THE majority of children and many teenagers and some adults ride their bicycles on the pavement.

The Highway Code clearly states: "You must not wilfully ride on a footpath by the side of any road made or set apart for the use of foot passengers."

That there has been a serious accident to a pedestrian by someone riding a bicycle on the footpath comes as no surprise. Near where I live children regard the footpaths and roads as one big playground.

They come whizzing out of backs and around corners and across roads without any regard at all for pedestrians.

Car drivers have to undergo stringent tests and have a good knowledge of the Highway Code. Child cyclists have no restrictions on them being a danger to themselves and everyone else.

Who can be responsible for this? Their parents, their teachers, the police?

When I was teaching, many schools, with the co-operation of the police, encouraged their pupils to take cycling proficiency tests.

I do not know whether this still happens, but certainly something needs to be done to instil into young cyclists a greater sense of responsibility.

BARBARA RIDING (Mrs), Fairhope Court, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.