Forres Gazette: Driver fears for errant cyclists
Published: 14 October, 2009
A FORRES woman is calling on cyclists to “obey the rules of the Highway Code” to prevent an accident happening on a local road.
Linda Stevenson, who lives at Westpark House in Robertson Place, contacted the “Forres Gazette” to put out an appeal to cyclists to refrain from cycling the wrong way down a one way street near her home.
She made her plea following an incident, which she said was not an isolated case, when she nearly collided with a cyclist going the wrong way after she came out of the driveway from her house onto Robertson Place.
“I sound like Mrs Angry complaining about this, but I don’t want to knock someone down, and I’m scared it’s going to happen, because cyclists don’t seem to think that the rules of the road apply to them,” she said.
Mrs Stevenson said that she once collided with a bike which was going past the end of her drive, and didn’t want further scares.
She claims that on more than one occasion she has come out of her driveway, which is surrounded by a high hedge, making vision down the road difficult, only to be confronted by an angry cyclist biking the wrong way down the one way street.
When she comes out of her gate she must turn left to obey the one way direction, which is when the problems start.
“I always look right and left, because inevitably someone is cycling the wrong way and I know to look now,” she said.
She said this happens on a repeated basis, despite the fact that there are clear “no entry” signs mounted in red at the entry to Robertson Place at the junction with Councillors Walk and Pilmuir Road.
She said complaining to cyclists was pointless as they usually get shirty about it and often become abusive towards her, refusing to admit they have done wrong.
“I have taken dog’s abuse from people about this over the years,” she said.
“People don’t realise how dangerous it is, but I’m really scared I’m going to kill someone.”
Mrs Robertson said that she also had a problem walking out of her garden gate on the other side of her house at Westpark Road, with cyclists ignoring the one way system there and coming straight down from the Tesco roundabout into the one way system – the wrong way.
“I would really like to make cyclists aware for their own safety, and for my peace of mind,” she said.
Mrs Robertson said she was going to speak to Grampian Police about the issue, with a view to asking them to look at enforcement. She said the issue was not young cyclists, but was mostly with adult cyclists.
