Cyclists have been told to IGNORE cycle lane under Highway Code – I’m scared my kids will get hit
CYCLISTS have been told to IGNORE their cycle lane and ride in the road after a Highway Code rule-change - leaving parents terrified.
Large bike symbols have been painted across the middle of the road in Boscombe, Dorset - metres away from a local primary school.
The move is in line with the Highway Code - which changed this year to allow cyclists to ride in the middle of quieter roads and ride two abreast.
But the move by Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole Council - who said the markings encourage cyclists' safety - has concerned parents.
Some fear reckless cyclists are putting kids "lives at risk" at pick-up and drop off by taking over the entire road.
Others claim brazen riders even speed along PAVEMENTS to avoid the traffic.
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Mum-of-two Alice Davey, 28, told the Sun: "Child safety should come first and it’s wrong if the council are putting their lives at risk and prioritising cyclists.
"It’s just plain wrong and I think the council really ought to think again about what they have done here."
Iwona Sliwinska, 30, who collects her eight-year-old son Iwan from nearby Corpus Christi Primary School, added: “We’ve been driven from waiting for our children on the main road to the side streets.
“There are so few parking spaces around that I have to get here an hour before the school ends to pick my son up.
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"We live a few miles from the school and so I need to come by car, but motorists are being driven off the streets in favour of cyclists."
Meanwhile, pensioner Wayne Cary, 62, added: "The cyclists seem to think that the entire road and pavement are for their own use.
Child safety should come first and it’s wrong if the council are putting their lives at risk and prioritising cyclists.
Alice Davey
"I’ve lost count the amount of times that I’ve seen them ride onto the pavement without even looking - putting pedestrians at risk.
"It seems it’s one law for cyclists and one for the rest of us."
And local resident Joy Sheehan, 60, said: “The cyclists and those using scooters have become a real pest.
"They behave as though they own the place and it’s especially difficult for elderly people who don’t know who has priority as the cyclists seem to want to ride on the pavement as well as have all the road to themselves."
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A spokesperson for BCP Council said: "We recently undertook carriageway resurfacing and have widened the cycle lanes in line with current standards.
"The road markings highlighted are there to encourage cyclists to take a prominent position in the lane."
