Cyclists riding on footpaths - have you nearly hit one?

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geek4me

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#103546 10-Jun-2012 13:23

I had another close call with a primary school aged child riding on the footpath this week. Our driveway is not easy to see who's coming till you have gone past the fence. This time a cyclist had to swerve around the front of my car to avoid hitting the side of the car as he was going too fast to stop.

I beep the horn as a warning as I near the footpath and cannot yet see who's coming but this does not always work as the cyclists are going too fast or are too close to stop. I suspect it is a common occurence that drivers have near misses or even hit or are hit by these cyclists (some of whom do not even wear helmets).

Why do cyclists keep doing this, don't they realise the danger they are putting themselves in?

Has this happened to you or am I the only one to have these heart stopping moments?

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#638465 10-Jun-2012 13:43

geek4me: Why do cyclists keep doing this, don't they realise the danger they are putting themselves in?

as a kid, i rode on the footpath because the risk of getting hit on the road was higher than getting hit by a car exiting a driveway.

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kingjj

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#638471 10-Jun-2012 14:13

Thankfully I haven't had too many run-in's with cyclists on the footpath recently, although it is a constant concern with our fence line obscuring any view of the footpath and a school being just around the corner.

Almost 10 years ago while in High School I was biking on a joint pedestrian/cyclists footpath along QE2 Dr in Christchurch (not allowed to bike on the roadway in this section) when I was knocked off my bike by a gent roaring along his driveway. He had mirrors on either side of the driveway yet still didn't see me. No ones fault really.

I did once get hit by a guy on a skateboard while going out my old driveway, thankfully we were both going slowly and he managed to keep his footing. Joys of driving a?

keewee01

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#638472 10-Jun-2012 14:19

rvangelder:
geek4me: Why do cyclists keep doing this, don't they realise the danger they are putting themselves in?

as a kid, i rode on the footpath because the risk of getting hit on the road was higher than getting hit by a car exiting a driveway.

That doesn't make it right though - but these days the police don't seem worried by cyclists no matter what they do! I see so many cyclist (not just children) riding on footpaths, riding across pedestrian crossings (and they still expect vehicles to stop for them!?), no lights after dark, etc, etc. Try driving over a pedestrian crossing or driving without your lights on at night and see how quickly you get pulled over!

Don't get me wrong - I believe our young children need to be safe when riding their bikes, but they need to learn that at some stage they should graduate from the footpath to the road.

plod

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#638481 10-Jun-2012 15:01

Not 100% correct on this, but since you are crossing over a footpath with your car to get to the road it is up to you to make sure the way is clear. If you have obstacles affecting your view, put up one of those mirrors you seen on some drives. A cyclist on the footpath even though technically illegal still has the right of way.

Xile

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#638482 10-Jun-2012 15:06

Whilst not condoning cyclists using the footpath it is the obligation of the driver of a vehicle entering or exiting a driveway to givway to users of the footpath and roadway.

scuwp

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#638483 10-Jun-2012 15:07

Far safer to cycle on the footpath than the road, especially for kids. Our neighbourhood is full of kids on bikes, skateboards, and scooters, you just have to be really careful when pulling out. If you can't see then that is something you need to sort out, trim a tree or alter a fence or whatever. Maybe reverse in so you can drive out forwards?

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

sidefx

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#638502 10-Jun-2012 16:18

Not condoning it, but TBH with the attitude of a lot of drivers to cyclists I can understand people wanting their kids to stay on the footpath even when older...

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jeffnz

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#638516 10-Jun-2012 16:49

As a cyclist you can't win mostly drivers want us off the road onto footpaths. I don't ride on footpaths as its too dangerous and safer on the road when you can travel 20-50KPH.

I swuppose one of my gripes would be the people that think because one does it all the rest do as well

"why do all cyclists"!

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keewee01

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#638517 10-Jun-2012 16:55

Footpaths are strictly for foot traffic (hence the name) - it is somewhere safe for them to travel, and I guess when adding driveways into the equation then they are (generally) going at a slow enough pace they can react to their surrounds.

