Rights to walk on the pavement pushing your bike?

[Venod]

There was an incident at Darrington under the A1 bridge near the hotel, a van had T boned a Renault, it was a right mess, the van driver left the scene and walked up the slip road, he was knocked down and killed on the A1, the road under the bridge was completely shut to traffic a few cyclists turned round as well, I noticed a policeman let a woman pedestrian through, a local resident I presume, so I asked could I walk through with the bike, no problem he said, so I did that, got to Womersley bus stop and the lads who usually meet at Darrington had detoured via Wentbridge and Smeaton they were surprised I got through.

 

[Milzy]

There was an incident at Darrington under the A1 bridge near the hotel, a van had T boned a Renault, it was a right mess, the van driver left the scene and walked up the slip road, he was knocked down and killed on the A1, the road under the bridge was completely shut to traffic a few cyclists turned round as well, I noticed a policeman let a woman pedestrian through, a local resident I presume, so I asked could I walk through with the bike, no problem he said so I did that, got to Womersley bus stop and the lads who usually meet at Darrington had detoured via Wentbridge and Smeaton they were surprised I got through.

I remember that crazy day well. Why did he run up the steep slope to meet his death?
Did he have no insurance so tried to flee?

 

[C R]

The other day 2 vehicles collided & a young women officer told me to go around while they move the crashed cars.
The thing is it was getting dark soon & I had no front light on. I was literally 2 miles from my house and I had to go around doing an extra 5 miles into a head wind.
Could I have just dismounted and used the pathway on foot legally? I’d say so.
Just want to know for future reference.

I've been in that very situation a couple of times and the police allowed cyclists to walk theirs bikes on the pavement. In those occasions the pavement was open to pedestrians.

 

[Venod]

I remember that crazy day well. Why did he run up the steep slope to meet his death?
Did he have no insurance so tried to flee?

I don't know the answer, he walked up the North bound slip road past the hotel, the A1 was shut in both directions for a long time, it caused traffic chaos in Pontefract and surrounding area.

 

[MontyVeda]

When I was quite young - possibly on the Cycling Proficiency Test
I was told that the correct way to do it was to walk along the edge of the pavement and push you bike along in the gutter
...

I seem to recall that too... but being very left handed i find it nigh on impossible to walk with the bike on the right hand side.

I was also told by a college tutor that it's illegal to push a bike the wrong way down a one way street, but that sounded like bullocks. A lot of those tutors talked a lot of bullocks.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I can do that - with certain kerbs. Though I wouldn't walk away and leave it like that.

Yes - it does depend on the height of the kerb

It also makes it pretty much impossible to lock it to anything

not the inly dumb thing I have been told on a course - but one of the first that I was old enough (like 11) to think the "teacher" was talking rubbish!

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Adult pushing a pram (or "double buggy")?
Pick up a bike so wheels off the ground and it is to me it becomes "luggage"?
etc.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If you are walking, pushing your bike on the pavement, you are pedestrian. Pedestrian rules apply. I always ask if I can go through if a road is closed due an accident. If diversion is long, see if you can go through a field to get past.

 

[Milzy]

If you are walking, pushing your bike on the pavement, you are pedestrian. Pedestrian rules apply. I always ask if I can go through if a road is closed due an accident. If diversion is long, see if you can go through a field to get past.

A field bridle way was at the crash sight so may as well jumped on the road after walking past. Normally it’s no big issue but when it’s late evening and work in the morning it’s annoying.

 

[presta]

Thing with a road closure like that is that you do not know how bad it is

Or where it is.

I followed a 5 mile detour once, and found myself on the wrong side of the blockage. The sign said that the bridge was closed, and when I looked at the map, I saw that my turning was just on the far side of the bridge, so I went all the way round. When I got there I was mighty confused until I looked at the map more carefully, and noticed that there are two rivers, with my turning in between the two, and it was the second bridge that was closed.

