Cycling on footpaths proposal 'pretty scary'

Dunedin author and advocate for the sight-impaired Lynley Hood says a petition to allow children and others to ride bicycles on footpaths is bad news for the most vulnerable road users: pedestrians.

Dr Hood, who is holding a public meeting on pedestrian issues today, says the petition of Lower Hutt woman Jo Clendon, which is being considered by Parliament's transport select committee, could result in danger for the elderly and disabled.

The petition calls for a change to road rules so children under 14 and accompanying adults, seniors over the age of 65, and vulnerable users, such as those with mental or physical disabilities, can ride on the footpath.

The petition also called for local authorities to be able to exclude certain areas of footpath from being used for cycling.

A committee spokeswoman said although submissions closed last year, the committee had been hearing from submitters this year.

Dr Hood said the petition was a bad idea because it would mean ''a huge sweep of people'' allowed to ride on footpaths.

The idea of children using footpaths was a concern because ''people under 14 are pretty big'', and at an age when they challenged rules.

''That's pretty scary.

''The real problem is that it's not going to be monitored or regulated in any shape or form.

''At least with the law the way it is we can wave our walking sticks at people and tell them to get off the footpath.''

Dr Hood also questioned the suggestion elderly and disabled people would be able to cycle on the footpath.

''For God's sake, that is really scary.''

Dr Hood was also concerned about the NZ Transport Agency's attitude towards the issue.

She said the NZTA had a cycle safety action plan and invested more than $350million in urban cycling infrastructure, but had no pedestrian safety plan.

Last week, she was in Wellington representing the Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa NZ at the Road Controlling Authorities Forum shared footpaths group.

She said the meeting discussed a report from the NZTA's national cycling team supporting changing road user rules to legalise cycling on footpaths.

''The most appalling aspect of the meeting was that the stats used by the NZTA to claim that shared footpaths were safe for pedestrians were wrong.

''The Ministry of Transport only collected motor vehicle crash statistics, so it's no surprise that they have no evidence of cyclist/pedestrian accidents.''

The NZTA could not be contacted for a response yesterday.

Dunedin City Council business development adviser Michael Harrison, a former roading engineer, is convener of the shared footpaths group, made up people including local authority, university, NZTA and elder advocate representatives.

The group was put together two years ago because of the increase of wheeled devices, such as mobility scooters, on footpaths.

Mr Harrison said the group identified good practice, data, and where there was a lack of data.

That then informed road controlling authorities, such as councils, so they could make decisions.

The group had put in a submission on the petition, not saying ''yes or no'', but saying more data needed to be collected.

Dr Hood is holding a public meeting today to discuss the wider issues facing pedestrians.

She said between 2006 and 2015, almost four times as many pedestrians (348) as cyclists (90) were killed on New Zealand roads.

Of the 348 killed, 30% were aged over 65.

Dr Hood's meeting at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery was being held ''just to reach out to people and get a voice for pedestrians of all ages''.

''Pedestrians of all ages and abilities are getting run over when they cross the road, and can be bowled over by cyclists on footpaths.''

Skateboarding is allowed on most footpaths but banned on inner city Dunedin footpaths.

david.loughrey@odt.co.nz