Letter: Cyclists have taken our pavements
Thursday 3rd June 2010, 7:00AM BST.
Letter: Regarding cyclists on footpaths and my previous complaint. Going back a little I see that already we have lost the flower displays in Smithfield Road.
I believe it is proposed that flower containers are possibly going to be fixed to the fencing. I noted a gang of at least six council workmen were “preparing” the fence, presumably the whole stretch will be cleaned up and painted, containers will be fixed and “planted up”, all at a cost, just to replace something we already had.
And I thought councils were trying to cut spending!
However, I’m pleased the police have at last woken up to the hazard cyclists cause by cycling on pavements.
I did read the reply to my letter but I’m afraid the writer rather proved my point by stating he’d been cycling for 45 years and didn’t use the pavement.
I agree it is risky to cycle on the roads, but can any of your readers, motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and walkers, ever say that they’ve never had a “risky moment” on the roads?
It’s just, I’m afraid, part of human failure that accidents happen, but a person on a walkway should not be expected to deal with traffic which is what cyclists are.
Your writer presumes I am one of those folk responsible for causing fumes, instead of using “green transport”. But I don’t even own or have use of a car.
To sum up the ridiculous ideas of a cycle path on Smithfield Road, a whole stretch is too narrow for a cycle path and walkway.
Please Pc Plod, do the job you’re paid to do and stop this law-breaking hazard and give us back our safety and pavements.
Eric Stanley
Shrewsbury
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Eric, cyclists are soft body road users like pedestrians so you cannot compare motorists like for like as road users.
The risks of injury for soft body road users like cyclists and pedestrians is obviously far greater than for motorists.
You don’t sound like someone who has children who are at the most risk using cycles on the public highway.
I feel sad that there appears to be so little give and take with people. I have no problem with cyclists using pavements particularly children so long as they take care when approaching a pedestrian not to inconvenience them. In my experience that is usually the case though you get the odd bad mannered cyclist, young and old.
Some cyclists refuse to use the designated cycle paths, particularly on the old A5 which is plain stupid.
I see the problem as a highway issue and derogatory terms for the police do nothing to support your grievences, Eric.
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as for cycling on the pavements, I have told my son to cylcle on the pavements if they are not busy. I cycle myself and have several near misses with cars. There are just too many cars on the roads, like wise we are so densely populated, there is not much room left for any sort of movement, whether on foot or mechanical means without the chances of being in an accident. Shrewsbury is not designed to have hoards of traffic or people concentrated in such a small area.Try telling this to local mp’s or councillors, their idea is to build more houseing estates for more people. When will someone with common sense stop this madness of bulid , build, build !!
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If the letter write is concerned about reclaiming the pavements for pedestrians he might also have a go at people who park their cars on pavements, sometimes forcing pedestrians on to the road.
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You must be a bit of a fat lad then because that pavement is 8 feet wide and judging by the photo it does not look like Oxford street on a Saturday afternoon.
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Whether cyclists like it or not cycling on the footway (pavement) is an offence under Section 72 ofthe Highways Act 1835 as amended by Section 85 (1) of the Local GovernmentAct 1888.
So unless the present government repeal this, then cyclist are committing an offence earch time they cycle on the pavement.
It is down to the police to enforce this.
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If you look at the lamposts on the pavement then you will see a blue round sign with pedestrians on the left and cyclists on the right – meaning a shared use pavement.
So, in fact, cyclists are not breaking the law by cycling on the stretch of pavement.
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I would love to give Eric a bike and ask him to cycle along the road on Smithfield Road – it is very scary!
I am dissappointed we are losing the concrete planters because they were so aesthetically pleasing…
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Fact are how many cyclists knocked off bikes in shrewsbury shropshire??, How many pedestrians knocked over and taken to hospital after being hit by a cyclist???.
Perhaps we may have a reason why cyclist use the pavement? could it be the roads have become to dangerous?, should we actualy change the law now and ban cyclist fom the road on safety grounds?, if that is too extreme should we ban any child under 18 years from cycling on the road?.
No the answer is simple PC PLOD AND AND THE EVER POINTLESS PCSO can issue fines gives them something to do I suppose.
As for me I will stay in my car I want to live a little longer . As i have said if wmc can give us actual figures as how many pedestrians injured by cyclists to how many cyclist injured by cars while cycling on the road it may give us some idea how bad the situation is DON’T YU THINK.
