Cycling UK Forum

Help clarify an office argument. It's in two parts:

1) What's the legal difference between a Footway and a Footpath?

As I understand it, basically, a "Footway" is the pavement adjacent to a road.
And a "Footpath" is something for (only) pedestrians where there is no road.

2) My main question is this: Having established the difference for me, can you LEGALLY walk your bike on a Footway and/or a Footpath?

???

Yes (I think! As you say, a legal type might confirm this).

I believe there is a precedent set in the courts during the 80’s to say that provided a person is not on the bike at all and is using both feet for walking, then they are a pedestrian.

And it would make a mockery of the cyclists dismount signs if not true.

Gazza

I don't know about this, but as an aside, there is an area in central london where the city past a bylaw stateing that you weren't even allowed to wheel your bike in these areas (mostly around st pauls and the riverside path towards the tower), by your definition it's all footpath's. The fact they had a special by-law about it suggests that normally you are allowed to wheel your bikes on footpaths.

By the way before anyone gets irate about this law, in my experience the police in the area don't stop you cycling on this area let alone wheeling your bike.

Chas_T wrote:2) My main question is this: Having established the difference for me, can you LEGALLY walk your bike on a Footway and/or a Footpath?

(Speaking for footpaths, as I'm not sure about footways if they are a separate legal entity. AFAIK pavements are different to footpaths.)

No. You have the right to use a footpath with a "natural accompaniment". This isn't a well-defined legal term but it's accepted that whilst dogs, prams, wheelchairs etc come under this term, a bicycle does not. It follows that you can't even legally carry a bicycle on a footpath.

The violation is only the civil offence of traspass, though, which legally doesn't have a very sharp bite ;)

There is a big dispute between my neighbours over the use of a wheelbarrow on the public footpath. The owner has stuck up notices saying it is not allowed. On the other hand they also said it is a criminal act, which makes me doubt their reliability.

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The footway is the part of a higway set aside for 'foot passengers' or pedestrians in English. The other bit is the 'carriageway' intended for carriages which in English now of course means vehicles.

The Highways Act 1835 makes it an offence to drive a carriage or cattle on the footway. (It has since been decided at some stage that 'on' in this case means 'along' and does not cover driving across or onto as when parking.) A bicycle is a carriage. I cannot imagine it getting that far but I think that wheeling a bike would still be driving a carriage. (It's a bit of a grey area because in a case under different legislation about pedestrians, it was decided that somebody wheeling a bike was a pedestrian. The doubt would be because you can be both a driver and a pedestrian e.g. driving cattle, or driving something like a pedestrian controlled milk-float.)

A footpath is a right of way across land on foot. This could be anything from a private road on which the public had a right of way on foot only, or path along the edge of a field. Cycling on a footpath would only be a trespass against the rights of the landowner i.e they could ask you to stop trespassing and leave the land, and if the trespassing caused damage they could sue for compensation. As this is a purely civil matter, I have no idea about the wheeling position.

meic wrote:There is a big dispute between my neighbours over the use of a wheelbarrow on the public footpath. The owner has stuck up notices saying it is not allowed. On the other hand they also said it is a criminal act, which makes me doubt their reliability.

This sounds interesting Meic. Why did your neighbours get to this point. Is a neighbours from hell type story ?

NUKe wrote:

meic wrote:There is a big dispute between my neighbours over the use of a wheelbarrow on the public footpath. The owner has stuck up notices saying it is not allowed. On the other hand they also said it is a criminal act, which makes me doubt their reliability.

This sounds interesting Meic. Why did your neighbours get to this point. Is a neighbours from hell type story ?

Is this the origin of that well known phrase or saying 'Going to Hell in a handcart'?

Incidentally, I forgot to mention I don't know who's right on that one, it's not my bar... One thing's for sure, simple trespassing is not a criminal act (although along with a lot of new laws, there is now aggravated trespass, which is. That is aggravatED trespass, not aggravatING as in your neighbour's case.)

Try this
http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/pushing.html

The conflict does not involve me, thank god.

My next door neighbour used to own the farm behind our gardens. She sold the farm house and kept most of the farm land. Then bought the house next door to us to live in.

In order to feed and water her horses she had to go through the farmyard that she had sold. I guess she forgot to reserve a right of way for such action, because they soon forbade her from taking hay up in her 4x4.
So she attempted to deliver her hay using a wheelbarrow on the public footpath which goes through the farm yard to her fields.

The obvious question is why didnt she get to her horses by another route?

There is a significant stream between our gardens and the fields. Her plan was to build a private road in her fields from the public road on the other side of the stream. When the contractor tried to start the work the owners of the farmhouse objected and got solicitors in. I have no idea on what grounds as it looks to me as it is nothing to do with their land.

Thirdcrank - you sound very knowledgeable on such matters... Can I use you're info to quote from? Are you an authority and this is straight from the horse's mouth? Or is it something you heard from some bloke down the pub (no offence intended)

Anyone pushing a bicycle is a "foot-passenger" (Crank v Brooks [1980] RTR 441) and is not "riding" it (Selby). In his judgment in the Court of Appeal in Crank v Brooks, Waller LJ said: "In my judgment a person who is walking across a pedestrian crossing pushing a bicycle, having started on the pavement on one side on her feet and not on the bicycle, and going across pushing the bicycle with both feet on the ground so to speak is clearly a 'foot passenger'. If for example she had been using it as a scooter by having one foot on the pedal and pushing herself along, she would not have been a 'foot passenger'. But the fact that she had the bicycle in her hand and was walking does not create any difference from a case where she is walking without a bicycle in her hand."

i'm a new here ~
thank you for the sharing~!

What Phil_Lee said regarding footways (pavements).


But for footpaths, I believe that technically you are not allowed to push or ride your bike on them - this I got from a session with Colin Palmer and if anyone knows then it ought to be him! Having said that, it's like the rule on not being allowed to stop on a footpath - very unlikely that anyone would either know of the rule or enforce it.