Now that cyclists' rights have been addressed, as far as possible, it is past time that pedestrians' rights should also receive serious consideration, when on their own territory, ie footpaths.
The potential for very serious or fatal injury is all too obvious to many of us, who have barely escaped such disasters, more than once. And given the effect of hurtling speed on the weight and impact of a fullgrown male and bicycle, and the terrible damage they can cause to a human body. In recent months and on two separate occasions, a male cyclist, travelling on the inner side of the footpath at high speed, brushed against my arm in passing, one of them actually gasped in shock. He obviously hadn't been looking. We don't have eyes in the back of our heads, nor can we hear these silent potential killers, thanks to traffic noise. In one case, a cycle lane was available a few feet away. They do not stop, or apologise, and are unidentifiable. I know and am sympathetic to the obvious dangers to children using busy roads these days, and would not include them here, with the proviso that they are adequately taught the need for care, and do not cycle in high-density shopping areas. But there are all too many semi disabled folk, not only the elderly, that are entitled to depend on the safety of our footpaths. No one is safe.
D. Holm, Tauranga.