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Look at my reply to number 5 above.
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I did look at it, then chose to ignore it as do the police with many offences as trivial as riding on a pavement , cars parked on the wrong side of the road facing the wrong way , cars parked on the pavement every day for the last 15 years at bicton opposite the pub and all over shrewsbury, buses speeding on the mount,etc etc etc we could go on. Lets be honest about it , it is a quick money makeing scam .And Adam if you wish the police to act on all such crime then please get them to act on all such crime not as it suits.
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Cycling on footways (a pavement at the side of a carriageway) is prohibited by Section 72 of the Highway Act 1835, amended by Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1888. This is now punishable by a fixed penalty notice of £30 under Section 51 and Schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
But the police have been told not to enforce the law unless the cyclist is riding in an inconsiderate manner. Another one of those areas where we do not actually know if we are allowed to do something or not, in my view the law should be clear and enforced one way or the other. It is both silly and ineffective to keep the law in place introduce a fixed penalty fine and then turn a blind eye to the offence.
Eva: you say cycling should be allowed on the pavement because they are “soft body road users like pedestrians” you fail to convince on several counts; your soft body road user is actually not using the road but a pavement that is reserved for pedestrians, there they become a possible menace to pedestrians. Cycles are legally a carriage, they are not “soft” but made of the same material as cars, and many cyclists wear safety gear which is also hard, by your interpretation motorcyclists are also “soft body road users”, I do not suppose you would suggest that they be allowed to use the pavement as well.
A problem for cyclist on the road has now become a problem for pedestrians on the pavement. For people who are worried about riding a bike on the road perhaps a cycling proficiency course might prove beneficial.
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This suggestion that flower boxes are to placed on the fencing concerns me a little.
If these boxes protrude in anyway on the pavement side of the fence, then this would be obviously hazardous, and pedestrians will be injured by walking either into the protruding boxes, or stepping out to miss them into the path of cyclists?
If set on the top of the fence, and also on the rear side, then this should not be a problem.
As regards cyclists not using the cycle tracks and continue to ride on the road, is just an accident waiting to happen.
If in any doubt, I suggest you look at Bank Farm Road and see the near misses where the road narrows. Obviously it will be the motorists who will get the blame ? Room for thought?
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the photo above illustrates the cyclists dilema though, its not very well designed for cars in shrewsbury let alone bikes! we need more cycle lanes first, then you can be tough with them
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#8 Ken, you seem very keen on regaling the law to us which I beleive most people are well aware of.
Where may I ask did I say:
[Eva: you say cycling should be allowed on the pavement ?]
I merely said that I have no problem with people using pavements to cycle on courteously.
The reference to cyclists and pedestrians being soft body road users is the official terminology used by the highways departments.
I do not believe that cyclists can be trusted to use pavements safely which is a great pity. The biggest danger is that of elderly people being a) more frequent pavement users
b) more likely to suffer serious injury from being knocked by a cyclist.
Equally it is far too dangerous for children to cycle safely on roads but they are often the worst offenders for zooming past elderly people on the pavement.
As for the police turning a blind eye to that offence Ken, can you imagine how much revenue we can expect if the littering laws were more stringently upheld? Perhaps that alone can pay for the huge increase in CCTV we have been told to is to come. ;)
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FACT. Cars and their drivers both have to pass a test before being allowed to use the roads. FACT. Cyclists do not, neither do they pay tax for being allowed on the road. If cyclists consider themselves in danger on the road then 99% of the time it is their own fault. I have seen them wobbling along 2 or even 3 abreast, a rolling roadblock putting drivers at risk who have to overtake these morons. So, does their lack of road sense justify their use of public FOOTPATHS as a safer option ?, I would say no. I would never move for a cyclist if I was on the pavement, rather, I would do all I could to force him onto the road, where he LEGALLY belongs. Make these idiots pass a proper test and make them pay for it, might get rid of some of them.
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Cyclists do not have to pay road tax because there is no such thing. It was abandoned around 1936. The specific tax on vehicles tha there is is Vehicle Excise Duty, which goes into the general tax pot and is based on the amount of pollution a vehicle emits – cyclists and electric vehicles pay nothing because they emit nothing.
