Little-known cycling road rule sparks fiery debate
Commuters have been thrust into a fiery debate after being quizzed on a little-known road rule concerning the use of bicycles.
Road users were posed a question on Monday by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads asking which side of a path bike riders should stick to when also being used by pedestrians.
In a graphic shared to the department’s Facebook page, a path was shown with multiple people walking in the direction of a cyclist, who was passing them on the right.
“You know your road rules, and now’s your chance to prove it. Should the bike rider be riding on the right-hand side of the path?” the post read.
Hundreds of social media users weighed in with their mixed opinions on the topic, some in favour of bikes passing pedestrians from either side of a path, while others argued they shouldn’t be using the path at all.
“It's a footpath not a bike path,” someone argued.
They were quick to be corrected by the department, who explained unless there were specific signs indicating “no bikes”, cyclists were permitted to use to footpaths.
“Plenty of room on the road for the cyclist, leave the meandering headphone wearing pedestrians to the path,” someone else said.
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“Should be on the road not the pedestrian path,” another agreed.
The answer was later added by the department, which set the record straight once and for all.
“Bike riders must keep left and give way to all pedestrians on footpaths and shared paths. Bike riders also have to ride to the left of any approaching bike riders,” it said.
Some claimed cyclists most often rode wherever they liked, and as one person put it, were a “protected species”.
“They are going to do whatever they like so who cares,” one person said.
“Yes they can do whatever they like (protected species),” another wrote.
“Regardless of what the law says, the cyclist will do whatever they want and still play victim,” a third said.
The department tried mitigating the harsh responses by replying individually with information on the divisive issue.
“The road belongs to everyone — and we all have the right to be treated with the same courtesy and care as everyone else,” one of its replies read.
“When you're driving around bike riders it can sometimes feel like they're increasing congestion but most of the time they're actually reducing it.
“Every bike on the road means one less motor vehicle (or less congestion, less pollution, and less weight on our health system).”
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