Sharing pavements with cyclists and scooters is frightening

[Longlazyday]

Particularly the proliferation of motorised scooters and bicycles, and delivery people using these modes of transport and needing to be quick.

See the right of children to run freely on pavements and precincts, and people in general to walk without needing to be on high alert has been eroded.

What’s my point? Why is this considered to be reasonable. Why not just declare full on Mad Max.

The hire bikes and scooters strewn all over the place are a pain in the arse too!!

A builders on my way to work thinks the pavements are there just for their vans to park. They block pavements and have parked over the disabled crossing area.

I don't like the e-scooters in the city near me, they are a menace, but the kids and teenagers riding e-scooters on the pavement in my town are fine, as are all the cyclists. I both walk and cycle so experience it from both sides - when I'm on my e-bike I always slow right down when passing a pedestrian, and make sure to leave plenty of space.

Only issue I had on the pavement was when the big tractor mower was cutting the grass between the path and the road, and it took up the entire path. Had to walk my bike in a ditch on the other side as I didn't have time to walk behind it until it reached the end of the road.

A man on a bike ran into me on the pavement while I had my baby in a carrier. I was standing a couple of feet back from the road at the traffic lights on a very wide pavement and looking right at the traffic - the lights changed, I stepped forward and came at me on my left. The bike touched the carrier but luckily we weren't hurt. I can't fathom why he decided it was ok to cycle between a pedestrian about to cross the road and the road itself. Completely lacking in common sense or awareness.

I am not against cycling on pavements actually as it's pretty scary on the road, but it has to be very considerate, at low speed, very short distances and sections with no pedestrians.

Even with a legitimate shared use pavement cyclists cannot assume that they can safely cycle as fast as on the road, though. Just as the poster above who is visually impaired feels in danger, not everyone can hear their pathetic bell, if they use it, over traffic noise. My adult DS with a severe learning disability has no road sense and doesn't magically gain any because he is on a footpath so keeping him in the correct, often badly marked, lane is a nightmare and I can't relax my grip on him at all.

Same here. Until cyclists start moving to one side when I am driving I no longer move out of the way when one rings his bell at me. Although hell will freeze over before a cyclist moved out of anyone's way.

Cars are more of a problem here. Cars reversing out of driveways are a big hazard for children in the pavement. I rarely see anyone over about age 6 cycling on the pavement.

Having said that, the solution is separate, safe facilities for cycling, more restrictions on driving and parking. Rather than going for the cheap option of shared routes that suit no one. Many existing cycle facilities are useless or dangerous which is why they aren't used.

The busy but fairly narrow road outside my house has a wide enough footpath on our side to facilitate pavement parking and the police have done door to doors when people have been daft enough to park all the way into the road as it causes massive tailbacks and they're in danger of getting their car dinged.

The local high street is a different story, though. Loads of parking but the pavement parking has been such a big problem that the council have installed bollards to prevent it.

Our promenade has a designated cycle lane but there are blind corners which are often cut by mainly electric scooters and frighten you as they are silent and suddenly appear. There also seem to be a growing number of electric bikes with thick, chunky tyres which again are silent and really go fast....

I was almost hit head on by an electric scooter last week, in heavy rain - it actually flicked my hair away from me. I was on the extreme left of the pavement against a wall, using a crutch to walk.

E scooters are illegal on pavements and roads where I live. Enforcement is the only way.

Why is it impossible to have this discussion without cyclists all coming on to say how dangerous roads are? We get it but it is not relevant to this discussion.

Thank you for your responses. As I understand it, The political agenda to achieve net means the cheap and easy strategy is to simply open up the pavements to cycles and scooters, as one pp suggested, rings true.

Also parking on the pavement.

Pavements have lost their brief as places for pedestrians. Conversely, the knee jerk reaction to make pavements a free for all is actually impacting on people walking because they are no longer a safe space.

Pavement parking is the biggest problem around here. Rarely see cyclists on the pavement....as they can't anyway with all the pavement parking haha!.
I don't mind if vehicles that park leave room on the pavement, but they don't leave enough room for a pram or wheelchair. The local law enforcement doesn't do their job.

I think bikes/electric bikes/scooters have a lot of potential for reducing the carbon emissions generated by transport, and congestion on the roads. But they need to be ridden away from pedestrians.

Most roads in towns have a pavement on each side - how about one pavement (perhaps with a blue line painted along it) being exclusively for pedestrians (and, realistically, small children on their scooters and bikes), and the pavement on the other side of the road (painted with a red line along it) for the use of cyclists, scooter riders etc.

Well that’s a point, but what would you say to the dickhead cyclist who knocked over my friend( breaking her elbow) then swore at her for being in his way? If cyclists are going to continue to use pedestrian footpaths and pavements to save their own skin then they should realise that they are doing it under sufferance and give way to pedestrians, ride at a much slower speed than on the road and use lights and bells to signal their approach. Otherwise they are entitled twats and I hope their bikes get pinched.

I agree completely
Both an absolute menace where I live at present
I'm moving next year I hope and this is a big factor. I can't see myself growing old where I live now.

What happens when the place you want to get to is on the other side, are you encouraging pedestrians to either cross busy roads in random places or cross at a safe crossing place and risk being mown dow by cyclists riding on “ their” pavement as the pedestrian tries to walk to their destination.

it would also make catching a bus quite awkward too.

This!

Sharing roads with them is awful too tbh.

We have a pathetic exhibitionist loser someone in our area who rides around on one of those electric unicycle things. He is all geared up with a helmet and leathers , but every time I see him I want to get a pointy stick and push him over, just to see how well protected he is you understand, a little scientific experiment .

There should be a speed limit on pavements!! What’s a fast walking pace?

joggers can be a menace too. One knocked my dd over and swore at us for daring to walk on the pavement when we weren’t even covering half of the width but it just so happened that people were walking the other way and he couldn’t possibly wait so barged through and floored a 3 year old.

Respectful joggers will go in the road or if that isn’t safe just hang back until the gap forms.

I am a cyclist and I hate people who cycle on pavements. If I see a pavement marked to be shared, I ignore it and use the road as I don't want to scare or injure a pedestrian.
We need a clear law banning bikes and scooters on pavements for any rider over 5 years of age.

Cyclists are very inconsiderate around here, I can see at least 10 every dog walk, the paths are narrow and they just come zooming around blind bends without caring about pedestrians. It's also a path used by lots of small children because it leads to a school.

I have very good hearing and usually hear them coming from quite far away but some of these new bikes are really quiet and you don't hear them until they are virtually on top of you.

Weekend mornings in the summer are the worst because they seem to cycle round at full speed in packs of 6-10 shouting to each other. They never slow to pass people and just expect everyone to jump out of their way.

Cyclist, used to commute and cycle really fast on a promenade, because I was trying to get to work and the other option was a dual carriage way that seems to average one cycle commuter death a year. When you complain, the council points to the prom path. So what are you supposed to do? I need to get to work quickly (after dropping off at breakfast club), I need to be able to cycle quickly to work and am using the facilities designated by the council
for this purpose. If you don’t like it there are other pavements you can use (but I can’t).

I loathe pavement cyclists, and think e-bikes should be treated the same as cars. Escooters are still illegal though aren’t they?

And pedestrians on shared use paths with headphones on are just total idiots.

Yes! You see the 5 year old cycling along but their parent is cycling on the pavement too! Cycle beside the pavement in the road fgs!