No cycling on pavements is a law – Why is it hard for cyclists to grasp this?

 

 

It falls under Rule 64 of he Highway Code: You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement. Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A 1984, sect 129.

The MUST NOT part of the rule is not a suggestion because to do so is actually a breach of the law. Specifically, Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835 (for an offence in England / Wales).

This also extends to children on bicycles. There is no exception for cycling on bikes with smaller wheels or at a young age, so technically, children riding on a pavement are also breaking the law.

Being caught cycling on the pavement should result in a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of £30. The maximum fine is £500.

Children aged 16 years and younger, cannot be issued with a FPN. This coupled with the age of criminal responsibility being ten years of age, means that children are unlikely to have problems cycling on the pavement.

Cycling on sections of ‘dangerous’ road is the usual sing-song story pavement cyclists trill when pulled up by pissed of pedestrians.

Dismounting and pushing the bike along the pavement next to the ‘dangerous’ road simply does not occur.

In Bristol, we are blessed with many, many hills. They range from gentle gradients to full-on valleys.

Pulling children out of the way of cyclists bombing full pelt down these hills becomes just another skill parents have to learn.

Cycling on pavements is dangerous, selfish and against the law.