Dear Sir,
Can I add another voice to the letter ‘Cyclist Distancing’ in the 21st August edition?
The matter of cyclists on pavements has persisted for years, and it’s not merely a question of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, but the risk of injury to pedestrians; I’ve been struck from behind by cyclists on the pavement on two separate occasions, and had two near misses due to bicycles suddenly appearing at speed from concealed junctions.
In the latter cases, the cyclists shouted abuse at me, as if I were at fault, when they should not have been on the footpath in the first place! The consequences could have been a lot more serious if the victim had been frailer than I am.
Apart from being struck by bicycles, I’ve seen some remarkably careless conduct. A regular example is riding on the pavement, with no hands on the handlebars, whilst looking at a mobile phone. Equivalent behaviour by a car driver would result in a court case.
Part of the problem is lack of enforcement of the law by the police. I’ve raised the issue several times in recent years, but no action seems to have been taken.
If complaints were made by more people, there might be a response; contact information is available on the Durham Police website.
The bicycles problem seems to be related to a general disregard of traffic regulations. There have been several letters in the Newton News about parking on pavements and greens; in these cases, driving across a pavement to park on a green will usually be illegal, as no access to property or emergency is involved, so again, the correct procedure is a complaint to the police, preferably with photographic evidence. In cases like this, I have found that action will often be taken, so it’s worthwhile to draw attention to the problem.
With frequent enough complaints, perhaps we can eventually expect some general and spontaneous enforcement.
Yours sincerely,
Alan Atkinson
Address supplied
