Open letter from Helen Eadie MSP

Dear Scotland4me Readers

An ongoing concern raised with me in Dalgety Bay is the issue of the right of pedestrians to walk in safety in relation to cycling on footpaths in the Dalgety Bay area. Grandparents taking their grandchildren for a walk or walkers who may be a little shaky on their feet complain to me.

I wrote to the Chief Constable who responded saying that he was very supportive of the concerns that had been raised. I am sharing his response with you since I guess that there will be others who will be interested. So here is the Chief Constable’s reply:

I am sorry to read that your constituent suspects that there is “no desire or intention, on the part of the police, to give consideration to the safety and needs of pedestrians in Fife”. I can assure you that this is not the case. The right of pedestrians to walk in safety is recognised by Fife Police, however the enforcement of legislation such as Section 129(5) of The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 is dependent on a number of circumstances and the question of safety for cyclists and other road users also has to be considered.

Where a footway is intended for sole use of pedestrians Section 129(5), as mentioned in the previous paragraph, does indeed prohibit cycling on the pavement. Any pavement that has been designated by the Council for shared cycling and pedestrian activity will be subject of a relevant Order that effectively means that the pavement can be used by cyclists as well as pedestrians.

It is Council and Police policy to encourage the use of designated cycle paths where they are available, however, we do not condone cycling on pavements that are intended solely for the use of pedestrians. A fairly obvious exception to this would be the use of the pavement by a child cyclist, as it is well known that children under the age of ten cannot judge accurately the speed of approaching traffic or distances involved and therefore it is deemed safer to encourage youngsters to use pavements where possible. This advice is only given to primary school children and older cyclists are made fully aware of the law in relation to illegal use of footways. My Road Safety staff stress to young people who they become involved with that if they use footpaths

for cycling, they should alight from their cycle when they meet pedestrians.

Although there are no national plans in relation to offering advice on footway use to cyclists, I feel that there may well be something that can be achieved locally to raise awareness of the issues involved. As such I have tasked by Traffic Management Sergeant to liaise with Fife Council to see if the situation can be the subject of some local publicity. I feel that there may be benefit in promoting the forthcoming changes in Dalgety Bay, which are scheduled to be in place by next summer I believe, and at the same time offer appropriate guidance on the correct use of pavements and the current situation. In view of your constituent’s concerns, I have also copied this correspondence to Inspector McFarlane, Dalgety Bay and asked that his staff take appropriate action if they detect cyclists using footways when they should not be. The extent of this action can range from verbal advice to reporting the offender to the Procurator Fiscal at Dunfermline.

I hope that this letter will go some way to reassure you that we are alert to the situation and if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact either myself or a member of my Traffic Management Section on 01592 418866.

Yours sincerely

HELEN EADIE MSP