Scourge of the pavement cyclist

Pavement cyclists.  Pests, most of them, unthinking individuals unconcerned at the stress they cause pedestrians.  And they go mostly unchallenged. Except the other evening, when I saw one of the town’s two cycling coppers stop a middle-aged gent who was riding on the pavement.

There was a minute’s discourse between the two, whereupon the copper pedalled off and the pavement cyclist joined the road, where he should have been in the first place. The roads were fairly quiet.

But the other morning I listened to a pavement rider make his excuses. As I walked to the newsagents, he came out of nowhere. He steered away to avoid a collision, saying sorry as he went. He was a newspaper delivery boy reporting to the same newsagent I was headed for.

I confronted him in the shop.

Tell me, I said, why do you ride on the pavement?

Because I don’t want to get knocked off, he replied, a bit sheepishly.

He was 15. I let the matter drop. I could understand why he felt that way. 

I felt it was no good informing him of the claims that cycling safety has improved as more people take up riding - the CTC's (National cycling organisation) "Safety in Numbers" campaign.

Not with  a constant stream of traffic roaring by outside the shop,  on the one-way street.

Fast moving traffic on Britain’s roads has created a hostile environment. Traffic is moving far too fast, passing far too close.

It never used to be this way, before the age of power steering and nippy zippy little motors. Ad campaigns cleverly avoid talking about speed, instead they promote a pacy lifestyle. Same thing.

Then there’s the nightmare of one-way streets, a product of 1960s traffic planning which was about the time cyclists - and pedestrians – were designed out of road planning.

Most of the so-called improvements for cyclists and pedestrians since have been add-on infrastructure and most of it is rubbish.  Cycle lanes are in the main too narrow and often more dangerous to use than the road – thanks to lampposts standing in the middle of them, and even bus shelters! There are a few exceptions, such as the Cycling Superhighways in London, not perfect, but nevertheless, a benchmark for others to follow and improve upon. But such facilities are few and far between.

Local authorities have sold the cycling movement short, by creating shared paths in busy places, where design guides clearly say they shouldn’t be.  It has led to some people thinking all pavements can be cycled on.

The irony is that if all traffic moved more carefully, more slowly, there would be no need for any special cycling facilities, except at major junctions.

The sooner all residential roads have 20mph speed limits, the sooner vulnerable cyclists, like the newsboy, may feel it is safe enough to get back on the road.