Letter: Cyclists who insist on riding on Grantham paths are a danger

I feel the need to vent about cyclists who ride along pedestrian only pavements, which is an offence under the law.

Even though I don’t have a problem with cyclists riding along shared used paths, and I expect to encounter them on such routes, I do find cycling on pedestrian pavements absolutely abhorrent as these offenders show a blatant disregard for the safety of everyone on those paths including themselves.

I encounter such events almost every time I head into town and on multiple occasions a cyclist has deliberately brushed passed me on a pavement which was not wide enough to accommodate them. It’ll be a matter of time before one of these cyclists knocks me or, heaven forbid, a child off our feet.

Just today I was on my way home from grocery shopping along Sankt Augustin Way as primary school children were along there going home.

At the same time a cyclist riding the opposite direction brushed passed a mother with her two primary school kids, and myself immediately after on the footpath.

Those kids would have been totally oblivious to the danger posed by him and could have stepped directly into his path. An event which could have seen serious injury to the child and potentially the rider falling into the road, and the path of an oncoming vehicle as there was a lot of traffic at the time.

This has been the latest of multiple occasions on that road where cyclists have brushed passed myself and other pedestrians on the footpath. Are these riders wilfully ignorant of the potentially lethal consequences?

I just want to ask is there anyone enforcing these rules? I know from having lived in Peterborough that there are civil enforcers there fining every cyclist they catch riding a bike in pedestrian-only areas a total of £75 for doing so.

I sincerely hope that the powers that be in Grantham aren’t waiting for the serious injury, or death even, of a primary school child to start a programme of stopping these reckless individuals endangering us all.

As a cyclist myself I am fully aware of the dangers and pitfalls of cycling in general and because of that I cycle on the roads where there is no cycle lane or shared use path when available; on some occasions I would still keep to the road where a shared use path is available if I consider it too dangerous for the pedestrians I may pass along it.

One last note: it is a legal requirement for cyclists to use lights while riding after dark, so please use them.

Name supplied

Grantham