Is it legal to cycle on footpaths official "Right of Way" where there isn't a bye-law prohibiting cycling?
Can you be taken to Court? What happens if you run over a rambler?
(There is no section under transport for cycling ?!!!)
Answers:
its legal to ride on public right of way footpaths, but its not your perogative to plough down ramblers! ha
In fact, I reckon cyclists should be banned from the roads, and made to ride on the pavement. We're a bliddy traffic hazard aren't we!!
yes
I do not think you would be taken to court unless you had a a warning from whoever had responsibility for the right of way.
That is usually the local council and if they were to give yo a warning it would have to be in writing and stating the bye law you were breaking.
It highly unlikely as if you say there are no cycling prohibitions on this particular right of way. They have to vote pass a bye law and it has to be published and open to public comment before it is passed.
If you run over a rambler I'd give up cycling because you must be pretty useless at it unless of course they lay in front of you
Rights of way are minor public highways that exist for the benefit of the community at large, in much the same way as the public road network does. They are the most widely recognised facility that gives the public the opportunity to enjoy the English countryside.
In England there are about 188,700 kilometres of public rights of way.
These are made up of:
Footpaths – (146,600 km) over which the right of way is on foot only;
Bridleways – (32,400 km) for pedestrians, horse riders and bicyclists (who must give way to people on foot or on horseback); and
Byways open to all traffic (BOATs) - (3,700 km) carriageways over which the right of way is on foot, on horseback and for vehicular traffic, but which are used mainly for the purposes for which footpaths and bridleways are used (ie. by walkers and horse riders).
Restricted byways – (6,000 km) currently these are former Roads Used as Public Paths (RUPPs) re-designated en-masse, by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, on 2 May 2006. Restricted byways carry rights for all types of traffic except motorised vehicles. This new category of right of way is being used in conjunction with new legislation, in Part 6 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, that will curtail the recording of public rights of way for mechanically propelled vehicles on the definitive map and statement. The Act makes it possible for many rights of way that would formerly have been recorded as byways open to all traffic to in future be recorded as restricted byways instead. Please use the following link for guidance on the restricted byway provisions and the rights of way provisions in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act. http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-country.
Yes it is illegal to cycle on a footpath (just as it is on a pavement), unless it expressly marked as being a cycleway. Usually the police turn a blind-eye to this unless you are causing a nuisance to pedestrians, in which case they will usually just ask you to stop. However, in an extreme case there is there is the potential that you could be taken to court.
When I used to cycle frequently, I always gave way to pedestrians on footpaths by stopping or dismounting.
I believe you are entitled to cycle on a bridal way, but again I would 'give way' to other users.
You can legally cycle on a Cycle Path, a Bridleway, a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT) or a Road Used as a Public Path (RUPP), but not on a footpath, unless there is a specific bye-law stating the opposite.
You need to check the exact status of the "Right of Way" to know which of the above categories it falls into.
Basically, a cyclist has the same rights as a horse rider.
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