LETTER: Pavement hazard

This is compounded by the use of the pavements by cyclists who assume they have unfettered rights to use the pedestrian paths irrespective of the risk their actions pose to pedestrians.

The local police force (Remember them? People in uniform responsible for policing and law enforcement including traffic-related matters. Where are they when you need them?) had an ‘unofficial’ policy (where this came from and who was responsible for sanctioning it remains another matter) of turning a blind eye to vehicles parked with less than half their overall width covering the pavement. How this was ever objectively measured on a consistent basis must also be open to question. Even this now seem to have been abandoned with the result that many parts of the pedestrian network are littered with cars completely covering the pavement area.

The risk this all creates for legitimate pedestrian circulation is significant. It applies particularly to pedestrians with small children and pushchairs and forces them into the roadway. It also applies to people of more limited mobility and with visual handicaps.

This whole problem is further compounded by the use of the pedestrian pavements by cyclists whose actions are downright aggressively dangerous. With earphones stuck into the sides of their heads or playing with their phones while cycling, they seem utterly indifferent to the dangers they are causing to others and themselves. Where are our boys in blue to contain and limit this set of risks? Visible by their absence, of course. One does wonder what sort of priority and ‘risk assessment’ they use. I fear my confidence in the local police to do anything other than occasionally cruise around in cars is at an all-time low.

Philip N Mortimer

Elfin Grove

Bognor Regis