Cycling on footpaths makes progress

A proposal to make it legal for children to ride their bicycles on the footpath deserves consideration by the Government, the Children’s Commissioner says.

Lower Hutt woman Joanne Clendon has submitted a petition to Parliament which says under-14-year-olds, their guardians, over-65-year-olds and disabled people should be able to cycle on footpaths without falling foul of the law.

A select committee has agreed to take a look at the petition, and is hearing submissions from the public.

It is illegal to ride on the footpath unless to deliver mail, or unless your wheels have a diameter of less than 355mm — a rule which effectively excludes nearly all cycles.

Clendon says the road is not safe for younger children, because peripheral vision and response time do not develop until the age of 14 or 16. In her submission to Parliament, she notes that New Zealand has the second-worst fatality rate for child cyclists in the OECD.

The office of Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft has given tentative support to the petition. Its research had found that many children already rode on the footpath, not knowing they were breaking the law. This showed that the law was ineffective and “out of touch with mainstream behaviour”, the commissioner’s office said. It supported “further consideration” of the petition, “with particular consideration given to the safety implications of such a change”.

The commissioner’s office said a law change would raise safety concerns for both riders and pedestrians.

Cycling Action Network (CAN) said it would support a change which allowed 12-yearolds and their guardians to ride on footpaths.

CAN also said any rule change should not be at the expense of new cycleways.

Safekids Aotearoa said separated cycleways were the safest option for children.