CYCLISTS AND BOROUGH BY-LAWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 229, 5 October 1901, Page 3

CYCLISTS AND BOROUGH BY-LAWS.

(To the Editor of the Times.)

Sip.,—This being a subject affecting the public, I contend that a full discussion will not do the last harm. Of course, there are different c lions, which you have generously opeiK vour columns to correspondents to c xpri . But, Sir, the whole question re-sul res tlf into this — Are bicycles ridden on foe. fhs a danger to pedestrians '? Is it possff'e for children to get out of the way vmen a bike comes round a corner '? Can a person on coming through a gate get anywhere at a given moment '? Sir, I have already proved to the contrary. I have shown a man has bc-en knocked down at a gate ; I have shown how two children were knocked down ; I have also shown where it would be an impossibility for children to get out of the way, when two or three young ladies came abreast. “Fair Play” says that a “bike is as much a medium of use as the umbrella or piano,” quite so, but one would not use the piano on the street, nor the umbrella in the drawing room. They are good in their proper place for wheels. “ Mama ” says, or implies as much, that the roads are not decent. Well, as far as that goes, I will say this, that the roads in Gisborne will compare favorably with any roads in New Zealand, and as for the grass-grown paths, I think that these exists only in the imagination. Sir, it is quite true the remarks of “ Anti-Cycle ” about a few who

“ are blessed with this world’s goods want to run the whole show,” but those good pc-ople who ride bikes must know that there are the great majority to contend against. What would be said in Auckland if the bikes were allowed to run on the footpaths, sav, in Hobson street, or in Wellington, say, in Willis street ? You, Sir, have also taken up the cudgels, in your leader of to-day’s issue. You say : “ And we feci sure that the Borough Council will be supported by public opinion in making some slight concession.” How, I ask, or what concessions, could they make. They can only say

we will allow bikes to be ridden on footpaths, or that the by-law remain unaltered. Now, Sir, I question the whole thing with regard to the Borough Council, for the “ Police Offences Act,” I believe, totally prohibits bikes on footpaths, also the “ Public Works Act,” so in the face of that the House alone can allow such a state of things. Sir, we all know full well tho old saying : “ Give an inch, and take an ell.” We know also that oven now while there is prohibition that a good many of tho young men riders “ race ” along the footpaths. I remember that the predecessor of the present Sergeant told the Bench that should the ease then before the Court be dismissed that he would proceed under the “ Police Offences Act.” A line of demarcation cannot bo drawn regarding bike riding on footpaths. Then why not mako a track 2—l am, etc.. Ped.