It’s all about the Seafront!

First of all it's a seafront, both Bournemouth and Poole Councils refer to it as a seafront, this is in order to promote its shared use as the word promenade suggests that it's for walking only.

The seafront is an enormously contentious issue, but a great deal of what is stated in letters and in internet forums is often opinion and in some cases very badly informed.

It's good to see that the Echo has stated that the "speed limit" is only advisory; the seafront is council owned and the Highway Code and it's legally enforceable speed limits do not apply. It is worth stating that the 10mph limit is not just for bicycles but for all movement, including motorised vehicles, roller bladers, runners etc.

The seasonal restrictions are a different matter and I am glad that people abusing these rules during July and August face prosecution and a fine.

Bournemouth Borough Council - please remind your van drivers and staff of these rules, on Friday (31/07) I saw a cyclist riding illegally down the footpath past the Russell Cotes and Imax, imagine my surprise when they stopped at the beach office and took off their jacket to reveal a beach warden's t-shirt! This morning (03/08) I saw 2 council owned vehicles and a beach hut owner in a car all breaking the speed limit west of Bournemouth pier. Surely before you remonstrate with cyclists for breaking these rules you should make sure that your own staff obey them?

I am of the opinion that this 10mph limit is just not working; at 7am or on a cold winter's evening there are very few people on the seafront and it's just not necessary to stick to 10mph, however on a sunny evening when it's busy 10mph is too fast!

I have to agree with our local CTC representative when he suggests that scrapping the limit and asking people to behave responsibly would be better - however this does rely on common sense and interpretation, and when we have so many accidents and deaths on the roads in the past weeks, fawns being trampled to death and a spate of heath fires I'm not sure we can rely on the populace to behave responsibly!

Let's not tar everyone on a Bicycle with the same brush, not all motorists are speeders and not all cyclists abuse the rules.

A great deal of consultation and effort has gone into providing access along the seafront for all, it's currently a fragile balance and I worry that a few irresponsible people may spoil this for all by getting the privilege removed.

So what's the answer then? Some people suggest a white line to separate cycles from pedestrians; however I suspect that these people haven't really thought the idea through!

It doesn't work, there used to be a white line to divide the path around Baiter and Whitecliff, this didn't work because the pedestrians, dog walkers, fishermen etc didn't appear to understand that the side with the big bicycle painted on it was for bicycles! The line was removed after complaints from local residents and that path was made shared use, is this a better solution?

As a cyclist you often hear a comment of "where's your bell?" My answer is at home, I took it off after realising that a cheerful ring of the bell is not as effective as a polite "good morning" or "good afternoon"; that's when those people blocking the shared use pathway or cyclepath have got their music turned down low enough to actually hear you!

To finish off for this week, here's an interesting statistic for you:

Total for years 2000 – 2004 (whole of GB):

Pedestrians killed by cyclist on pavement: 9

Pedestrians killed by motor vehicle on pavement: 3885

Whilst any pedestrian being killed whilst walking on the pavement is a tragedy, what's the bigger danger cyclist or motorist?