A Wellington cycling instructor has criticised a Dunedin woman's campaign to keep young cyclists off footpaths, saying a law change to allow the practice would be the safer option.
Cycling Action Network project manager Patrick Morgan said he was unable to teach children to ride safely on the footpath because it was against the law, but after lessons at school they went straight on to the footpath to ride home.
He said a law change to reflect the reality of the situation would allow him to teach them how to do so safely.
But his comments were yesterday criticised in turn by Dunedin author and advocate for the sight-impaired Lynley Hood.
Dr Hood has recently come out in opposition to a petition being considered by the Government's transport select committee to allow children and others to ride bicycles on footpaths.
At a public meeting last week, the Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa NZ, of which Dr Hood is a trustee, voted to protest the petition.
The meeting heard older or disabled pedestrians would be at risk if riding on footpaths was made legal.
Mr Morgan, who works for Greater Wellington Regional Council cycle skills programme Pedal Ready, contacted the Otago Daily Times to give his opinion after reading of the campaign.
``Because I am obliged to teach the law, I am unable to show [children] how to safely cycle on footpaths, although this is a common practice,'' he said.
``Most parents prefer young children to avoid cycling on the road, which is what the current law requires.''
He said the law was not aligned with common practice and something needed to change.
Given that most people either did not know the current rules, or chose to ignore them, it was hard to see any increase in footpath cycling by young children if the law changed.
Mr Morgan said he worked with primary school children, starting with riding skills in the playground, then traffic rules on local roads.
The ages of the children were generally 5 to 12 years old.
Research showed the incidence of a child cyclist hurting someone on the footpath was ``incredibly low''.
Asked whether changing the rules would mean children would use footpaths more and ride faster, Mr Morgan said he did not believe so.
``The reason I say that is most people are unaware of what the rules are, anyway.
``Changing the rules is not going to change the number there.''
He said he taught children for three hours at a school, and once the school bell went, ``they jump on their bikes and ride on the footpath home''.
Dr Hood said Mr Morgan could be teaching children it was illegal to ride on the footpath and why.
She said it was ``just silly'' to say riding on footpaths should be made legal because children were already doing it.
Motorists broke speed limits, parked on yellow lines and people committed murder, but nobody was suggesting those things should be legalised.
``That's just a stupid argument.''
Dr Hood also raised the issue of who would police a rule whereby those under 13 were allowed on footpaths.
``Do they have to carry photo ID of their age?''
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Comments
What grounds does he say hurting pedestrians is incredibly low. Children 5-12 yrs old can whizz along, they can duck and dive because they can and not realise how it frightens to the point of loosing confidence and balance. They can harass. Besides as a cyclist I find footpaths equally as daunting or more than street because cars come out of driveways and do not look for cyclist, cyclist can be two or more lampposts away at the start of the drivers looking. They also look for a gap in the traffic and not footpath traffic. Plainly said, footpath cycling hazards all other users of the footpaths.
Mr Morgan is right that something needs to change. And the change required is that the police start prosecuting people who ride bikes on the footpath. If they can't be bothered doing so, then pedestrians should 'reclaim the footpath' by making citizen's arrests.
There really seems to be no limit on the arrogance and self entitlement of the cycling fraternity. There is a constant push for them to given access to where ever they want to ride while demanding their "rights" to ride in what ever style they want.
We don't hear of the Cycling Action Network espousing the need for cyclists to ride at reduced speed or with care for other path and road users. No, it is just their myopic view that all areas should be made open to them to go as fast as they like and be damned for anyone in the way.
Hi Keith,
"We don't hear of the Cycling Action Network espousing the need for cyclists to ride at reduced speed or with care for other path and road users"
Yes you do: https://can.org.nz/article/cycling-code
"There really seems to be no limit on the arrogance and self entitlement of the cycling fraternity"
Based on what evidence? They want to keep kids safe from cars whilst teaching them how to bike courteously on footpaths and shared paths. What's so arrogant about that? Is mixing kids on bikes in with traffic a sign of humbleness and modesty?