Cyclist/pedestrian collision yesterday - Tower Bridge Road

Jan the old one wrote:

Small children trundling along on their bikes on the pavements don't cause as much damage as the whizzo's in lycra! My kids rode on the pavement..with us guiding them...

You irresponsible law-breaker!

Actually, do you ever see people in lycra (the villains!) riding on the pavement?

Seriously, I think you are missing the point. The accident that started this thread was unusual and did a lot less harm than a motor vehicle would have done. Statistics show that the main danger to pedestrians is not people riding bikes, it's drivers on the road and on the pavements. And yet the ill-informed hostility to cycling in this country is such that there is an outcry and even the police are stirred into action.

eDWaRD WooDWaRD wrote:

Jan the old one wrote:

Small children trundling along on their bikes on the pavements don't cause as much damage as the whizzo's in lycra! My kids rode on the pavement..with us guiding them...

Children can't wait to get on the road. A few of the whizzo's in lycra are not setting a great example though.

I've corrected your post for you, Edward.

Guy's street wrote:

eDWaRD WooDWaRD wrote:

Jan the old one wrote:

Small children trundling along on their bikes on the pavements don't cause as much damage as the whizzo's in lycra! My kids rode on the pavement..with us guiding them...

Children can't wait to get on the road. A few of the whizzo's in lycra are not setting a great example though.

I've corrected your post for you, Edward.

And I accept your correction.

Terry99 wrote:

Actually, do you ever see people in lycra (the villains!) riding on the pavement?

Precisely. If you're wearing Lycra you are likely doing 20mph. At this speed you shouldn't actually be using even shared cycle path, let alone the pavement. Doesn't stop drivers hooting me and shouting 'get on the pavement' sometimes!

While generally in agreement, John...

John C wrote:

Misbehaviour by other road users is no excuse - and that includes pedestrians (have you ever seen a pedestrian wait patiently on the pavement for the little green man to light up? - no, unless there's actually moving traffic bearing down on them they'll walk straight across - with children and/or baby-buggies).

Last time I checked, there was no legal requirement on pedestrians to only cross on a green man, or even only at a crossing, unlike the legal requirement to not cycle or drive on the pavement. These aren't really the same thing.

Brendan D wrote:

Terry99 wrote:

Actually, do you ever see people in lycra (the villains!) riding on the pavement?

Precisely. If you're wearing Lycra you are likely doing 20mph. At this speed you shouldn't actually be using even shared cycle path, let alone the pavement. Doesn't stop drivers hooting me and shouting 'get on the pavement' sometimes!

I wear lycra to cycle around London - but it has no bearing on my speed. I wear it because it wicks moisture away from the skin so when I get changed at the other end I'm not covered in sweat.

Evans cycles

I never wear lycra because I don't want to look like I'm in Erasure.

Rambling Phil wrote:

While generally in agreement, John...

John C wrote:

Misbehaviour by other road users is no excuse - and that includes pedestrians (have you ever seen a pedestrian wait patiently on the pavement for the little green man to light up? - no, unless there's actually moving traffic bearing down on them they'll walk straight across - with children and/or baby-buggies).

Last time I checked, there was no legal requirement on pedestrians to only cross on a green man, or even only at a crossing, unlike the legal requirement to not cycle or drive on the pavement. These aren't really the same thing.

I deliberately said 'misbehaviour', not 'lawbreaking' - but it does make we wonder WHY pedestrians are apparently immune from laws which other road-users are expected to obey. A while ago I was on my bike on the shared pavement on the the north side of the Bricklayers Arms roundabout, stopped alongside several pedestrians at the shared bike/pedestrian crossing, waiting for a green light. There was a break in the traffic - the pedestrians set off across the road, ignoring the little red man light. I assumed I'd be breaking the law if I followed them, and waited for the little green bike light to appear - but it made me feel very silly!

Is it illegal for a pedestrian to step OFF the pavement without looking, directly in front of a cyclist?

"Is it illegal for a pedestrian to step OFF the pavement without looking, directly in front of a cyclist?"

Thankfully not. Peds ALWAYS have priority. So few drivers know this I would be reluctant to press the point-the same as drivers are supposed to give way if turning into a side road a ped is crossing.