This one is just a general one simply because I see it every day.
It is against the law to cycle on the pavement, that is the simple fact.
So please don’t do it, here is some reasons why other than it is illegal.
A cyclist can easy do around 10mph, which is 3 times as fast as a pedestrian. It will hurt if you get knocked over and you will hurt others if you should hit them, not nice.
On pavements you have other things than pedestrians which you have to navigate around. e.g. street furniture (lamp post, bus shelters, bins, trees etc.) shop signs, pets, bin bags and people coming in or out of the shops or their homes etc. All the above roads don’t have.
The pavement is far more busier and dangerous than the road. Sensible cycling on the road and communication with other road users will make your journey much faster, safer and enjoyable.
Above all you, who cycle on the pavement, will make the pedestrians dislike us (cyclist) even more.
So why do you still do it ?
Just remember when and if you are on a shared path with pedestrians please give them the right away, because they have.
Again Charlotte puts it right in her post about pavement riding …
Colleagues who cycle to work have sometimes told me that the reason they ride on the pavement is that they feel unsafe negotiating certain “dangerous” roads. I see this quite a lot, you’re more likely to go past a pavement cyclist when the road’s busy or congested. The same goes for road speed – if the cars are moving very fast, people are more likely to hop up on the pavement for “safety’s sake”.
But what of the safety of pedestrians? Isn’t this just the abused kicking downwards? It’s no more right for bike riders to make pedestrians feel threatened by having to share the pavement with a fast moving cyclist than it is for a driver to make a cyclist feel threatened in the same way. In fact, cycling on the pavement is arguably worse because it’s clearly illegal as well as dangerous.
Please do click over and read the rest of Charlotte’s post..
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