Pavements for people?

This is an issue that absolutely infuriates me.
My son has to use two crutches to walk and needs a little more space...there are street's in my area so full of car's half on / half off the pavement, he literally has to walk in the road, likewise wheelchair users and anyone with a pram.
The ignorance and entitlement of the driver's astonishes me.

It really is infuriating. If any cyclist on the pavement shouts at me to get out of the way I stand still where I am so they have to stop. Then a raised eyebrow seems to do the trick. This is all more effective on days I have my stick with me!
Actually I'm sick of cyclists being somehow sacrosanct. Any damn fool can buy a bike and cycle on the busiest of roads straightaway causing all sorts of problems in traffic. If, God forbid, there are accidents it's always the motorists fault never a cyclist who misjudged timing etc. I've been carved up by cyclists on the pavement and the road and would love to have taken a registration number from them but no chance. They are anonymous and unregulated. ?

I have no issues with bikes using pavements if they ride slowly and politely. I would certainly be cross if told to get out of the way or swooped upon at speed. The roads are very dangerous and I had many a near miss in my bike riding days thanks to some motorists.

Car parked on pavements are a menace and it ought to be clamped down on

I do thoroughly agree that pavements are for people though sometimes it doesn’t seem to be so. We don’t get too many cyclists on the pavements locally, mostly just the students from the comprehensive school. When an adult approaches on a bike on the pavement I tend to stand my ground so they either go onto the road or cross to the other pavement. The big bugbear around here is blooming cars parked all over the pavements without a thought for pedestrians. I was going to complain to the local council but I don’t think there’s much they could do. I read somewhere that the only place in England where it is illegal to park on the pavement is in London. You would think there’s the odd by-law in place somewhere else.

The road we live in sometimes looks like a ramshackle car park, especially at weekends! When houses were built in the early part of the 20th century most families probably didn’t have one car and now it’s not unusual to have one vehicle for each family member.

OH does wonder what happens if an ambulance or fire engine is needed for a dire emergency as some people park opposite each other and he struggles to get our normal sized saloon car through.

There are several large green areas on this estate but whenever it’s suggested they are used to provide more parking those overlooking the sites make major protests and I can understand that people coming and going all day and night be a noise nuisance and not such a pleasant outlook.

There are also several semi derelict garage blocks. The council quietly sold off one and the purchaser applied to build three private houses which would overlook people’s back gardens and windows. Huge protests erupted. Eventually two bungalows were allowed and all has quietened down - until the council try once again I guess. I think it’s the sneakiness that annoys more than anything.

Pavement parking really annoys me - apart from being inconvenient to pedestrians, it breaks up the paving slabs making it more dangerous and costing the Council thousands of pounds to repair.

I was once "tooted" at because I had the nerve to be standing on the pavement where a driver wanted to pull in to park his car. I'm afraid I just stood my ground and glared at him. After a short stand-off he drove off in the huff.

In France, when residential roads are very narrow they paint a line on the pavement that cars can park up to, but still leave enough space for pedestrians, pushchairs, wheelchairs etc between car and adjacent houses.

In DS's road where there is a wide grass verge and a wide pavement drivers, including us, often park with two wheels on the grass, but well away from pedestrians etc walking on the pavement area.

We have a grass verge outside our house which we try to keep in good condition so find it rather annoying when people park on it and make long grooves.

When did it become law that bikes and cars could now use pavements rather than the road?
Cyclists are breaking the law when they cycle on pavements but this is impossible to enforce since they shoot all over the place and are unidentifiable.

CYCLING ON THE FOOTWAY (PAVEMENT) IS AN OFFENCE under Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835 as amended by Section 85 (1) of the Local Government Act 1888.
The Road Traffic Act 1991 makes the two most serious cycling offences parallel to those of dangerous and careless driving.
The maximum fines are currently £2,500 for dangerous cycling and £1,000 for careless cycling.

I have seen an idiot cycling at speed round a corner with narrow pavements (see lamppost in picture). If someone had been approaching the corner on foot (where the lady is) there would have been a nasty accident. The cyclist was going really fast but did not seem to foresee that someone might be round the corner! Some of them have no road sense at all and shouldn't be let loose on a bike.

Several years ago a very sporty family moved into our street They were forever running up and down the road, doing excercises on the front lawn etc. One afternoon I was standing on the pavement, talking to a friend. One of the older children came tearing along the pavement on his bike. From quite a distance away he began ringing his bell. Obviously wanted us to move My friend and I both turned to look at him , then turned back to each other and carried on talking. The young lad managed to stop his bike before he hit us but it was a close thing. He was quite shaken I think As he went past my friend said' Pavements are for walking on young man" . Never saw him do it again

I live close to a football stadium and, on match days, all the streets are jammed with cars. They park two abreast, which means parking on the pavement as the streets are only narrow. Anyone pushing a pram or riding a disabled scooter has no choice but to use the road.