Someone travelling under peddle or push power is taking that risk with driveways as they are travelling at a much fast rate (generally) than the foot traffic.

I would be interested to hear from a legal perspective as to who would be in the wrong - a cyclists or a motorist...

geek4me

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#638520 10-Jun-2012 17:17

plod: Not 100% correct on this, but since you are crossing over a footpath with your car to get to the road it is up to you to make sure the way is clear. If you have obstacles affecting your view, put up one of those mirrors you seen on some drives. A cyclist on the footpath even though technically illegal still has the right of way.

I thought if you were on wheels you are not a pedestrian. So a motorcycle would be no different to a bike and "though technically illegal still has the right of way" - I doubt this is true. A cyclist on a pedestrian crossing does not have the right of way so not on a footpath either. Hope I am not mistaken about this.

jeffnz

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#638522 10-Jun-2012 17:24

geek4me:
plod: Not 100% correct on this, but since you are crossing over a footpath with your car to get to the road it is up to you to make sure the way is clear. If you have obstacles affecting your view, put up one of those mirrors you seen on some drives. A cyclist on the footpath even though technically illegal still has the right of way.

I thought if you were on wheels you are not a pedestrian. So a motorcycle would be no different to a bike and "though technically illegal still has the right of way" - I doubt this is true. A cyclist on a pedestrian crossing does not have the right of way so not on a footpath either. Hope I am not mistaken about this.

oh ok so if you see a cyclist on a crossing you can run them over safe in the knowledge you are in the right, excellent I'm sure it will be the national sport within weeks

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mattwnz

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#638523 10-Jun-2012 17:26

plod: Not 100% correct on this, but since you are crossing over a footpath with your car to get to the road it is up to you to make sure the way is clear. If you have obstacles affecting your view, put up one of those mirrors you seen on some drives. A cyclist on the footpath even though technically illegal still has the right of way.?

Isn't that an oxymoron?

That fact is that it is illegal to ride on the footpath, so if a cyclist hits you as you exit the driveway, then I think it is their fault. The roadcode says cars exiting a driveway, have to give way to pedestrians , they don't mention cyclists. They only mention cyclists on cycleways. You have to look at why it is illegal, and that is because of the speed cyclists travel. If a car is backing out slowly from a driveway, they essentially have no way of seeing what is coming along the footpath at speed, even with mirrors, although depends on the driveway. As long as they are backing out slow enough, they will be able to give way to pedestrians, as pedestrians will see them. But cyclists on the footpath will be going to fast, which is one reason why it is illegal. However you do still see cars backing out at great speed and almost hitting pedestrians, which is illegal.
I think they need more cycle lanes. Our local council has got rid of the cycle lanes, and turned them into transition bays, as I think there were some laws around cycle lanes that changed.

geek4me

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#638524 10-Jun-2012 17:27

Someone on wheels moves so much faster than a pedestrian so you may not be able to stop in time.

mattwnz

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#638525 10-Jun-2012 17:28

geek4me: I had another close call with a primary school aged child riding on the footpath this week. Our driveway is not easy to see who's coming till you have gone past the fence. This time a cyclist had to swerve around the front of my car to avoid hitting the side of the car as he was going too fast to stop.

I beep the horn as a warning as I near the footpath and cannot yet see who's coming but this does not always work as the cyclists are going too fast or are too close to stop.? I suspect it is a common occurence that drivers have near misses or even hit or are hit by these cyclists (some of whom do not even wear helmets).

Why do cyclists keep doing this, don't they realise the danger they are putting themselves in?

Has this happened to you or am I the only one to have these heart stopping moments?

Has happened to me, with a kid who was speeding along the footpath, with his dad on a bike further down the footpath. Luckily noone was hurt and no damage. I recall that you used to get fined for riding cycles on the footpath, but I don't know if this is policed anymore.

GregV

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#638540 10-Jun-2012 17:48

I regularly bike on the footpath on one particular section of road. The roadway is quite narrow, and prone to sun-strike on the way home. On the other hand, the footpath is quite a long way out from the fenceline, so I have good visibility of cars exiting their driveways. Hopefully any police officer pulling me over will agree with me :)

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