Your upkeep of roads comes from Council tax in the main, motorways (which cyclists are not allowed on) excluded. So only Council tax payers should be allowed to use the roads based on your arguement?
1. Cycling on the pavement is illegal, but many riders do so due to the attitude of a minority of car drivers.
2. Cycling on the road pre-dates car usage, is enshrined in law and indeed regardless of if there is a cycle path or not is totally legal except where there are signs prohibiting on e.g. a busy dual carriageway or some long tunnels – it has been proved by the Daniel Cadden case that cycle paths are not compulsory. try riding on one of the glass-strewn, uneven, poorly lit, ill maintained things to see why they aren’t popular.
Sorry to hold you up for two nano-seconds, you exemplify the short-sighted attitude of many who can’t see that more bikes = less cars = you get there quicker overall even if you have to wait a short while to get past. Most car drivers can – and I drive and pay Vehicle Excise Duty too….
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Before everybody goes on about what is and what isnt the law – maybe people should research this first.
If you look at the lamposts on the pavement then you will see a blue round sign with pedestrians on the left and cyclists on the right – meaning a shared use pavement.
So, in fact, cyclists are not breaking the law by cycling on the stretch of pavement down smithfield road!
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Eva; I know that if I throw away litter and am seen doing so by the police, I could and probably would be censured or fined, I do not know of any prohibition on the police to preclude them doing so.
There is however an official suggestion that the police should turn a blind eye to those who commit the offence of riding a bicycle on the pavement. To me there an expectation that the law should be enforced otherwise the law is an ass and can safely be ignored in all cases. Accepting the argument for cyclists safety on today’s roads, the law needs perhaps changing not ignoring.
As I said soft body road users include motorcyclists, this class is of course more likely to suffer injury than someone sat inside a vehicle in the event of an accident. But by turning a blind eye to the offence are the police not exchanging one problem for another.
Having re-read you first comment I was wrong and misquoted both your words and your sentiments please accept my apologies
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Everyone seems to have forgotten that cycling on pavements is agaist the law (highway code)so Chief Constables lets have the law enforced. As that is what we pay you for to enforce the law of the land not just bits which suit.
THE LAW IS THE LAW.
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Look at comment 13!
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Ken I hope that you never do throw litter anywhere but in a bin !
Judging by the amount of litter we see everywhere, the number of CCTV cameras we already have and the minute number of prosecutions there are I think you can safely assume that the offence of littering is not stringently enforced as I previously said.
I cannot se the law being changed anytime soon as we have not got an ideal solution to this problem ( except people behaving sensibly and what hope is there ever of that!)
If a pedestrian is injured by a pedal cyclist on a pavement then they have the law on their side but that for an elderly person is not sufficent consolation if even a small injury can unfortunately have major consequences.
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What really annoys me are cyclists who trundel along a busy (so no overtaking) 50-60 mile an hour road when not 3 yards to the left of the kerb is a purpose built cycle path. As far as I’m concerned these types of cyclists are ambulance chasers looking to make a claim by choosing the more obviously dangerous option.
Use the chuffin path my council tax paid for to make you safe and stop holding me up!
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They consider themselves “professional cyclists” and that the cycle lanes are for peasants. Anyway, cyclists are allowed to cycle on the roads whether there is a cycle lane or not – there was a case several years ago regarding West Centre Way in Telford.
Anyway, I want to know if I can ride my trusty mount on the pavement. Why should I have to ride on Smithfield Road on my beloved horse with all of that traffic?
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Perhaps the training that should be given is to motorists to teach them to be considerate and show them the dangers of driving aggressively around cyclists. More would then be likely to use the road rather than the path resulting in less cars – everybody wins….
Cyclists are allowed to ride two abreast, it says so in the Highway Code, but most considerate ones will ride single file in traffic. Don’t tar all cyclists with the same brush – there are good and bad, just as for drivers.
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Nothing to do with being a ‘cut above’, rather a cut below as the condition of many cycle paths might be ok for knobbly mountain bike tyres but often not for thinner road bikes tyres thanks to frequent glass and often loose, uneven or slippery surfaces which can cause accidents. Often you get short stretches before a gate or another give way at a junction which impedes progress significantly for all but the most casual of rider – we Wang to get somewhere too.
