If there’s a path with a lot of pedestrians on it, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that cyclists are expected to get off their bike and walk like everybody else.
I had my jaw fractured because some speeding JustEat delivery man came blasting through a pedestrian area of Newcastle on his bike, clearly not paying attention.
It was very painful, I have a scar on my face, I couldn’t work or eat comfortably for a while.
Man, that sounds rough. I hope you’re okay now. I suppose the rider got away?
Those delivery riders with their often illegal e-bikes are a scourge. They’re like that in London too. I’ve seen them on pavements with their throttle modded bikes, even though we have both a bus lane and a cycle lane.
Oh yeah he got away and wasn’t identified
I’m fine now, it was a few years ago. I just have an ugly scar I’m a bit self conscious about
I would foster an irrational (more like justified) hatred of JustEat after that.
It was certainly annoying. I contacted JustEat to try to find out who did it, but I couldn’t get any information from them
Thankfully I live in rural Northumberland and only occasionally travel down to Newcastle or up to Berwick or Edinburgh, so I don’t see them much.
I’m not even sure you can use any of the delivery apps here. Just old fashioned ringing up and asking for a delivery
Another reason not to use them then - not like I really needed any. I’d sooner go direct.
Couldn’t agree more, bikes belong on the road not on pedestrian pavements!
These delivery drivers are a fucking scourge as well. I have had a few run ins this year with them driving their mopeds through pedestrian areas.
I hope the council do clamp down on this bullshit behaviour but also invest in cycling infrastructure too. I’m lucky where I live has a pretty good network of cycle paths but it is still lacking.
A bit of white paint to put cycle lanes in the pedestrianised roads would resolve this.
Not really, cycle lanes should be part of a road and not a pedestrianised area. All cycle lanes that go along side footpaths with no clear division other than lines just end up being full of idiots obliviously walking unaware of their surroundings.
This is both frustrating as a cyclist and dangerous as bikes move at much higher speeds, especially with the advent of electric bikes allowing unfit people who are not used to controlling a bike and being aware of their surroundings to ride at much higher speeds.
Pedestrianised areas should be for foot traffic only, bike lanes should have their own place alongside roads. The best ones I have used have a curb either side so the footpath is higher than the cycle lane on the left and the road is lower than it on the right making a clear division of traffic.
The fucking worst ones are shared paths and ones with just a line to denote a cycle lane next to busy pedestrianised areas. It is safer to ride on a road with no cycle lane than to try and contend with idiot foot traffic paying no attention, looking at their phones etc.
Yes! I was in Walthamstow last week and the difference between their cycle lanes and my area is like night and day. A proper delineated cycle lane, separate from both the road and the pavement. Compare that to my area where the cycle lanes abruptly cut off and are just a line of paint separating them from the pavement, therefore pedestrians walk all over it and I have to use the bus lane to cycle. Walthamstow is like cyclist heaven.
It is bliss in comparison to all other options!
My city has a mix of every possible configuration, from no cycle lane, randomly abruptly ended ones, shared paths and the properly separated ones and I would take a properly separated bike lane over all else any day of the week. It is safer for literally everyone involved!
It recommended adding cycling to the city’s public spaces protection order (PSPO), which aims to tackle antisocial behaviour by banning large gatherings, street drinking, graffiti and loud noise in the city centre, and issuing fines to those who do not comply.
So if the city can issue fines for non-compliance to this law, why can’t they issue fines for the small number of cyclists that are currently endangering people? Why ban the 99% of good cyclists instead of going after the bad 1%?
Because the bad ones are harder to catch. They go so fast. Easier to fine the people riding slowly. And BONUS POINTS for appeasing the Daily Mail.
I think it’s a great idea, but given there’s no budget for extra policing and most councils are on the verge of bankruptcy, how would this be enforced?
I can think of some suggestions, but they involve a fair amount of potential risk to the pedestrians which wouldn’t be acceptable!
