face she was clearly as surprised as I was. She yelled “sorry” over her shoulder but I watched her progress at high speed, continuing along the pavement, past many other gates.
So dangerous.

There's a lot of new cyclists lacking confidence. I'm not saying it's right for them to cycle on the pavement but it's clear why many are.
Having said that, I was cycling on a shared pedestrian/cycle pavement - well marked as such - and another cyclist going by on the road gave me a right shouting at for 'giving cyclists a bad name'. So evidently there are cyclists who feel you should be using the road even when there's a valid cycle pavement! In hindsight I wish I'd thought of a snarky reply, but I'm not good at confrontation and just went on my way!