The country’s top prosecutor has told users of hire bikes to “wise up” and to stop blocking the way of disabled pedestrians by dumping their cycles in the middle of the pavement.
Max Hill QC, the director of public prosecutions, issued the rebuke after clearing an abandoned hire bike that was blocking the path of a blind person in a London street.
His warning will fuel debate about the spread of dockless hire bikes which can be picked up and left anywhere. The trend has been welcomed by some as a convenient encouragement to cycle, but has brought complaints from residents and local authorities who claim they are an eyesore and obstruction when dumped without consideration for others.
Mr Hill tweeted: “If you abandon a hire bike in the middle of the pavement, you create an obstacle for the blind.
“I cleared the way for a blind lady this morning, whose dog sensed danger and would not let her pass. And swerving to walk in the road doesn’t work for the blind. Wise up, bike users.”
A large number of other Twitter users responded in support of Mr Hill’s message, including the disabled Liberal Democrat president and peer Baroness Brinton.
She warned that dumped bikes were “equally dangerous for those of us in wheelchairs” and that she had been forced “to ask passers-by to help me in central London when the pavement is blocked”.
The Evening Standard revealed recently that London Councils, which represents town halls in the capital, is considering a by-law that would make tech start-ups such as Mobike, Lime and Uber-owned Jump responsible for ensuring their cycles are left inside designated spaces. Breaches would be punishable by a fine of up to £500.
