yorkshiregoth said:It does seem by the comments to this article and any other similar story be it in the Mail, Evening Standard or whatever, it would seem that 100% of people in the UK, have either been hit, knocked over, had to jump for their lives or have an elderly relative who is constantly terrorised by cyclists.
Its about acceptance...
I would bet that when asked they have all had equally scary experiences with cars.
I sometimes think it is because it is "territorial" and these cyclists are in pedestrian territory - hence the animosity.
On the other hand there is a tacit acceptance of vehicles parking and driving on the same pavements. One of our neighbours is heavily anti pavement cycling yet parks his car on the footpath every night!
On average a pedestrian is killed by a cyclist every 5 years, but deaths caused by vehicles are 236 times more frequent. Hansard
When a cyclist kills a pedestrian it is national news, yet when two people were killed in Ashford whilst on the pavement it hardly got out of the local paper. When a Bus mounted the pavement in February this year (London) it again didn't make it outside London.
Perhaps it is because it is such a rarity, but why do we accept pavement deaths when caused by vehicles, but are appalled if a cyclist is involved.
That would be an interseting piece of research