| Monday, July 6, 2009 |
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 I am going to hand over todays post to a very good friend of mine, Mrs Jessie O'Orton, who has something she wishes to say. So without further ado, over to Jes. . . .
 "As an occasional cyclist I am becoming extremely alarmed at the increased use of the pavements [sidewalks, to people in the colonies - ed] by pedestrians.
If this practice continues and becomes more commonplace, what are we cyclists going to do about it?
Some of these pedestrians, especially the very old ones, frequently pull out in front of us and could easily cause us to be thrown off our bikes. This also applies to young mothers with their pushchairs who suddenly change direction without warning! Blind and partially sighted people are a danger when they wave their white canes around. If one of these sticks went through a cyclist's wheel there could be a terrible accident.
I do feel that the time has come for these pedestrians to take more care and follow the appropriate code. This would of course mean that some of the older slow moving people, who hamper the somewhat faster cycles, would have to walk at the very edge of the pavement leaving a clear path.
The use of "walking bells" should be encouraged, especially by people who wear trainers and soft shoes; no audible approach you see! This can be quite startling to a less experienced cyclist. Again there may be a nasty accident, with the cyclist needing counselling.
A far greater menace to cyclists are the young children on skateboards and rollerblades who show no respect for the poor cyclists who cannot manouvere as quick as them. I think they should use the roadway along with all the other fast moving vehicles.
Thanks to Keith for letting me use his blogpage, and thanks to all you kind people for reading this drivel".
 Well, that's it. I (we) would be very interested in your views and comments about this problem.Labels: Pedestrians |
posted by Keith at 7:31 AM  |
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| 10 Comments: |
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Jessie, have you ever contacted either Sustrans or CTC about this? They are the largest cycling organisations in the UK and may be able to help.
Just a thought.
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I'm sensing (I hope) a touch of irony here...
Here in the States, the rule for cyclists is SUPPOSED to be that they should ride like any other vehicle, on the same side of the road as traffic going their way (on the ROAD, not the SIDEWALK), and follow the same rules as though they were in a car. Most of the time, though, they drive down the wrong side of the road (maybe they're all Brits :) ), pull out in front of cars, or ride on the sidewalks.
Who, me, road rage? Not likely... :)
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Oh I thought pavements were for bikes and parked cars!
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A TOUCH of irony?
BTW 'Some bring up a larger image.'
and some don't so I can't read your journal. Drat!
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Pat - Its a "stage prop", it's just 'scribble dribble'; y'know, the sort of stuff John G writes on his blog!
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I'll tell him you said that ;)
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Fancy that, I've got exactly the same problems when I drive my combine harvester over the pavement.
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A combine harvester, eh?
That's going one better than the neighbours who only have a mere 4 X 4 to take the kids to school in!
I bet they are really envious of you.
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It's time they put cyclepaths everywhere for the pedestrians so that cyclists can have free rein on the pavement . . . .
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Sandy - I "wheelie" wanted to know that!
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Jessie, have you ever contacted either Sustrans or CTC about this? They are the largest cycling organisations in the UK and may be able to help.
Just a thought.