"Richard J." wrote in message
Anyway, if you wheel your bicycle past the stop line on the pavement,
surely you count as a pedestrian then?

How often have you seen a cyclist dismount before using the pavement? They
normally ride along the pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the
way, even though it has been offence for 180 years to ride on the pavement.
The police no longer enforce the no cycling on the pavement law as can be
clearly seen in dft_foi_037604.pdf. In 1984 there were 1991 successful
prosecution for cycling on the pavement. By 2003 there were only 82.

Similarly, in 1982 there were 4441 successful prosecution of cyclists for
lighting and reflector offences. By 2003 this had dropped to 166. Careless
and reckless cycling offences peak on the table mentioned above at 398 in
1983. By 2003 they had dropped to 77.

According to dft_transstats_031373, 214 pedestrians were hit by cyclists, 38
were seriously injured and 4 killed. I don't suppose that those injured and
the relatives of those killed by cyclists think that dangerous cycling is as
trivial as the police obviously now do.

Ian

In message , Ian
writes

How often have you seen a cyclist dismount before using the pavement? They
normally ride along the pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the
way, even though it has been offence for 180 years to ride on the pavement.
The police no longer enforce the no cycling on the pavement law as can be
clearly seen in dft_foi_037604.pdf. In 1984 there were 1991 successful
prosecution for cycling on the pavement. By 2003 there were only 82.

Perhaps that's because the police now issue on-the-spot penalty notices
rather than prosecuting. This has happened to more than one person I
know in recent months.

--
Paul Terry

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
In message Ian writes

How often have you seen a cyclist dismount before using the pavement? They
normally ride along the pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the
way, even though it has been offence for 180 years to ride on the
pavement.
The police no longer enforce the no cycling on the pavement law as can be
clearly seen in dft_foi_037604.pdf. In 1984 there were 1991 successful
prosecution for cycling on the pavement. By 2003 there were only 82.

Perhaps that's because the police now issue on-the-spot penalty notices
rather than prosecuting. This has happened to more than one person I know
in recent months.


Maybe, but this is not borne out by looking at the figures. There were 1,991
prosecutions for cycling on the pavement in 1984, this reduced to 276 in
1991. It then went up to 933 in 1998 and down again to 82 in 2003. Other
figures don't suggest that the number of cyclists followed this pattern and
I according to my local police, Nips for cyclists is a new thing. If
anything cyclists have become less likely to comply with the law from my own
observations.

I have seen this year cyclists ride passed policemen on the pavement without
comment and through a pedestrian precinct right passed the no cycling sign,
again without comment. At night it is unusual to spot a cyclist with lights
on in town and as for cycling through red traffic lights during the
pedestrian crossing phase.......



Ian

"Ian" wrote in message
...

SNIP

I have seen this year cyclists ride passed policemen on the pavement
without
comment and through a pedestrian precinct right passed the no cycling
sign,
again without comment. At night it is unusual to spot a cyclist with
lights
on in town and as for cycling through red traffic lights during the
pedestrian crossing phase.......
Ian

You frequently see cyclists, usually kids, cycling across zebra crossings
which is an offence but I doubt anybody ever told them that !!
Baz

Ian wrote:
"Richard J." wrote in message
Anyway, if you wheel your bicycle past the stop line on the pavement,
surely you count as a pedestrian then?

How often have you seen a cyclist dismount before using the pavement? They
normally ride along the pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the
way, even though it has been offence for 180 years to ride on the pavement.
The police no longer enforce the no cycling on the pavement law as can be
clearly seen in dft_foi_037604.pdf. In 1984 there were 1991 successful
prosecution for cycling on the pavement. By 2003 there were only 82.

Similarly, in 1982 there were 4441 successful prosecution of cyclists for
lighting and reflector offences. By 2003 this had dropped to 166. Careless
and reckless cycling offences peak on the table mentioned above at 398 in
1983. By 2003 they had dropped to 77.

According to dft_transstats_031373, 214 pedestrians were hit by cyclists, 38
were seriously injured and 4 killed. I don't suppose that those injured and
the relatives of those killed by cyclists think that dangerous cycling is as
trivial as the police obviously now do.

Although certainly the numbers "caught" have gone down, as someone else
said, it's now a fixed penalty notice job. In Kensington & Chelsea they
are certainly having a crackdown on cyclists riding on the pavement.

As a cyclist (some days of the week), it annoys me to see people do this
(and to see cyclists going through red lights) as it makes everyone more
hostile towards cyclists (although that's been discussed at great length
here before!).


--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Ian wrote:

The police no longer enforce the no cycling on the pavement law as can be
clearly seen in dft_foi_037604.pdf. In 1984 there were 1991 successful
prosecution for cycling on the pavement. By 2003 there were only 82.

The facts you advance do not show that at all. They show that the law
continues to be enforced. The figures only show that fewer cases are
dealt with by the courts.

--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9767111.html
(303 082 taking the Glossop line off Dinting Viaduct in 1985)

Ian wrote:
According to dft_transstats_031373, 214 pedestrians were hit by cyclists, 38
were seriously injured and 4 killed. I don't suppose that those injured and
the relatives of those killed by cyclists think that dangerous cycling is as
trivial as the police obviously now do.

Except that, something like 214 (from memory, around 150) pedestrians
were *killed*, on the pavement, by motor vehicles in the same year.
Plus many more on the road.

And 4 killed by cyclists is unusually high. It's usually about 1.

Luckily the police have a slightly better idea of who poses the
biggest risk to others than you do.

Colin McKenzie

Colin McKenzie wrote:
Ian wrote:

According to dft_transstats_031373, 214 pedestrians were hit by
cyclists, 38 were seriously injured and 4 killed. I don't suppose that
those injured and the relatives of those killed by cyclists think that
dangerous cycling is as trivial as the police obviously now do.


Except that, something like 214 (from memory, around 150) pedestrians
were *killed*, on the pavement, by motor vehicles in the same year.

Nope.