Re: Main letter in local rag.

Nick wrote:

JNugent wrote:
Nick wrote:
JNugent wrote:

Cycling on the footway is illegal and anti-social,

Why?

Because it's... er... against the law.
<eyes cast upward to Heaven>

Not around my house it isn't

Fair enough. I was talking about the UK, where cycling on the footway is illegal.

There are a lot of shared use paths.

They are not footways within the meaning of what was described. No-one was under the illusion that "shared paths" were what was being described in the OP in this thread. It was ordinary, plain vanilla, pedestrians-for-the-use-of, footways, such as most people have outside their front doors or garden gates.

They are footpaths out side my house, just got a bit of paint on them,

Not what was being spoken about. The correct term for what some people call "the pavement" (sometimes a "footpath") is "the footway". I always use that term in order to avoid ambiguity.

We all have to live together and a little give and take from responsible people doesn't seem to be a problem.

What is antisocial is dangerous riding or driving.

Those too. But they are certainly not the only thing that is anti-social. Cycling along the footway is very anti-social (says I, principally as a pedestrian, but also as a motorised footway-crosser at the entrance to my driveway).

So I asked why and you hid behind the its against the law answer

That's a perfect answer as to why it is illegal (which was half of your question).

then reiterated the fact that you don't like it without saying why.

I don't like it for reasons I went on to explain (and that was the other half).

While this behaviour is sometimes seen in pavement cyclists it is very common in cars on the road.

Done to death, I'm afraid, here and elsewhere. When I see a car being driven at normal speed along a footway (ie, not for anything other than crossing it or a slow manoeuvre involved in parking), I'll give you a shout. Don't hold your breath (and no, I don't want a debate on it - you know I'm telling the truth).

Particularly the type of self righteous driver who feels they own
the road and likes to intimidate slower more vulnerable road users.

I am a pedestrian most of the time. I feel intimidated by illegal cycling in "my" space. I see no reason why I or anyone else should put up with it. It is a deliberate and cynical shifting of risk onto those who don't deserve it. Try seeing it from the pedestrian's POV.

If I thought you were a considerate motorist who showed courtesy or care for the safety of cyclist in "their" space eg the highway I might have some respect for your view, but your not are you.

Is that a question?

If so, what basis do you have for prejudging the answer (particularly for prejudging it so wrongly)?

I am a motorist, cyclist and a pedestrian I can say without doubt that it is very rarely that I have any problem with the cyclists who use the pavement and very common that I have problems with dangerous and anti-social car drivers on the road.

That's your view.

Others (particularly, I suspect, those who don't have a vested interest in defending anti-social footway cycling, if you'll forgive the tautology) have differing views. So too (though sometimes it's hard to credit it) does the law.
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Does the Daily Mail hates Cyclists?
    ... or killed on a footway where they should be completely safe from traffic is one too many. ... At the point where the mumber of pedestrians killed on the footway by motor vehicles drops to ten times the number killed by cyclists, ... No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at the population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as walking. ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Salisbury rail crash
    ... "I condemn cyclists who endanger pedestrians by cycling on footways and/or in pedestrianised areas, and I condemn cyclists who fail to comply with the other rules of the road, for example, not complying with the law at road junction traffic lights - especially when the lights are at red - and those cyclists who fail to accord precedence to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings." ... Cycling "with consideration" means not cycling on the footway. ...
    (uk.transport)
  • Re: Tonights Critical Mass
    ... The law against cycling on te footway protects more children than it could ever be argued to put into "danger". ... refuse to say what your reaction would be to a motorist making equally ridiculous claims as you make for the cyclistin your case ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Tonights Critical Mass
    ... The law against cycling on te footway protects more children ... to be driven along the pavement to get there. ... used to before the advent of mass car abuse. ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Paul Smith
    ... of all the Chief Police Officers is hard to believe. ... Cycling along the footway is an offence. ...
    (uk.rec.driving)