Re: Why cyclists use the footway.

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:04:20 +0200, "GeoffC" <me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

JNugent <not.telling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Tom Crispin wrote:
www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/blocked

Is that my lens hood in the corners of this wide angle shot? Surely
something's wrong.

Fair enough, but why don't they just wheel(ie, push) the bikes past
the van?

It must be all of four or five yards, and pushing (rather than riding)
would avoid all risk of a FPN.

Well if somebody parked on a motorway so that car drivers were forced to get
out and walk 5yds thus delaying their journey by about 30secs we would never
hear the end of it :-)

Exactly eight minutes later such an event occurred. Here's the report
I wrote for the H&S department at Lewisham Council:

===========

Cycle Training Incident

On 17 October 2007 I left school with another qualified cycling
instructor at 11.30 with a group of 11 Year 4 pupils for a cycle ride
to conclude their on-road cycle training.

We crossed the River Thames at the Woolwich Ferry and stayed off-road
along the Thames Path and then along a promenade on the north side of
Docklands Airport where we had lunch watching the aircraft take off
and land. We stayed on cycle paths and on-road cycle lanes until a
humpback bridge on Prestons Road. The time was just before 2.30pm.
The bridge is narrow with double white lines along the centre, it
crosses the entrance to a dock. To cross the bridge safely it is
necessary to cycle in the centre of the lane to prevent cars
overtaking, with the rear instructor near the centre of the road to
further discourage overtaking.

On this occasion a blue VW Polo ignored the road makings and overtook
our group approaching the blind summit of the bridge. A lorry was
coming in the opposite lane and both vehicles came to a standstill
facing each other. The driver of the blue car somehow squeezed past
our group and overtook us all, coming to a halt by the kerb cutting
off further progress.

I had a camera in my front bar bag and got it out hoping that at the
sight of the camera the driver would choose to leave our group alone.
Instead he got out of the car, shouting and swearing at me and our
group. He grabbed at my camera and attempted to take it out of my
hands. I shouted "Help" very loudly several times and the driver gave
up the struggle and got back into his car and drove off. As he drove
away I managed to take five photos of his car, two of which are clear
and not blurred.

The children were naturally very distressed, but after a short pause,
and after getting the details of several witnesses, we were able to
continue along the Thames Cycle Path arriving back at school shortly
before 3.20.

British Waterways' workers, who came to our assistance, say they have
the entire incident recorded on CCTV.

Tom Crispin
18 October 2007

==========
.

Relevant Pages

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