I know it is illegal. As a pedestrian, I know that it is intimidatory to be approached by a bike ridden at speed possibly aggressively, maybe nefariously. Clearly, on a pavement which is busy there is really little excuse to ride - if you don't fancy the road, get off and push.
But an awful lot of pavements are empty. I have lived in my house 13 years (on Thursday) so I am an expert on its immediate environs. No one walks along the South Circular. Or almost no-one. About the only walking that is done from a bus-stop to a side road.
But it's not just the South Circular. From leaving Wandsworth Common to getting home today I almost exclusively rode on the pavement. I passed one pedestrian on Nightingale Lane; one group on a side-road off it, one on Atkins Road. And that was it, other than alongside the Common, outside the pub and between the South Circular and my house.
It's in my nature to be compliant. Also, my bugbear with laws such as these that are made to be broken is that if there happened to be a PCSO around in a mood to punish a pavement-riding cyclist, they'd be far more likely to pick on a middle-aged woman like me than maybe some other demographic groups. If I were stopped and reprimanded my attitude would be a) where are the pedestrians b) where are the cycle lanes (and by that I don't mean some pathetic strip of green paint but a proper dedicated cycle lane)? Wandsworth is a scary borough, with signs of every lamp-post warning that cycling on the pavement is illegal and liable to a £100 fine. It makes me feel guilty.
As I say, I don't pavement-cycle in busy town-centres or shopping parades; schools at key times are a massive no-no. When I do encounter pedestrians I do one or more of a) slow down b) ride on the edge of the pavement c) ride on the grass verge d) go onto the road or e) stop.
I would love to think that we could have laws with a special 'common sense' clause. Eg there is a junction near me that is no right turn; to make the right you have to go round the one-way system, unless you're a bus. I know drivers who feel its stupid at six o'clock in the morning. I agree. Some people feel that speed limits - or, at least speed cameras - shouldn't apply at such times. There is an argument that the fewer signs, white lines, mini-roundabouts etc exist, the more carefully people drive, and, actually, on the whole I would agree.
One thing I have learnt from cycling is how considerate the majority of drivers are, although I would like to remind certain South London Women that if you are turning into a side-road, it is correct to start the turn once you have passed the central white line of the side-road, otherwise you end up driving on the wrong side of the road. The fact that you are obscuring your peripheral vision by wearing a veil is no excuse and in fact ought to mean that you take more care when driving.
The trouble is, the majority of laws don't exist for the considerate conscientious majority with common sense. Try making a law that says 'You may exceed the speed limit if the road ahead is clear and common sense dictates that there won't be children dashing out unexpectedly' - it isn't going to work because of those people who believe that '30' is a target speed even on a residential road with bumper to bumper parking, outside a school, at minutes to nine on a weekday. Similarly, a law that says 'cyclists may ride on pavements that are wide enough and not busy, and must give way to pedestrians' will be interpreted by certain people as 'cyclists own pavements'. That having been said, as they already have that attitude, so a change in the law wouldn't make matters worse.
