What is considered the correct thing to do if you are walking on the pavement (not shared use - in this case there are signs put up by the council saying not to cycle on it) and you meet a cyclist coming towards you?
I was walking to the shop a little earlier and there is a stretch of pavement which is pretty narrow, perhaps about 3.5 feet as the hawthorn hedge is overgrown. I met a boy of about 10 years old coming on a bike and his mother riding behind them, both going very slowly.
I stopped walking in good time and put my back to the hedge to give them room to pass, I actually pushed myself back into the hedge to give them as much room as I could. I could really feel the thorns through my clothes. I would normally step of the pavement in this situation but there was a car coming so tried my best to give them as much room as possible. As I say, they were not going fast, no more than walking speed.
The woman stopped and started shouting into my face and gesticulating at me and called me a "selfish narcissistic b**tard" and going on and on about how I put her and her son's life in danger by not getting off the pavement when they were cycling on it (would she like me to wave my magic wand and disappear, leap 10 foot into the air or step into the path of a Ford Mondeo?). They could have fallen from the edge of the kerb and had an accident apparently and it would have been my fault because I have no consideration for other people and I'm obviously thick if I didn't know that it is the law to cycle on the footpaths and cyclists have right of way over pedestrians. I pointed out the "no cycling" sign but the sign is wrong apparently because she knows the rules and I should have got off the pavement so her and her son could cycle safely. She's a regularly cyclist and knows these things (I felt like asking if she knows about cycling why have both bikes got rusty chains, soft tyres and poorly adjusted brakes and both frames were too small for their respective riders). She just went on and on.
I kept pointing out that I did not block their path but did my best to give them a clear path and asking her what she would have liked me to do in the circumstances but she just kept saying I need to respect her and her son's right of way and stop putting them in danger and that I need to get help as I clearly have mental health issues if I go around endangering people's lives. I told her that my right to use the path is the same as hers but apparently as she was on a bike she has right of way over me.
I genuinely cannot see what I did to put them in danger. I suppose they could have cycled off the edge of kerb into the path of the Mondeo but the boy was cycling a few inches from the edge of the kerb in the first place which is why I stepped into the hedge to allow them to continue their path without having to change course as I thought that would be easiest and safest for them.
I am inclined to dismiss her as a nutjob but I like to think to think I am a considerate person and I can't stop replaying it in my mind to see if I could have positioned myself better. I don't expect a 10 year old to ride on that particular stretch of road as it's busy with a corner and concealed junction, people drive around the corner too fast and you need to be assertive and alert for your own safety. I really do think the 50Km/hr limit should be reduced there and some traffic calming as even as an experienced cyclist I don't feel safe at that point. Occasionally I do ride on the footpath there myself if the road is busy and I'm coming back from a long ride and tired and not in the mood but I stop if I meet a pedestrian and hold over as much as possible. No-one has ever objected to me doing this. I often do meet cyclists on the footpath there when walking and I've pretty much always did what I did tonight and nobody has taken offence before. In fact they usually say thank you.
I was walking to the shop a little earlier and there is a stretch of pavement which is pretty narrow, perhaps about 3.5 feet as the hawthorn hedge is overgrown. I met a boy of about 10 years old coming on a bike and his mother riding behind them, both going very slowly.
I stopped walking in good time and put my back to the hedge to give them room to pass, I actually pushed myself back into the hedge to give them as much room as I could. I could really feel the thorns through my clothes. I would normally step of the pavement in this situation but there was a car coming so tried my best to give them as much room as possible. As I say, they were not going fast, no more than walking speed.
The woman stopped and started shouting into my face and gesticulating at me and called me a "selfish narcissistic b**tard" and going on and on about how I put her and her son's life in danger by not getting off the pavement when they were cycling on it (would she like me to wave my magic wand and disappear, leap 10 foot into the air or step into the path of a Ford Mondeo?). They could have fallen from the edge of the kerb and had an accident apparently and it would have been my fault because I have no consideration for other people and I'm obviously thick if I didn't know that it is the law to cycle on the footpaths and cyclists have right of way over pedestrians. I pointed out the "no cycling" sign but the sign is wrong apparently because she knows the rules and I should have got off the pavement so her and her son could cycle safely. She's a regularly cyclist and knows these things (I felt like asking if she knows about cycling why have both bikes got rusty chains, soft tyres and poorly adjusted brakes and both frames were too small for their respective riders). She just went on and on.
I kept pointing out that I did not block their path but did my best to give them a clear path and asking her what she would have liked me to do in the circumstances but she just kept saying I need to respect her and her son's right of way and stop putting them in danger and that I need to get help as I clearly have mental health issues if I go around endangering people's lives. I told her that my right to use the path is the same as hers but apparently as she was on a bike she has right of way over me.
I genuinely cannot see what I did to put them in danger. I suppose they could have cycled off the edge of kerb into the path of the Mondeo but the boy was cycling a few inches from the edge of the kerb in the first place which is why I stepped into the hedge to allow them to continue their path without having to change course as I thought that would be easiest and safest for them.
I am inclined to dismiss her as a nutjob but I like to think to think I am a considerate person and I can't stop replaying it in my mind to see if I could have positioned myself better. I don't expect a 10 year old to ride on that particular stretch of road as it's busy with a corner and concealed junction, people drive around the corner too fast and you need to be assertive and alert for your own safety. I really do think the 50Km/hr limit should be reduced there and some traffic calming as even as an experienced cyclist I don't feel safe at that point. Occasionally I do ride on the footpath there myself if the road is busy and I'm coming back from a long ride and tired and not in the mood but I stop if I meet a pedestrian and hold over as much as possible. No-one has ever objected to me doing this. I often do meet cyclists on the footpath there when walking and I've pretty much always did what I did tonight and nobody has taken offence before. In fact they usually say thank you.
