When is something going to be done by the police and Cyclox about the illegal (Highways Act and Road Safety Act) practice of cycling on footpaths?

Over the last few weeks, I have been sworn at twice by cyclists riding on footpaths because I didn’t move over to let them past.

Indeed it seems that many cyclists not only mistakenly believe they have a perfect right to cycle on footpaths, but think they have more right to use them than pedestrians.

If cyclists feel it’s too dangerous to ride a bike on the road where they should be, then they should not ride a bike. They should not displace their fear (and danger) on to pedestrians. Do we really have to have ‘No Cycling’ notices put up on footpaths?

The cycling community will probably say that this (and the ignoring of traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, using city centre streets etc.) is only done by a minority. With tens of thousands of cyclists in Oxford, a minority is still hundreds of law-breakers every day. The problem with this law-breaking is that cyclists are unidentifiable (imagine the fury if car drivers removed their number plates) and while we wait for an answer to this, the responsibility must lie with the police and those who purport to represent cyclists to ‘educate’ them.

John C Batey

Horseman Close Old Marston