Police send plea to pavement cyclists
POLICE in Harborne are sending a plea to cyclists in the area please don”t cycle on the pavement.
The plea comes after a 92-year-old local man, Raymond Poland, fell to the ground and seriously injured his knee, trying to avoid a cyclist riding on the pavement.
Raymond was walking along the Harborne Park Road when the incident occurred. As a result of his injuries Raymond had to spend three weeks in hospital.
Since returning from hospital Raymond feels that his quality of life has deteriorated, not because of his lack of health and willingness to do things, but because of his fear of being able to walk on a pavement, particularly near his own home.
Sergeant Mark Hickman from Harborne police station, said: “Cycling on the pavement is an issue for local people in Harborne and is a real concern for some people who now live in fear of it.
“Raymond is an example of someone whose quality of life has been impacted by the thoughtless behaviour of certain individuals. He has been injured on two occasions in the last 5 years with other near misses as well.”
“We believe that cyclists are not deliberately causing problems for residents, it is just a lack of awareness and thoughtlessness on their part. For example, it is a credit to the young cyclist that in this case he stopped and helped Raymond following the accident.
“We do not want to have to start issuing fixed penalty notices to the local community and therefore we would ask cyclists to please consider whether their behaviour impacts on others and to take due care and attention when cycling.”
Local Edgbaston MP Gisela Stuart added: “We would urge all cyclists, and particularly adults, to take responsibility for their own behaviour and influence the behaviour of others before we have more accidents which could have been avoided.”
Officers from the team are also actively reminding cyclists to be considerate and to use the road rather than the pavement where possible.
If you have any concerns in relation to inconsiderate or dangerous cycling, please contact the Harborne neighbourhood team on 0345 113 5000 or email harborne@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk.
You can also follow the Harborne team on twitter @HarborneNHT
