Might open a can of worms

[marinyork]

Cranky has explained the situation well. It is years since I have seen an actual No Cycling sign at any path. Do they exist anymore?

I also thought that if you deemed it not safe to cycle on the road then using the pavement was OK. We have a 500yd stretch from home to my sons school that would involve a right turn onto a busy road and then a right turn off again. Using the path is a lot safer, he is in Year 4 at school and they do no cycling proficiency or bikeability for another 2 years!

Yes, the signs still exist and are fairly common looking in the right sort of area. They are normally on jennels in leafy suburban areas. Probably the sort of place being discussed in the Nimby thread.

 

[PBancroft]

^^ A lot like RLJing and cycling without lights

Might as well open this can of worms all the way

I don't see why.

IMHO I think that cycling on pavement is bad PR because folk see cyclists doing something they shouldn't, and that can translate to other times when cyclists are in the "way". A footpath means a stretch of the highway by which the public have right of way on foot. A footway is stricter than that, but I've never seen any path which clarifies the distinction (other than a footpath next to a road being a footway).

For what its worth, I seem to recall that children up to 16 cannot be prosecuted for cycling on a footway. They can probably be given a stern ticking off though.

Of course there are times when it might be safer to ride on a footpath/footway, and my guess is that if a policeman saw you, if there were nobody around and you were obviously acting diligently they may have a word and then that would be the end of it. If you were cycling down a busy stretch forcing pedestrians to get out the way it would be different.

I do think it is different yet again for RLJing and cycling without lights, not just because the law is much clearer on both of these points. But this has been thrashed out many a time elsewhere. My personal viewpoint is that the cyclist has a number of rights, but just like drivers we also have responsibilities too.

 

[levad]

I do agree that the road is where we should be. I suppose my gripe is that no cycle training is available until Year 6 (10-11 yrs old). We do take the boy out on the road at the weekends but they tend to be quieter then. Coming home from school is on the road as well because it is 2 left turns rather than 2 right turns.

 

[BentMikey]

Is this the place for me to admit I sometimes take my 6y/o round the corner on the pavement? It might be wrong, but I don't think he's ready to ride the A233 just yet.

 

[Maz]

Is this the place for me to admit I sometimes take my 6y/o round the corner on the pavement? It might be wrong, but I don't think he's ready to ride the A233 just yet.

+1

 

[wafflycat]

Is this the place for me to admit I sometimes take my 6y/o round the corner on the pavement? It might be wrong, but I don't think he's ready to ride the A233 just yet.

I don't think anyone could have any problem with little kids cycling on the footpath. They are, after all, too young to be prosecuted *and that is an entirely good thing*, as it means the law recognises that kids have to have the chance to develop the mental and physical skills needed to be aware of what they are doing, how, why etc., etc...

But there is absolutely no excuse for an adult...

 

[yello]

+1

Eh? You take BentMikey's 6y/o on the pavement?

Pragmatic might still be illegal Maz. It's the application of the law that's left to discretion.

 

[BentMikey]

change the route and ride with him on some quiet country lanes.

There is no other route, our place fronts onto the A233.

p.s. do you ever stop to think before putting keyboard to post? LOL

 

[Maz]

Eh? You take BentMikey's 6y/o on the pavement?

I take whole groups of kids 6-9y/o riding on the p'ment. Like a cycling equivalent of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, they join in as I pass their houses (summer activity only).

 

[mickle]

Granted, children allowed for reasons that WC put in her post. But adults-no way.

FFS the way you lot are going on its as if cycling on the pavement is a crime against humanity. Get a grip. In other countries people don't give a damn as long as you're not endangering anyone else. When pavement cycling is even one thousandth as dangerous as driving on the pavement I'll start to care. In the meantime, if someone wants to ride their bike on the pavement, at walking pace and giving priority to peds I'm not going to get my panties in a bunch.

 

[yello]

It's still illegal though mickle, whether one chooses to knot their knickers or kno.

 

[PBancroft]

I think cycling on the pavement is just as anti social as RLJing and cycling without lights. A cyclist can easily kill someone if they are travelling at speed and yet people are cycling on the pavement which is shared by peds.

I'm never come across a section of road that cannot be ridden. There is no excuse in my book, ride on the road or get the bus (and read cyclecraft on the way in)

Don't get me wrong - I don't disagree. I think that cyclists should stick to the roads too. However, there are occasions when it would be safer to be on the pavement... I'm not saying that they're common or even likely for most cyclists, but they exist. Younguns cycling is one example - inexperienced cyclists coming across a hazard for which they do not know how to deal with is another.

And yes, I think it is anti-social as well, which is why I suggest that cycling on pavement gives bad PR.

 

[PBancroft]

And now the new age commuter who cycles to work who is either not very adept at riding on the road so decides to ride on the pavement. Or is completely ignorant and rides on the pavement because they think it is ok to.

I actually think this will balance out over time. For some, cycling is a new thing, and they are still learning their place on the road. As they do, more and more will start cycling on the road, and eventually it will become the norm.

 

[hackbike 666]

In other countries people don't give a damn as long as you're not endangering anyone else.

Japan is a prime example of this and also where the peds are not complete and utter morons and possibly the cyclists as well.(Sorry about that)