Cyclists should respect pedestrians on shared paths (From Salisbury Journal)

Cyclists should respect pedestrians on shared paths

11:48am Thursday 6th September 2012 in Postbag

SCENE: The path beside the river between Waitrose and the entrance from the main car park to Castle Street.

Characters: Old lady walking towards town, father with small child in a pushchair, accompanied by three small children, well behaved, oldest (seven to nine years old) partially over the line defining the cycle path.

Male, helmeted cyclist approaches travelling at good speed towards town, overtakes old lady then, without in any way slackening his speed, roars at the child as he goes past.

This behaviour is appalling and is surely not the intent or feeling behind the provision of cycle paths. They are definitely not racing tracks and the needs of other users should always be respected.

IRIS FINN, Salisbury