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Cyclists get the hump over bumps
Peter Dominiczak25.09.09
Cyclists have blasted a London council after it installed speed bumps to slow down bikes in a quiet back street.
Homes for Islington, which is owned by the council, has put 14 bumps in Douglas Road South in Canonbury after residents complained about cyclists speeding down the road.
The work is thought to have cost £3,000.
Marsha Joe, 25, from Stoke Newington, said: “I'm not going to use this path any more. Most cyclists ride safely and slow down for pedestrians. The council just should have put up a few signs.”
Chloe Byrne, 33, an administrator from Lambeth, said: “They are forcing us to ride through the park, which is probably illegal anyway.”
Local resident Maureen Elliot, 68, claimed her grandson had been knocked down by a speeding cyclist. She said: “I hate cyclists and I think the speed bumps are a really good idea because it slows them down.”
Others have signed a petition to get the bumps removed. One, Christine Worts, said: “They are a needless eyesore.”
A spokesman for Homes for Islington said: “They were installed due to a health and safety risk as residents said the alley was becoming like a cycle track.”
Reader views (21)
I agree with "Pedestrian". Let's ban bikes because a few cyclists act like pillocks, in fact, lets ban cars and motorbikes for the same reason, in fact, lets ban pedestrians because certain people don't look where they're going and walk out in the road. Everyone should stay indoors, I'm sure that will satisfy him, although we've overlooked trains and planes.
- Bob, Cheam
Steven Jones, I know cyclists are no angels. We get rabib anti-cyclist comments all day on these posts, so I was just pointing out that we are not the only offenders. I've seen pedestrians, motorists & cyclists texting, listening to ipods, drunk or under the influence of drugs, ignoring lights, not paying any attention to what they are doing,...etc.. They all do it.
Pedestrians, cyclists, motorists should all aware of each other, be courteous to each other, and all follow the rules. Oh for a perfect world hey!
- Dom, London
Nelly, couldnt the cyclists who are riding around like maniacs listening to their ipods or talking on their mobile phones get out of the way
- Steven Jones, london
The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Could not the people walking onto the path from their houses not turn their heads and look and react appropriately ie not step out or will they be too busy texting, ipodding, being generally dozy etc. Dom - valid comments. ALmost daily i have to screech at pedestrians behaving like backward sheep on the road.
- Nelly, East London
Cyclists are taxi cabs of london walk ways, thinking they own the streets and it is everyones fault but theirs when they knock someone over,
Dom all the problems you noted to pedestrian can be labelled at cyclists, head phones, not looking where they are going, moving off when there is a red light. Also moving in and out of traffic and causing quite a few accidents and I can speak of personal experience when a cyclists broke my arm by ploughing into me when I was walking along a walkway where they were signs stating if you have a bike get off and push it, but surprise surprise it was my fault for not looking surely couldnt be his for not looking and not obeying s sig
- Steven Jones, london
Hopefully by now cyclists realise how much they're disliked by the rest of us...
EDITED by admin @ 11.00 on September 28 2009
Breach of community guidelines
- Anti-Cyclist, London
If vehicles don't use this lane, all that's needed is a staggered pedestrian barrier halfway along, so that there's no incentive to speed in the first place. This is the work of a moron.
- Mdj E10, london uk
The council official who wasted taxpayers money on this should be fired.No doubt councils are recieving far to much money from council tax if they waste it in this way.
- Dave, london
I live on this estate and this path runs outside peoples gates to their front doors, cylists speed along it adn as they come out of their gate people get knocked down but slowing the cyclists down will make it easier for the local kids push them off & nick their bikes as they go past. the NEw river next to the path is already polluted iwth bits and pieces of nicked bikes.
- Kb, Islington
Pedestrian, London, you lot need to be banned from walking too. Walking in roads without looking, or listening to headphones and crossing roads on the red man, not the green man. Walking out in front of oncomming traffic. Responsible for most pavement litter. You see, your not so perfect either.
Zack, well said. The "Islington sprint" as it shall soon be known, looks good for the ole mountain bike/bmx time challenge. Points for stylish ramp take-off too.
- Dom, London
One of the better than average streets in Islington. No craters, no holes, no roadworks, no bollards, and no people.
- Mr.S.Port, London
Yes these things are an eyesore. But expecting cyclists to read and obey "a few signs" is delusional.
- Trunk, US
Let's just cut to the chase and ban bicycles altogether. Cyclists never obey any traffic laws and they are inherently unsafe to their users and those around them. If they were invented today there's no way they'd be allowed on the roads!
- Pedestrian, London
Is that the same Barbara in Australia who writes approvingly of a woman convicted of unprovoked assaults on an off-duty soldier and his wife in a drunken brawl?
- C. Nichol, London
How on earth is a wheelchair or electric buggy supposed to negotiate that? They probably break every rule of Disability Equality legislation. Expect to seem removed within days.
Typical waste of 'ratepayers' money.
Ah, I just re-read it, A spokesman said "They were installed due to a health and safety risk". The good old 'elf n safety', well, you can't argue with that. They'll be claiming that Brussels ordered them to be installed next.
- George, London
Great, I will be able to speed jump these - so much more fun than a straight flat road.
People should be banned from walking along ally's like these, its clear that a cyclist can get a fair lick of speed going, walk somewhere else und leave us our cycle routes.
If the council wanted to stop people like me they should be using straight edged humps as that is more likely to damage a wheel when travelling at speed, but that would be illegal 
These are just fun ramps, brilliant for mountain bikes. I guess us cycling locals will be holding speed and height trials soon along the run shown
Thanks Islington, a real cycle friendly council.
- Zack, Islington
That is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. Its literally a "Not In My Back Yard" scheme!
- Nolan, Londonist
Shared-use paths - where cyclists and pedestrians use the same space - are commonplace and aren't normally a source of problems.
According to Transport for London's Cycling Design Standards manual, such paths should be set up so that cyclists ride at 10mph and have centreline
markings to indicate which part is for pedestrians and which is for cyclists. They also say that speed restriction measures "should not restrict access for non-standard cycles and disabled people". It is possible that in trying to solve this problem, Islington may have created another.
If some cyclists ride down this path in a way that intimidates, endangers or injures pedestrians or other cyclists, then the relevant laws should be enforced by the council and police as part of their Safer Islington Partnership theme of tackling "community and anti-social behaviour".
- Austen, London
This'll be counter-productive. With the current fashion for stunt-cycles I can imagine that a few speed humps on a path that wide will be seen as an attraction to those who like to race. It even looks like a pair of lanes.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
A great idea to stop speeding cyclists. Think of the damage a cyclist can cause to pedestrians when they ride at unsafe speeds. They do it for cars so why not bikes too.
- Barbara, sydney Australia
Time to put some slicks on the full sus!
- Cyclist, london
