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Cyclists on the road

Cheese1996

---Apologies if in wrong forum---

Why hasn't the law been changed to permit cyclists to use pavements? As we all know cycling on the road is dangerous, and something needs to be done to stop cyclists getting hurt. Having ridden on the road myself, it is unbelievably unsettling - all it takes is for one accidental wobble, one adverse reaction to a dip in the road and you could be under a car's wheel and most likely dead.

Unless you're in a busy town or city centre, then the pavements are empty, so Ive always wondered why cyclists are legally forbidden to ride there (it doesnt stop some people though, certainly not me). I can understand there being a worry of ignorant cyclists crashing into pedestrians but, given there aren't that many cyclists, and if the law was made so that pedestrians have right of way over cyclists to make sure that cyclists were careful, wouldn't this be better than expecting car drivers to avoid cyclists?

If a cyclist crashes into a pedestrian, there may be bruises, maybe a broken bone or two. Cyclist and car at anything above 10mph will cause serious injury.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

Tootles

Original post by Cheese1996

You obviously have no clue how the road works. Pavements aren't safe for bicycles, partly because of pedestrians, and partly because of the constant need to hop up and down the edges of sideroads.

You obviously aren't a very experienced cyclist. If you ride in the correct road position and indicate when you're turning and do everything you should do, you'll be perfectly safe. I cycle around Blackpool and the surrounding areas from time to time, and those places can be full of cars and buses - and yet I get along just fine. In all my years as a cyclist, I've only had one real accident - which was down a very quiet back road with no pavement.

Also, it is perfectly legal to be on a bike on the pavement. You just have to dismount when you see a pedestrian - unless the policeman who told me that was lying.