As for the two abreast discussion, I suggest a few here might benefit from a look at their Highway Code where they will find it is stated “no more than two abreast”. A majority of club riders will single out when safe to do so and certainly in busy traffic, don’t tar all riders of bikes with the same brush.
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Let me give you an analogy to consider: many motorways run parallel with the old A roads they superceded. As a motorist I would choose, as I suspect you also would, to drive on the motorway to get from A to B. Cycle paths tend to be interrupted by driveways, and side roads intersecting them – they are effectively the old A road. Given the choice I will choose the improved traffic flow of the road over the cycle path, not only to lower my journey time, but also because it is safer – no cars backing out of driveways. Which would you choose?
In Belgium it is mandatory to use a cycle lane when provided – I would welcome that here. Unfortunately there cycle paths are very well designed, constructed and maintained – To make similar legislature work here “your” council tax would have to stretch to cover a far more dedicated cycle path network.
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Ken Adams, if you think a Cycling Proficiency course will make the roads safer then you’re woefully out of touch. I have been cycling for 35 years (and driving for 25) and the roads are worse than ever. The increased risk is entirely caused by impatience or selective blindness on the part of a growing number of car and van drivers. If you don’t believe me you’re welcome to come and cycle with me through town.
Most people I know are too afraid to cycle around Shrewsbury because it is far too frightening. Suggesting they practice riding around cones in a yard is laughable. If drivers drove as the Highway Code instructs then the roads would be safer for everyone, including the 2,500 people killed on the roads every year.
To Colin D, Road Tax was abolished in the 1930s, we all pay for the roads out of general taxation. Drivers who impatiently overtake slow cyclists are never “at risk”, they have 2 tonnes of steel protecting them from everything. DfT stats indicate 75% of all injuries to adult cyclists are caused by drivers.
Returning to the subject of Smithfield Road, I don’t know if the shared path will work but I won’t miss those square planters, they were particularly unattractive. How could anyone mourn their removal?
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i loath those concrete planters, if you want this town to look nice plant more trees, real nature please not metal baskets and false quaint victorian beds of roses its out of date, the best thing they ever did for britain in bloom was that traffic island of wild flowers, the rest of the stuff is a waste in my opinion
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To Simon. E. Maybe road tax should be introduced for cyclists along with a test to determine their suitability to be allowed on the road. The majority of cyclists I have seen have no consideration for other road users. They take up far too much room on roads that are barely wide enough for essential traffic. All the businesses in towns are serviced by vehicles of one sort or another, making them essential, bikes are not, there are plenty of buses to get from A to B. To call cyclists “soft body users” is a bit of a misnomer, “soft headed users” would be more appropriate. Can any of you cyclists tell me why you will pay more than 1000 pounds for a mountain bike capable of climbing the north face of Everest then swerve for a pot-hole.
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I agree with your post Simon, no amount of cycle training can entirely make roads safer for cyclists, the two are not really compatable. That’s why we have to have cycle lanes and not just marked off bits of road either.
A huge number of pedal cyclists ride at dusk and in the dark without lights which is plain stupid.
With reference to the square concrete planters, they have been relocated to the garden area where the Darwin Sculpture is located and I know you are going to be sceptical but they now work much better and actually look rather good! They have a more modern appearance which compliments that recently very nicely landscaped site.
I visited the sculpture today and felt very proud that Shrewsbury has got something right. It looks magnificent and all the other visitors there thought it was beautiful too.
It beggars belief however that some idiot has placed a bin directly next to and infront of the sculpture so it is the first thing you see and ruins any photographs people want to take.
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With those quoting the law, the exception to that law is if the path is desiginated a cycle pathway or shared cycle/pedestrain pathway by the use of the approprate blue cirle signage. If no blue circle sign is eveident, then the law being quoted still stands. Police are advised to use there own judgement when it comes to cyclists on pavements. Is the path busy with pedestrains, is the cyclist going fast. I’ve been cycling for over 30yrs and have had incidents where i have been told by officers in telford to get off the path. The officers at the time did inform me that the path i was on was not designated a cycle path and therefore could i please cycle on the road.