Being Sunday, there were no workmen there, so I clambered over the barrier, down into the hole they'd dug, and then out the other side. Luckily the new concrete in the bottom of the hole had set.

 

[rydabent]

What would be the difference between rolling a bike and pulling a suitcase with wheels? Logic has to prevail.

 

[Punkawallah]

What would be the difference between rolling a bike and pulling a suitcase with wheels? Logic has to prevail.

Welcome to Real Life (tm), we hope you enjoy your stay :-)

 

[oldandslow]

I had something a little similar once when my road home was closed because of a gas leak. A polite enquiry to the police officer on duty elicited the response that I could go through as long as I didn't smoke, which seemed fair enough. Residents were bringing out cups of tea to the gas workers and emergency services, so it can't have been massively dangerous.

Isn't there a factor here about obeying the reasonable instructions of a police officer? If there's a bad accident, instructions to go around are likely to be "reasonable". It's a decent argument that, if pedestrians are allowed through, so should cyclists be on foot. However, the judgment of the police officer about whether the necessary detour was more "reasonable" for a cyclist than for a pedestrian would also come into play.

I don't think you could cite Crank v Brooks in this situation as conclusive that a cyclist on foot is a pedestrian; it considered a very particular context in which a motorist tried to escape blame for hitting someone pushing a bike across a crossing, on the basis that the victim was a cyclist and should not have been there. That said, there is now general acceptance that someone pushing a bike should do so (carefully) on the pavement, whereas, when I was growing up, there was still a certain expectation that you would walk on the pavement and push the bike in the gutter. But these are all assumptions untested in court. I don't think the law actually gives any fixed answer, and I'm not about to be the one in court extending case law.

In summary, if you disobey or challenge a police officer's instructions, it may go badly with you, and you don't really want to end up in court arguing the toss. Trying to stand on your rights, and deploy dubious legal cases to force your point, is likely to be a less-successful tactic than a plea that it's cold, it's wet, it's a long way round, and you promise not to be any more trouble than those pedestrians walking through.

 

[classic33]

What would be the difference between rolling a bike and pulling a suitcase with wheels? Logic has to prevail.

I don't think anyone has ever classed a suitcase as road vehicle before.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I had something a little similar once when my road home was closed because of a gas leak. A polite enquiry to the police officer on duty elicited the response that I could go through as long as I didn't smoke, which seemed fair enough. Residents were bringing out cups of tea to the gas workers and emergency services, so it can't have been massively dangerous.

Isn't there a factor here about obeying the reasonable instructions of a police officer? If there's a bad accident, instructions to go around are likely to be "reasonable". It's a decent argument that, if pedestrians are allowed through, so should cyclists be on foot. However, the judgment of the police officer about whether the necessary detour was more "reasonable" for a cyclist than for a pedestrian would also come into play.

I don't think you could cite Crank v Brooks in this situation as conclusive that a cyclist on foot is a pedestrian; it considered a very particular context in which a motorist tried to escape blame for hitting someone pushing a bike across a crossing, on the basis that the victim was a cyclist and should not have been there. That said, there is now general acceptance that someone pushing a bike should do so (carefully) on the pavement, whereas, when I was growing up, there was still a certain expectation that you would walk on the pavement and push the bike in the gutter. But these are all assumptions untested in court. I don't think the law actually gives any fixed answer, and I'm not about to be the one in court extending case law.

In summary, if you disobey or challenge a police officer's instructions, it may go badly with you, and you don't really want to end up in court arguing the toss. Trying to stand on your rights, and deploy dubious legal cases to force your point, is likely to be a less-successful tactic than a plea that it's cold, it's wet, it's a long way round, and you promise not to be any more trouble than those pedestrians walking through.

Glad you said that bit about the gutter

I thought I was the only person to remember that!!!

I am pretty sure it was on the Cycling Proficiency Test that my parents insisted I do before I was allowed to ride on the road

totally impractical and a pain in the whatsit to do!!