howdood

I agree - a collision between a cyclist and a pedestrian is almost never "trivial" Even at 12mph, the mass of me and my bike equals a really serious amount of momentum. Worse still - as previous posters have emphasized - on that stretch of Rye Lane there is the possibility of serious collisions between cyclists and pedestrians in which neither party is clearly much at fault - i.e. cyclist at moderate speed, pedestrian doing nothing more reprehensible than checking a phone as they wander across the pavement and unaware that the cycle lane runs in the other direction to the traffic. At least when I'm riding on a road I know that any collision I'm involved in will involve one of us breaking the rules of the road in an obviously dangerous way. (Depressingly, there are plenty of drivers and cyclists round here who have a much more relaxed view about road safety - not that I'm taking the moral high ground or anything...! :) )

"Assumes"? Wrongly in this case. No lights or siren - driver just hadn't bothered to check whether there was anyone on the crossing as he came round the roundabout.

Here's my reading of the rules: it's not "the driver doesn't have to try to stop unless someone is on the crossing"; it's "once someone is on the crossing, the driver *has* to stop". In other words, the driver has to be looking far enough ahead to ensure that (s)he can stop before anyone actually gets a foot onto the crossing. Amazing how many people ignore this fact - including the speeding police car that nearly took out me and my 2-year old on the zebra next to the EDT a few months ago! The relevant section of the Highway Code is this - obv 1st, 2nd and 5th bullet points most relevant: Zebra crossings. As you approach a zebra crossing *look out for pedestrians waiting to cross and be ready to slow down or stop to let them cross *you MUST give way when a pedestrian has moved onto a crossing *allow more time for stopping on wet or icy roads *do not wave or use your horn to invite pedestrians across; this could be dangerous if another vehicle is approaching *be aware of pedestrians approaching from the side of the crossing

Head above the parapet time: IMO the Rye Lane cycle path is part of a creeping policy of moving bikes onto pavements which are then designated as "shared spaces" - effectively council-licensed cycling on the pavement. The same thing has happened already on a stretch on the East of Peckham Rye park where I've been nearly knocked down by speeding cyclists on the path while out running, and on the South Circular on the stretch round Dulwich Park where cyclists are encouraged to ride on the pavement rather than on the road even though the road is perfectly safe with plenty of room for cars to pass bikes without trouble. For the record I cycle to work every day and spend more time on a bike than any other form of transport. But it really annoys me that anyone could think that the world would be a safer place if London's cyclists (average speed 15-20mph on the flat) were encouraged to "share space" with pedestrians (average speed 2mph) rather than sharing road space with cars which in most circumstances are doing much more similar speeds. The road is already a "shared space" between cyclists, cars and lorries - and there is nothing to be gained by encouraging cyclists onto the pavement in the misguided belief that this might improve anyone's safety.