Here's another cycling situation that used to terrify me! I regularly waited at this bus stop with my little grandson (aged 2-3) and cyclists would regularly come speeding down that pavement (it was a long downhill pavement) and shoot past the bus stop. There is a gap no more than 2ft and when you are sitting behind the advertisement board you cannot see the pavement behind it. I used to hold onto my grandson by the hand as I was terrified he might step out slightly from the shelter and be killed. This would happen about 4 times or more every time we waited for a bus and it horrified me.

Do they still do Cycling Proficiency Training in the UK?
We did it in the last year of primary school and I still have my badge for successfully completing the course.
Nowadays, cyclists seem to ride all over the place including pavements, don't signal when turning and often sail through red lights.

Cyclists on pavements drive me mad, as do joggers/runners who expect everyone to get out of the way for them.

We have an active running group here, and one of their practice routes is along my street. There can be six or more of them blocking the pavement, and they expect children, old people and everyone else to step into the road to let them pass without losing time.

Where I worked there is a pedestrian bridge across a motorway. Obviously, cyclists can't cross the road without using it; but they weave in and out of pedestrians, rather than stick to the cycle lane. That's bad enough, but the 'ding ding ding' to tell everyone to clear a path before they have even drawn level is infuriating.

It’s a real problem where I live. I look left and right before leaving my gate!
When walking my dog I deliberately extend the lead so we take up all the pavement and verge.

That is a horrible thing to do Missfoodlove. I hope you wind your dog lead in quickly before the next pedestrian comes along.

I think we have to be reasonable about this on both sides these days. I mean the cycling thing. The roads are very dangerous for cyclists and often a bike means one less polluting car.

I cycle myself and am often terrorised by cars who drive far too close. I took my proficiency test aged 11 and one of the things we learned was to look behind you and signal with your arm before turning. There was even a slowing down sign which was the same for the car driver's test in the days when arm signals were acceptable.

I never see cyclists look before pulling out - perhaps they have eyes in the back of their heads.

My poor DM was knocked over by a cyclist who didn't stop . She was walking on the pavement and he came out of his university entrance at speed. When her bruises eased she complained to the college but apart from an apology, tea and sympathy they didn't offer to help find the culprit.

On another occasion, my DiL was cycling to work in London when she collided with a motorbike. They both came off their vehicles. After checking they were both OK- she's a nurse- she continued to work. She was issued with a summons for dangerous cycling and made to pay huge amounts for new leathers for the motorcyclist! She wasn't insured. It put her off cycling and she left London soon afterwards.

Looking back when my DD was young and I had a pushchair for her, in our area pavement parking was really really bad.

Used to depress me a lot. At the time contacted Living Streets a charity who supported people with objections.

I understand pavement parking has now gone to parliament and they are seeking a ban.

Probably delayed due to recent events but maybe you could speak to your MP>

I think we have to be reasonable about this on both sides these days. I mean the cycling thing. The roads are very dangerous for cyclists and often a bike means one less polluting car.

I agree that cycling is better for the environment than cars, particularly single-person cars, but that doesn't mean that cyclists should use pavements.

There are cycle lanes all over the country, but if there are areas without them they should be brought in. I would love to see a 'fast lane' for cars with three or more people in them, to cut down on single-driver ones. If that happened (and I believe there is such a system in Bristol) then cyclists could share the single-drive lane. This would be safer for them, as there would be no overtaking.

Pavements should, IMO, be for pedestrians, and if others (eg groups of runners, an occasional cyclist, or whatever) want to share them, they should make way for pedestrians by default. If they are not willing to do so, but are unable to cycle on the roads, they should leave their bikes at home.

personally I don't mind cyclists on pavements but then, never had any bad experiences.

Pavements are for people. Not cars.

It is not cyclists on pavements that annoy me (although they do), it is cyclists on the road when there is a perfectly satisfactory dedicated cycle path running alongside it.

Scottish Government has just made a law to prohibit pavement parking apart from certain categories eg emergency vehicles. Hopefully will be rolled out over rest of UK (if it still exists next year!).

Cyclists really annoy me. It is becoming very common for young men to ride very fast on pavements in quiet side roads where there is no danger for cyclists on the road.
Many cyclists on the roads cut up cars, causing drivers to brake suddenly and they ignore red lights causing pedestrians to swerve out of their way. I know a young man who was quite seriously injured by a cyclist doing this.