People don’t use footpaths for the purpose intended

I think the real problem was when these dual footpaths/cycle lanes were combined, mainly by the short-sightedness of government and local council officials who chose to change a perfect two-way system through the town by widening the pavements and introducing a one way system, thus causing major problems for all concerned.

I do not wish, however, to place all the blame on previous poor decisions, because not all footpaths, mainly in residential areas, are for dual use. However that does not seem to register in the brains of those who are too lazy to use the roads which are provided for them for that purpose.

Unfortunately, like so many harebrained schemes, it is the public who suffer.

Some say that our police force should do more but like our NHS, they have had to suffer cutbacks which has more or less left this proposition infeasible. So footpaths are plagued with the unfortunate circumstance that anyone using them needs to have eyes in the back of their heads to counter any collision, that nowadays appears to be more likely than not.

While the majority of us wrongly accuse the younger generation for the proliferation of footpaths used incorrectly as cycle lanes, members of all generations in my experience are just as guilty and do not lead by example as they should do, which means youngsters see it as acceptable and follow suit.

Martin Eddies, Shrewsbury

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