Former CovSoc Chair, Keith Draper, raises his concerns about mixing cyclists and pedestrians. Keith writes….
I recall from years ago when I worked at the Coventry Evening Telegraph how a colleague who was expecting her first child was run into by a cyclist one lunchtime while walking in Smithford Way. She had nasty bruising and was off work for more than a week. I always felt that cyclists weaving in and out of pedestrians on pavements and on the city centre precincts was hugely dangerous. Nowadays the matter of cyclists on pedestrian footpaths has got a good deal worse.
Last week I read about a 14-year old lad riding an e-scooter in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, who ran into a 71-year-old pensioner on the pavement. She died six days later. E-scooters are one thing but significant number of e-bikes are another. They proliferate as fast food is delivered at top speed by the likes of Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo. I tried one myself and pedal away and they go like the wind. These machines are more like mopeds and should be licensed and insured.
Watch out for them any day speeding along Warwick Row from the city centre alongside Greyfriar’s Green, through to Queen’s Road pedestrian subway. Weaving in and out of pedestrians. Yet the law is apparently quite clear, that pavements are reserved for pedestrians. E-scooters, e-bikes, even push bikes are all banned.
Even the Council appears to encourage use of pavements on Warwick Row and in the central precincts. The defined narrow cycle way from Queen’s Road pedestrian subway finishes abruptly close to the statue of James Starley. Cyclists, some powered, then proceed to ride through to the city centre illegally. Will it take a wake-up call like the accident in Rainworth to force the Council and police to start enforcing the law? Encourage cycling by all means but not at the expense of a risk to life and limb for pedestrians.
Keith Draper