Well, that doesn’t really make sense. It’s like saying that it’s OK to drive cars along the promenade in winter because nobody walks there.

The essential point here is that cyclists are dangerous to pedestrians and if there is no cycle lane on the promenade to which they can be confined, then they should be kept off the promenade altogether.

Small children and old people – the two categories of promenade-user most at risk from whizzing cyclists – should be able to use the promenade without the worry that they might distractedly wander into the path of a cyclist unable to stop in time. And just as there are careless drivers, so are there careless cyclists.

Not allowing cyclists over the age of 12 is the best solution in the absence of a cycle lane, though it is still quite a problem for pedestrians. Anybody over the age of 15 is old enough to cycle on the street and those aged between 12 and 15 can cycle along country lanes or at Ta’ Qali as has been the case for years.

A regular pedestrian, who knows full well that there are certain times – especially in the winter months – where the promenade is devoid of people, except for the odd jogger or two.

More of the same on http://www.engrish.com

Alas, these things are not left at the discretion of any odd local council, or they shouldn’t be if the law is to be respected.

They are regulated by Legal Notice 94 of 1969, as amended several times over the years. In it’s current form, most of the technical contents have been practically lifted directly from the UK Department for Transport’s Traffic Signs Manual. They include sizes, shapes, colour and other important characteristics of road signs (apart from road markings), including the typeface and font size of any text, how it should be written and where it goes.

The attached is a sample sign taken from the UK manual. It is reproduced tale quale in PART II – REGULATORY SIGNS, section B, paragraph (f) of LN 94 of 1969.

A promenade, as the name suggests, is for promenading. Motorists are a danger to cyclists on the road, but cyclists are a danger to those strolling on a promenade. There is precious little safe space to walk as it is, and walking is a form of exercise just as cycling is.

Anything with wheels belongs on the road, whether it’s a bicycle or a horse-drawn cart.

The solution is a cycle lane along the promenade.

Not only are they a nuisance but dangerous. Rather than change the notice they should enforce it. Quite obviously this person is not a regular pedestrian. A cyclist?

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160102/local/drivers-must-be-responsible-for-cyclists-accidents.597420

Cycling on the roads in Sliema has become far too dangerous for anyone, let alone young people. (Only this week, there was yet another cycling accident involving a seasoned cyclist, who thankfully escaped with “only” a broken elbow and a written-off bike.)

The Sliema Local Council should seriously consider challenging the legal notice, if only in the fight against obesity if nothing else.