battered said:
Dead right. Most people think I should ride everywhere on the pavement until they see me bowling througfh town an 25 mph. "F* me, I'm not surprised you don't use the pavement at *that* speed, I wouldn't want to be coming out of a pub if you were going past like that". Exactly. Now cut me some slack, I could be doing anywhere between 10 and 30 mph, but when I have right of way I *will* be in the road.
Kind of +1 to that, with reservations because I think much of the danger isn't about speed but about speed differentials.
When I ride on the road, I generally do between 15-20mph. For the majority of the roads that I use, that puts me at a speed around 35% of the speed limit, and around 50% of the speed that most cars travel at.
Doing that speed on the pavement, though, would mean that I'm doing at least 5 times the speed of pedestrians.
Taking into account that I ride in the left hand carriageway, in the same direction as the cars on that carriageway, and the speed differential is not that great, in percentage terms and drivers have a good chance to see me and avoid me.
On pavements or shared use facilities, where there is no control over the direction of flow, with entry and exit points like pubs, driveways etc you'd need to ride at 6-8mph to have a similar differential. That's a bit slow, even for me.
battered said:
Give me the keys to a white van and a cavalier disregard for other people's safety and I'll make your wish come true.
Within a year I guarantee 80% of Leeds cyclists will be off the road or dead. Simples.
mangaman said:
Are you suggesting 80% of people who cycle in Leeds will be dead or off the road within 1 year?
No, he's saying, pretty explicitly IMO, that if you gave him a white van and a cavalier disregard for other people's safety, then he'd take out 80% of the cyclists in Leeds.