Bicycles on pavements - why are they not being ridden on a road?

[FinallyMovingHouse]

I've only moved to near the centre of a town in the last 6 months and hence hadn't really noticed this where I used to live, which was more rural.

Can someone tell me why it seems now to be acceptable for people; all ages from schoolkids to 60 odd, to ride their bikes on the pavements and never seem to go on a road? I was trying to explain to my youngest DD (20) how my DH and I would have been shouted at by police and pedestrians if we'd tried that 30 years ago and definitely when we were teenagers (we're mid 50s).

Many have been very polite, waiting for me to notice them and then saying thank you when I've moved for them, but I've also had bells rung at me endlessly from a distance away until right behind me or the handlebars tapped to move me out of the way on a narrow pavement. So far I've stopped myself from retaliating but I do feel an overwhelming urge to shout "get off the effing pavement" more and more.

I do appreciate that yes, the roads are dangerous etc, etc but they're making the pavements dangerous, especially when you can't see them or they're going too fast. It's also illegal.

AIBU or am I just getting old and crabby?!

Ah, but according to MN, cars are a ‘proper’ mode of transport, so these things are regrettable, but tolerable. Whereas bicycles are children’s toys and a silly hobby, nothing more.

Well quite, cyclists are lethal!

That's not pedestrians' problem, though

Maybe slow down....I doubt they are shouting if you're not speeding along 🙄

I suspect that the answer to 'why are more cyclists using the pavements' near me is the same as the answer to 'why are more drivers driving dangerously near me', (which is something I massively notice in recent years) or 'why has there been such an increase in people being abusive to retail workers in my local shops' - there seems to have been an increase in self-centered and impatient/angry behaviour generally in recent years.

Cyclists are sometimes the proponents of this, and sometimes the victims of it. Just as are pedestrians and drivers. Cyclists aren't a separate species who need a different set of explanations.

30 years ago as a kid we always cycled on the pavement in our village and were encouraged to keep off the road. I have to say when I see kids (not Lycra clad adults) cycling on the pavement now I breathe a sigh of relief, it seems so much safer.

Roads are funded by council tax and motorways by general taxation. Vehicle tax is based on emissions, and is often referred to as road tax but doesn’t have anything in particular to do with building or maintaining roads

Pedestrians were here first. Everything else has been built to accommodate vehicles including cycles

I wish this were true. I never cycle on pavements, and I always cycle slowly on shared paths. Cycling slowly is the right thing to do to protect pedestrians, but unfortunately gives the arseholes more chance to have a go at you. I had someone get right up into my face and hiss a stream of verbal abuse when on a clearly marked shared path with my children on the back of my bike - I truly thought she was going to push me into the road. The reason she could do that was because I slowed down because I didn't want to alarm her. I also had someone deliberately jump in front of my bike in order to make me stop so that she could yell at me that I shouldn't be on the (shared) path and she was going to call the police. Again, I bet she wouldn't have leapt out at me if I'd been going faster.

I also recently saw a cyclist be screamed at by a pedestrian and told to 'get off the pavement' when the cyclist was literally on top of a huge painted image of a bicycle showing that it was a segregated cycle path.

Unfortunately, just as there are a lot of angry and aggressive drivers (and cyclists) around, so too there are some really angry and aggressive pedestrians.

It used to be called the Road Fund license and was used to contribute to the cost of building roads.

It’s not the Lycra brigade who cycle on the pavement.

yet it’s got the caveat of not fining a cyclist on the pavement if they felt the road was busy and dangerous, it’s not clear cut.

Yes, and was abolished in 1937

They're the very worst offenders for zooming through pedestrian crossings though.

I’m sorry that’s happened to you but cyclists ignoring the rules can be just as dangerous as car drivers. I don’t hate cyclists but I don’t think some of them have ever studied the Highway Code. Anyone can buy a bike and start riding it without ever being aware of the rules. I’ve no issue with cyclists who stick to the law.

Bicycles came before motor cars. Anyway, you didn’t answer my questions.

Bikes are getting more dangerous on pavements close to mr due to the massive rise in electric bikes. They also seem to ignore the cycle lanes and still use the path running next to it.

I also get fed up of cyclists who cycle on footpaths in the country. I know they are allowed to use bridleways but like horse riders, they are not allowed to use footpaths. I object because if I go out for a country walk, I don’t want to be crept up on by a cyclist who thinks they only have to ring their bell for me to stand aside for them. I also don’t like the footpaths being churned up by tyre tracks.

We have narrow pavements. In my town centre there's a junction that's controlled by a set of 4-phase traffic lights. Cyclists often ride on the pavement to get ahead of the queuing traffic.

One rounded the bend, pretty fast, as I was walking along and nearly slammed right into me. As he bounced down the kerb and into the road to avoid me, he called me a cunt!

Look what a driver did in Liverpool recently. No cyclist can ever come close to being as dangerous as a driver.

Like to see your statistics for this? More likely commuters, teenagers and delivery cyclist.

I’ve road cycled for multiple years solo and group rides and not come across this once.

I hate cyclist posts, because “Lycra brigade” is always lumbered into the same category as a teenager/just eat delivery rider. Most of us are professionals, have jobs, I pay more insurance on my bikes than I do both my cars.

The UK hates cyclists, it doesn’t matter what we do, you’ll find fault, but don’t worry it’s us that die or get seriously injured for your one minute delay.

You'll get called more names by drivers if you cycle.

I mean, I'm not sure who would be collecting data on cyclists zooming through pedestrian crossings and whether or not they were wearing lycra and pointy helmets. Purely anecdotal personal experience obviously, but im assuming you dont have data to disprove me either?
I don't drive btw. So I am not the cyclist hating driver you seem to be assuming I am.

I don't hate cyclists, I just hate the ones who zoom over zebra crossings when I'm walking across them and shout at me as if I'm in their way, and the ones who ride at speed on the pavement and expect pedestrians to leap out of their way.
I'm not saying either of those is you, I'm just reserving my right to hate cyclists who behave like boors.

I don’t see how that excuses some cyclist not adhering to the Highway Code. I was hospitalised too