Why is riding on the footpath an offence?

[Learnincurve]

You don't let children loose on the road without an understanding of how to cross roads, judge car speeds etc. You don't let people loose in cars without some rudimentary training. Why not the same for cyclists?

Waaay way back in the 1980/90s Derbyshire pumped a lot of time and effort into doing just this, if you had a bike then schools both primary and secondary would send you for cycling proficiency lessons, iirc they were run by police and council, and you would get a sticker to put on the bike when you passed (in fact the bike I collected from my parents has one, I'll show a picture in a bit) and if your bike did not have a sticker and the police saw you on it you would be sent home and school/your parents would be told. Everyone I knew had a sticker, because not only did you get out of school one afternoon for 6 weeks, the council closed the main car park in the village for us and the guy running it made it fun so we learned to brake by doing races and he made a big race track for us as well. They wouldn't do this kind of thing now to this extent, mostly because the car park isn't free any more so they would lose too much money.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

did you read the last sentence in the post you're replying to? It mentioned something about common sense... something your rant lacks.

Problem is most people don't have any.

 

[MontyVeda]

Problem is most people don't have any.

the clue is in the name... most do.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

a speedo to be fitted - NO - in my experience it just makes you go faster
compulsory helmets - NO - no scientific proof they do any good
compulsory third party insurance - MAYBE - I have some
a compulsory test - NO - Mainly because it would put people off cycling, plus at what age would it be needed
a minimum age at which cyclists can use the roads - NO - calendar age has little to do with maturity

But apart from that I agree with all you said

ask @Mo1959 what she thinks, insurance what if your actions cause a major incident, something like a CBT for motor bikes is no bad thing.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Two things. Firstly, it isn't a speed thing. Secondly, you have identified the problem that needs addressing.

It is partly a speed (and dexterity on the bike) thing. I'm referring to Cyclecraft as it is the text book for the National cycling standard. Emphasis is on speeding up at junctions, keeping up with the traffic flow, having 2 eyes in the back of your head
Apart from the fact that if your time is up your time is up, no bikability will save you (but that can be said for all activities) some motorized traffic free cycling provisions must be incorporated in our road system, for those not so confident or not so Adrelanine driven in their cycling.

 

[fabregas485]

[QUOTE 3143130, member: 30090"]FFS, then you slow down to their walking pace and pass giving room. It aint hard.[/QUOTE]

You shouldn't assume the person in front can hear, I've cycled with a number of deaf people, though they do tend to be better at looking than your average cyclist.

I was a little lazy with my comment to be honest. Both are very valid points. The way I see it, pedestrians are the ones who would end up worse if anything were to happen. People can sometimes lack 'common sense' but every effort should be made to reduce the risk of accidents.

 

[summerdays]

At the same time we could sort out compulsory helmets

For motorists and pedestrians too?

 

[summerdays]

Waaay way back in the 1980/90s Derbyshire pumped a lot of time and effort into doing just this, if you had a bike then schools both primary and secondary would send you for cycling proficiency lessons, iirc they were run by police and council, and you would get a sticker to put on the bike when you passed (in fact the bike I collected from my parents has one, I'll show a picture in a bit) and if your bike did not have a sticker and the police saw you on it you would be sent home and school/your parents would be told. Everyone I knew had a sticker, because not only did you get out of school one afternoon for 6 weeks, the council closed the main car park in the village for us and the guy running it made it fun so we learned to brake by doing races and he made a big race track for us as well. They wouldn't do this kind of thing now to this extent, mostly because the car park isn't free any more so they would lose too much money.

How would cycling in a car park help today's children? They learn on the roads as mine all did at school.

 

[ufkacbln]

Well, I think if cyclists want to be treated with parity with all other road users then maybe they should be subject to speed limits which would require a speedo to be fitted to enable cyclists to properly observe them.

Absolutely... look at how effective they have been in stopping motorists from speeding!

At the same time we could sort out compulsory helmets

Absolutely an imperative.... compulsory helmets for motorists is an essential given that 8 times as many car occcupants are admitted for head injuries than cyclists... Then there are pedestrians who have 16 times the number of admissions than cyclists

Compulsory third party insurance a compulsory test

Another superb idea... look once again how these measures have stopped dangerous driving and accidents in motorists

A minimum age at which cyclists can use the roads.

Again an absolute imperative, then there all those negligent children being run over by cars to consider... why don't we just lock all children indoors until thet y reach the age of 16?

Maybe the cycling fraternity would get a better hearing if they put their own house in order first instead of constantly banging on about what other road users do wrong.

... or maybe we should look at the facts and reality?

The majority of accidents, injuries and deaths are NOT The fault of cyclists

 

[MontyVeda]

How would cycling in a car park help today's children? They learn on the roads as mine all did at school.

I did my cycling proficiency in the school playground (aged about 7 or 8 i guess). It helped me to navigate junctions and learn to signal properly and with confidence, before going out on an actual road and trying... they even had traffic lights. It was great fun.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I understand what you mean, so it's slightly unfair to pick on you. But actually, the fact that you can write this simply demonstrates how far cyclists have already lost the battle. The road DOES have cycling provision - it has a tarmac surface, it has the edges marked, it quite possibly has lighting, it has street signs to tell you where you're going, it has priority markings to let you know when you need to give way to other vehicles and when they should give way to you.

Does a road have anything to stop a lorry crushing me like in my link?

You're right, it is unfair, you havent listened at all to my point > where unsafe and at a high risk of death then pavement cycling is fine by me.

 

[Learnincurve]

I did my cycling proficiency in the school playground (aged about 7 or 8 i guess). It helped me to navigate junctions and learn to signal properly and with confidence, before going out on an actual road and trying... they even had traffic lights. It was great fun.

This is basically what we did, they started with races so we could learn to turn and brake, then we did signals, road safety, signs, lights and different kinds of crossings and so on and so forth. I distinctly remember our local policeman hiding in his own car and then revving his engine as we went past in a group on the way back to the school and the kids who freaked out being put back a week, this may have been just us with a really bored village policeman though.

 

[summerdays]

I too did mine in the playground with cones. Strangely enough I found it rather a different experience when I went out on the road. I think it's good that the kids today learn on the road.

 

[MontyVeda]

Sorry about your injury @wiggydiggy but the answer is not removing you from the road, but making the road safer for you.

why can't the answer be both? A mixture of shared use paths and safer roads.

 

[MontyVeda]

I too did mine in the playground with cones. Strangely enough I found it rather a different experience when I went out on the road. I think it's good that the kids today learn on the road.

of course it's not the same as on the road... there's no 'strangely enough' about it.

Looking back, i recall really struggling to do a shoulder check without also steering in the same direction, and my first few hand signals were really wobbly too (especially for left turns)... I'm glad i got the hang of that in the school playground as opposed to the main road on the other side of the railings.