Unless specified, pavements are for pedestrains and it should stay that way. I get very annoyed when i am forced to move out of the way on a path due to cyclist. If i stand my ground i have either gotten verbal abuse from the cyclist or even been hit by there handlebars as they go past. Children learning to cycle should do so in the saftey of there own home or in a designated safe area. Parents should not allow them to cycle on non-designated cycle paths due to there concern of road saftey. What about the safty of perdistraions. Over the years i have seen time and time again children knocking into pedestrains only for the parent of the child to apologise and then to tell the child off for not looking where they are going. Until the child is old enough to handle a bicycle safely and securely, they should only ride on designated cycle paths.
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Every cyclist should take a proficiency test and get insured for personal liability and accidents.
There should be a compromise of pavement sharing for cyclists and pedestrians if the pavement is over a certain width, otherwise cyclists should use the road.
All cyclists should be made to wear a safety helmet by law and cyclists should NEVER ride 2 or 3 across, which is plain stupid and ignorant of other road users.
A common-sense approach…..
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Well I was just pondering why I ( Mr Tax-Payer) paid for all that cyle lane works on Telford Way in Shrewsbury, over the weekend I saw a CSO aimlessly cycling in the road when there was a cyclepath as big as a road to the nearside.
Perhaps they were doing a pre-race inspection of the track before the spoilered Corsa’s and Peugeot’s hit it later that evening.
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A cyclist hurled abuse at me the other evening and no doubt went home with stories of how some cretin almost knocked him off his bike. In reality, he had his head down not looking at the road ahead and had drifted into the middle of the road, so he didn’t see me slow down. I did nothing wrong yet he blamed me for his own poor road sense.
I am a cyclist and there are too many selfish people on the road, both in cars and on bikes. We live in a sick society where not enough people take any personal responsibility. People are too stupid to see how much better life would be if we all got along and looked out for each other rather than just ourselves.
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julian is absolutely right to say that mutual respect is the key for ALL road-users (just as it should be on these discussion threads).
However, I would not go along with his comments about society being ‘sick’.
I think 95% of the road-users I have come across in my 20 years of cycling around Shrewsbury have been courteous, considerate and respectful.
In fact, I am reminded on a daily basis about what a friendly place our town is, when I cycle around.
There ARE, of course, a small number of selfish people (who cycle on pavements or intimidate cyclists in their cars), but I don’t see them as representative of either cyclists or car-users.
Most parents want safer roads or paths for their kids to cycle on, most road-users want others to treat them with respect and most of us want the minority selfish behaviour to be curbed.
Further investment in Shrewsbury’s cycling infrastructure, backed up with cycling proficiency courses will, in my view, help meet those aspirations.
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Re: 23 – cyclists are perfectly entitled to ride two abreast, read your Highway Code. Most club cyclists will single out in traffic or if out in the countryside when safe to do so, but as usual anyone riding a bike shaped object is tarred with the same brush – are all drivers bad? No, just minority of the impatient and selfish.
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Having been sided off the road by both a car and a bus; I, when cycling, will use a cycle lane where present, the road where safe to do so and the pavement where it isn’t.
If the town planners deem the road suitable for cyclists they will include a cycle lane. Where they haven’t, it isn’t.
Cyclists in my experience are not only the most polite of highway users (pedestrians walk in cycle lanes and refuse to give way to cyclists!, cars pass cyclists at speed with just an inch clearance), cyclists are eco-friendly, they do not cause congestion, they are not poisoning you or your family.
In addition, most cyclists own a car so do pay road tax. So why are they always treated as the lowest of the low.
Get a bike people and stop moaning!
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All cyclesists should have tax and insurence as do all cars
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Cyclists (not sure what a cylesist is?) do pay tax….its called VAT when I buy it. As pointed out earlier there is no such thing as ‘road tax’ it is vehicle excise duty which I also pay. So when I ride my bike and not drive the car (putting you further back in the queue) am I not helping you to get to your oh so important destination? Also if cyclists are to pay tax shouldn’t pedestrians pay tax to walk on the pavement…somebody has to pay and maintain it? We could go back to toll bars and toll bridges…wouldn’t that be great!!!
As for insurance….shouldn’t pedestrians have insurance as well? If they step into the road and are hit by a car because they are not looking are they expected to pay the cost to repair the car??? What of small children playing on their bikes in the road….should they pay tax and insure them. Perhaps someone who buys a football should also be taxed and insured incase the football were to damage a house window or a car? Where would you like us to stop?
As to people and their extreme view on cyclists…what are you thoughts on this?
http://road.cc/node/18403
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