City centre cycling ban

[Grandad]

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/cyclists-branded-dangerous-selfish-councillor-bikes-banned-city-centre-397500

Having seen the way some idiots ride through a local pedestrianised area my inclination is to support such a ban

[meic]

By the same logic and on the same grounds we should ban all cars, everywhere.
I bet there has already been somebody killed by a car in Worcester this year, rather than it just being thought to be a matter of time before it happens.

[mjr]

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/cyclists-branded-dangerous-selfish-councillor-bikes-banned-city-centre-397500

Having seen the way some idiots ride through a local pedestrianised area my inclination is to support such a ban

That's silly because the idiots will ride through anyway and reckless cycling is already an offence anyway. The only people harmed by such bans are the law-abiding cyclists that we should be encouraging!

I agree with meic. Applying the same policy to motoring would never happen. Double standards and politics of envy at their worst.

[gaz]

Worcester ̶w̶e̶l̶c̶o̶m̶e̶s̶ bans considerate cycling .

[[XAP]Bob]

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/cyclists-branded-dangerous-selfish-councillor-bikes-banned-city-centre-397500

Having seen the way some idiots ride through a local pedestrianised area my inclination is to support such a ban

Having seen the way some grandads behave....

You ban the bad behaviour (which, by the way is already covered under existing legislation) not the activity.

I've noticed that all the shoplifting in Worcester is carried out by people who were breathing at the time, so we are going to ban breathing...

[roubaixtuesday]

28 people were killed in Worcestershire on the roads in 2017.

Apparently the main cause is bad drivers.

Whoda thunk?

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/16 ... ata-shows/

[mjr]

Whoda thunk?

Not Worcestershire Country Council cabinet member for highways Councillor Alan Amos, I suspect.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Such a ban is very disappointing. Worcester's street layout is such that the pedestrianised streets are enclosed by two basically unrideable A roads - Deansway to the west, City Walls Road to the east.

This means there is no safe north-south route within the city centre. You can ride the shared-use riverside path on the west side, or the canal and St Paul's Street on the east, but they're 800 metres away from each other.

But is it really new? I thought (and I'm a frequent visitor to Worcester - we moor our boat there) that the pedestrianised zone was already banned to bikes. From the original Worcester News report, which Cycling Weekly has inexpertly rephrased, it looks like this is just reinforcing the existing ban in the face of suggestions that it should be repealed.

Incidentally, Alan Amos sounds like an... "interesting" character: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Amos

[foxyrider]

Well I wasn't going to ride there anyway, just another reason not to.

[boliston]

these types of cycling ban seem pointless as you often see motorised vehicles using the areas with a cycling ban - my local high street is pedestrianised with 'no cycling' but motor vehicles often use it to access parking for shops and offices which makes a mockery of having a cycling ban (which is generally ignored)

[ANTONISH]

I wouldn't expect to ride at much more than walking pace through such places. There are no real traffic rules in place and pedestrians assume they are at no risk of a vehicular collision. Allowing cyclists to speed through - and I've seen idiots out of the saddle sprinting through such an area weaving in between pedestrians just shouldn't be allowed.

[mjr]

I wouldn't expect to ride at much more than walking pace through such places. There are no real traffic rules in place and pedestrians assume they are at no risk of a vehicular collision. Allowing cyclists to speed through - and I've seen idiots out of the saddle sprinting through such an area weaving in between pedestrians just shouldn't be allowed.

Regardless of whether cycling is allowed, sprinting while weaving through pedestrians is not allowed but almost no-one enforces it. I think it would be even simpler for traffic police to enforce because they can simply instruct riders to ride at jogging pace through town and then continuing to speed would be failing to comply with police directing traffic.

Anyway, if no-one enforces the traffic law, adding more regulation on top to also ban the law-abiding is absurd and ridiculous.

[Debs]

Seems to be the age old problem of just a few idiots riding bikes in a careless way, and which gives all cyclist the bad name, and a ban.

Not really sure what the answer is, maybe the Tory government needs to stop reducing police numbers, get more bobbies back on the beat, and perhaps on police bicycles (?)

[bikepacker]

During the 10.30 to 16.30 pedestrian only time, I always walk through Worcester pushing my bike. I am however appalled at the bad behaviour of some cyclists and the speeds the go in an area with a lot of wandering pedestrians.

[Cyril Haearn]

I used to know Worcester well many years ago
I think there might be space for a two way cycle lane (3 m wide, max 10 kmh)