wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 4044
Loc: Man of Kent
|
|
I am listening to the In Touch programme on Radio 4 at present. There has been a long and inconclusive report that blind people are at risk on shared paths(with cyclists).
There are some shared paths round here, and quite a lot of elderly, infirm people. I rarely use them, but plenty of people do, for cycling, and I've never seen anything approaching an accident. Whereas I've seen plenty of cars bumping into each other, and even pedestrians in this town.
What does anyone else think? Is it best to leave pedestrians on the pavement, when available, and cyclists, barring small kids, on the road?
--------------------
Invicta
|
bfergie
Reged: 19/04/2008
Posts: 3653
Loc: Sticks ,Scotlandshire
|
|
I say cycle on the road, pavements are for the feeties!Even shared pathways are best left alone, ok the roads are quiet round here but there are too many obsticles on pathways to enjoy cycling. The problem on the whole is not the cyclists on shared paths although there are always idiots but padestrians seem to panic and a slight hesitation can lead to accidents..at least on the road we know the cars wont move quite as irratically as a person! Put it this way when cycling are you more wary passing a car or a padestrian..I for one would rather pass a car any day!!!
--------------------
I now accept PAYPAL!!!!
|
themadchemist
Reged: 22/04/2007
Posts: 388
Loc: South Cheshire
|
|
I don't believe in cycling on the pavement,unless you are a small child.
I never use any of the shared paths because at the speeds i do (or try to do) i think it dangerous for pedestrians and for myself.
I have had adults flash past me on mountain bikes on the pavement around here.. with no warning.. i mean who has a bell on their bike these days? i know i don't.All it needed was for me to have moved to avoid stepping in something (lots of dog walkers around here) and there could have been a nasty accident.
I do agree that kids are probably better on the pavement as the roads are a lot busier than when i was that young.. and i will always stop and let a kid ride past me if i'm walking on the pavement.
I don't think blind people are any more of a hazard than most pedestrians ,as most seem to walk around with their eyes closed and brains in neutral.(i call the locals around here 'lemmings' cos they just seem to jump into the road without looking!  )
|
colnagodram
Reged: 06/04/2008
Posts: 769
Loc: Langholm, Dumfriesshire. 10 mi...
|
|
Walking over the Eden bridge in Carlisle the other week,I was passed by a bloke on a bike,he was going faster than the cars on the road  .Considering the road was quiet (Sat.8:00am)free flowing traffic that there was,nearly s**t myself  , but as said before,if I'd moved, crunch!!  Off the pavements, unless small child with parent/adult
|
cway
Reged: 02/09/2008
Posts: 17
Loc: Crook, County Durham
|
|
Not a blind person, nearly had an accident with someone who was deaf.
I was on holiday in Sussex in Sept. went for a ride along Worth Way (National Cycle Route) on the way back just on the way out of East Grinstead (just on the very outside by the train station) was coming up behind a woman and a give a small shout (was changing gear so couldn't flick my bell) but obviously she didn't hear me and ended up nearly in the hedge.
But everything was ok in the end had me chuckling all the way back:)
|
aphextwin
Reged: 13/06/2006
Posts: 1071
Loc: pH 0.1
|
|
I also stick to the road rather than cycle paths, unless they are wide and do not have a road running along the same route - like some of the Sustrans ones run along old railway lines (eg Bath to Bristol).
I tend to come across more grief on mountain bike rides - some (and it is some) horse riders and ramblers in particular have a beef with bikers, even though you are on a permitted bridleway.
Couple of months ago I was given a lecture by a horse rider on how all cyclists are the same and how one bloke on a bike spooked her horse and she struggled to control it.
I struggle to control my bike sometimes, but it won't run off and kick someone.
As for the blind thing, well I bet if someone did a survey on it they'd find that blind people are more likely to have accidents around the home too. Small children are also more likely to have an accident, which is why they need supervision.
In a recent survey I conducted, people who didn't own a car were less likely to visit a petrol station. Amazing what these surveys can throw up.
--------------------
The drukqs don't work
|
tvrbird
Reged: 21/06/2008
Posts: 1135
Loc: slumped over the keyboard
|
|
There is a shared cycle/footpath on my route home which is always crowded with pedestrians. The road is actually reasonably wide at this point, but it runs past a primary school, so the I suppose that's why there's shared usage of the path. I very often get abuse from drivers for not using it, who on occasion drive very close to me in order to reinforce their point which is helpful. As they pull alongside me at 25mph [it's a 30mph limit, so I really hold them up], wind down the passenger's window and shout that I should be on the path, I like to respond that I *could* be on the path, but I choose not to, just like they *could* be on the bus. Also, the path is there for my convenience not theirs, and that I would rather hit a car than a child, which usually shuts them up.
As has been said earlier in this thread, I just can't bring myself to cycle on pavements, legitimately or not. And when it comes down to it, I'm a person, and roads are built for people, not the cars they drive around in.
--------------------
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger - Friedrich Nietzsche (German Hill Climb Champion and sub-19 man)
|
mamba80
Reged: 09/08/2007
Posts: 403
Loc: Cornwall
|
|
Not sure about blind people, but what about POLES?
ar nt they just a big nuisance?
http://www.liskeard-today.co.uk/tn/news....on%20new%20path
|
Bluebeard
Reged: 27/03/2008
Posts: 528
Loc: Brixton innit
|
|
Coming over here, taking our copper wire...
--------------------
You can take a bike to water but you cannot make it drink
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
