collective thoughts?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-21359230

Well for me as a rider/dog owner I can see where your coming from regards dog training! But if as it is stated they where speeding and going at such a rate that they A could not see a dog in in the trail a head and B where going so quick that they could not brake in time!! I recon it is clearly the riders fault. If it had been a child then I can probably guarantee that the riders would be getting prosecuted for something, but will get nothing for injuring a young dog!
Not really sure I’m making a point here! but I feel sorry for the dog on this one.

I’ve actually got a Boxer called Buster who’s just had a metal plate put into his leg and looks identical to the one that got hit by the cyclist.

I don’t know the area where this happened but my Boxer (or my other dog) wouldn’t have been off lead there if it was a popular cycle route, he doesn’t move out of the way of things, opening doors etc, and he flys about so fast that the likelihood of him having an accident with a cyclist would be pretty high!

I do feel really really sorry for the dog though, must be in pain and depressed 🙁

Agreed that the cyclist has to be in control and not cycling too fast for the shared use path, but equally the dog owners need to be in control of their dogs and not let them run out in front of bikes.

The article seems very anti bike rather than users / owners taking responsibility for their own actions – as we know there are idiots in all walks of life and some of them ride bikes, some of them own dogs and some of them drive cars…

wouldn’t have been off lead there if it was a popular cycle route

Report said it was a footpath

From the report:

“But the Taff Trail is a shared path and is there for cyclists, dog walkers and walkers so cyclists shouldn’t go as fast as they do.”

“Signs along the route advise cyclists to ride at a sensible speed, while dog walkers are urged to keep their animals under control.”

I thought the speed lmit when not marked off road was 30mph?
The owner of the dog needs to wise up too and accept that he/she is legally responsible for the animal (poor thing doesn’t know any better). Unfortunately as commute routes and trails get busier as fuel rises, it’s gonna get worse before they legislate it better, reg plates for pushbikes, it’s going to happen if we don’t play nicely!

The guy on the bike was probably going too fast, but frankly who knows? Certainly not the vet who can apparently distinguish the speed of a bike from the injuries the dog has got 🙄
However we only have the dog owners word for it as a witness & the general tone of the article is “how dare there be so many cyclists on the cyclepath”

cyclepath

It’s not a cycle path, it’s a cycle route[/u] and a shared facility at that. Everyone needs to be careful, but people on bikes should be doubly careful because of their relatively high speed and make allowances for the fact that there will be dogs, kids etc.

& the difference between a cyclepath and a cycle route is what exactly?

+1 woody….ive met some right arrogant prick cyclists on shared use paths….eg rutland water …they give us a bad name

& the difference between a cyclepath and a cycle route is what exactly?

A cycle path is a dedicated cycle facility, a cycle route is not. The path in question is NOT a dedicated cycle path and should not be treated as such.

A cycle path is a dedicated cycle facility, a cycle route is not. The path in question is NOT a dedicated cycle path and should not be treated as such.

Sorry to be pedantic, but are you claiming any sort of legal basis for this?
If by it you mean that it is for cyclists only, then I think you’d struggle to find one of those anywhere in the UK. Almost every cyclepath allows pedestrians on it, even those which divide peds from cyclists with a thick white line & signs are only advisory for pedestrians.

imnotverygood – Member
The guy on the bike was probably going too fast, but frankly who knows? Certainly not the vet who can apparently distinguish the speed of a bike from the injuries the dog has got

where does it say the vet said what speed the cyclist was travelling?

From what I can see in the article the vet said it looked like the dog had been hit by a motorbike. I am assuming that the vet, especially if it was the specialist, has seen a fair few animals hit by push bikes, cars and motorbikes and was likening the injuries to ones he’s seen from motorbikes.

And yes, dog may have been off the lead and not fully in control but the cyclist should have known better. It would seem that some cyclists think they own the path when they are the fastest/biggest thing on it (ie not on a road and up against cars).

The point abouty the article is the emphasis it has… I freely admit that the cyclepath I live next to is by far the scariest place in the world to walk at peak commuting time. I have seen people head down on their aerobars weaving amongst walkers etc. I have also seen a 10 year old kid nearly knocked off his bike by a woman having an argument on her mobile. To emphasise the point she was making she flung her walking stick horizontally across the path just as he was riding by. However all this shows is how crap we are in Britain in sharing space. To me ‘sharing’ implies give & take. Although you have to take care on a bike it doesn’t mean that you can just ignore the presence of bikes if you are walking. If you have a dog it needs to be kept under control (by law).

Everyone needs to be careful

Quite, but if everyone is being careful then one particular type of path user does’t need to be additionally careful because an incident isn’t going to occur in the first place.

I live about 100yds from where this happened. The taff trail is very much a multi user path whatever its title. I ride on it a couple of times a week and the default situation is walkers, dogs, kids in fact people all over the place ! In all of this there’s cyclists who for the most part ride it with skill and curtesy. For the most part it’s dogs that cause problems. But anyone with a brain knows the score and ride accordingly. there are a few though who think their commute is the tour de france and ride like total t@?ts 🙁 Not sure how training would help ? those riders wouldn’t go near it with a barge pole.

That could’ve been a child’s face! Won’t someone think of the children?!?

Seriously though – it’s a shared use path, so users are equally responsible, provided they are behaving responsibly. Fast cycling where there is a risk of hitting something isn’t responsible. I know how hypocritical this sounds coming from a commuter, but at least cars tend not to jump sideways with zero notice…

Some cyclists need to get THEMSELVES under control before moaning about dogs and owners. After all humans are supposed to be more responsible than animals.

Yes, but dogs have owners and most of them are humans too. Nobody is blaming the dogs themselves.

Both user groups need to be equally aware and responsible. It’s not a **** Mexican standoff waiting for someone to think first.
Jesus wept!