public pathway

[lantus]

hi all new to here,just got my new salisbury to travel to work. just wondering as the quickest way there is along a public pathway, is it breaking the law to cycle along it and if so what about pushing your bike along that stretch of pathway.

 

[flecc]

If it's a footpath only, you cannot ride on it, but you can push your bike. Here is the legal support:

"Anyone pushing a bicycle is a "foot-passenger" (Crank v Brooks [1980] RTR 441) and is not "riding" it (Selby). In his judgment in the Court of Appeal in Crank v Brooks, Waller LJ said: "In my judgment a person who is walking across a pedestrian crossing pushing a bicycle, having started on the pavement on one side on her feet and not on the bicycle, and going across pushing the bicycle with both feet on the ground so to speak is clearly a 'foot passenger'. If for example she had been using it as a scooter by having one foot on the pedal and pushing herself along, she would not have been a 'foot passenger'. But the fact that she had the bicycle in her hand and was walking does not create any difference from a case where she is walking without a bicycle in her hand."
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[lantus]

thanks, its a footpath around a field with access though a farm yard, so as long as i push my bike i should be ok.might be a good idea to catch the farmer and ask first as i go to work at 5am.

 

[flecc]

If that is a public footpath the law applies and the farmer couldn't give you permission to cycle on it and stay within the law. If its not a public footpath and only a farm path, he can give permission of course. Of course no-one polices this.

Bridlepaths are different, the Countryside Act of 1968 gave permission for bicycles to use bridleways, but with no obligation to have them made suitable for cycling. This is the only act affecting cycling referring only to bicycles, excluding tricycles and quad bikes. However, Sustrans have since gained DfT clearance for tricyclists to use bridleways.

All other cycling legislation in Britain refers to "bicycles, tricycles and bicycles with four or more wheels".
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[Mussels]

I'd be more worried about being on the side of the farmer than the side of the law, at worst you'll get a £30 fixed penalty from a moody copper.

 

[rooel]

Do England and Wales not now have access legislation similar to that introduced in Scotland in 2004? The following is a Scottish Government summary of access rights in Scotland:

"A summary of your access rights
1. Everyone, whatever their age or ability, has access rights established by the Land
Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. You only have access rights if you exercise them
responsibly.
2. You can exercise these rights, provided you do so responsibly, over most land and
inland water in Scotland, including mountains, moorland, woods and forests, grassland,
margins of fields in which crops are growing, paths and tracks, rivers and lochs, the
coast and most parks and open spaces. Access rights can be exercised at any time of
the day or night.
3. You can exercise access rights for recreational purposes (such as pastimes, family
and social activities, and more active pursuits like horse riding, cycling, wild camping and
taking part in events), educational purposes (concerned with furthering a person’s
understanding of the natural and cultural heritage), some commercial purposes (where
the activities are the same as those done by the general public) and for crossing over
land or water.
4. Existing rights, including public rights of way and navigation, and existing rights on
the foreshore, continue.
5. The main places where access rights do not apply are:
houses and gardens, and non-residential buildings and associated land;
land in which crops are growing;
land next to a school and used by the school;
sports or playing fields when these are in use and where the exercise of access
rights would interfere with such use;
land developed and in use for recreation and where the exercise of access rights
would interfere with such use;
golf courses (but you can cross a golf course provided you don’t interfere with any
games of golf);
places like airfields, railways, telecommunication sites, military bases and
installations, working quarries and construction sites; and
visitor attractions or other places which charge for entry.
6. Local authorities can formally exempt land from access rights for short periods. Local
authorities and some other public bodies can introduce byelaws.
7. Access rights do not extend to:
being on or crossing land for the purpose of doing anything which is an offence, such
as theft, breach of the peace, nuisance, poaching, allowing a dog to worry livestock,
dropping litter, polluting water or disturbing certain wild birds, animals and plants;
hunting, shooting or fishing;
any form of motorised recreation or passage (except by people with a disability using
a vehicle or vessel adapted for their use);
anyone responsible for a dog which is not under proper control; or to
anyone taking away anything from the land for a commercial purpose."​