"Paul Terry" wrote in message
In message Ian writes

How often have you seen a cyclist dismount before using the pavement? They
normally ride along the pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the
way, even though it has been offence for 180 years to ride on the
pavement.
The police no longer enforce the no cycling on the pavement law as can be
clearly seen in dft_foi_037604.pdf. In 1984 there were 1991 successful
prosecution for cycling on the pavement. By 2003 there were only 82.

Perhaps that's because the police now issue on-the-spot penalty notices
rather than prosecuting. This has happened to more than one person I know
in recent months.


Maybe, but this is not borne out by looking at the figures. There were 1,991
prosecutions for cycling on the pavement in 1984, this reduced to 276 in
1991. It then went up to 933 in 1998 and down again to 82 in 2003. Other
figures don't suggest that the number of cyclists followed this pattern and
I according to my local police, Nips for cyclists is a new thing. If
anything cyclists have become less likely to comply with the law from my own
observations.

I have seen this year cyclists ride passed policemen on the pavement without
comment and through a pedestrian precinct right passed the no cycling sign,
again without comment. At night it is unusual to spot a cyclist with lights
on in town and as for cycling through red traffic lights during the
pedestrian crossing phase.......



Ian