Something must be done

THE excellent article by Mick Fitzgibbons prompts me to state that something should be done about the sharing of the towpaths with walkers and cyclists, for eventually someone is either going to be forced into a canal and drowned or killed by being knocked over and hitting their head on the hard surface, writes James Henry.

Accuse me of being a pessimist, but the way Canal & River Trust is upgrading towpath after towpath for cyclists to get to and from work, and usually in a hurry, means that someone is going to be badly injured or worse.

Narrow escapes

Many boat crews have narrow escapes, I know I have, and on the Erewash Canal this year my young golden retriever was forced into the water by a lunatic cyclist who nearly ran over her has he hurtled down the towpath.  All you get, as many others have told, is abuse and told to get off the path.

We all know that CaRT are only interested in being seen as being the champion of providing cycle tracks with its endless publicity to impress those in power. Publicity that always includes the many well-worn pictures of a couple with the mandatory two children gently moving along the well surfaced towpath.

Forsaken the towpaths

Yet we all know that nothing is further from the truth, as many parents fearing for the safety of their children have forsaken the towpaths having had too many close shaves with the louts in a hurry.

CaRT admits that its surfaced towpaths are not wide enough to include the required segregation of walkers and cyclists, which makes me wonder if they are really legal as combined walkways and cycle tracks.  Eventually when a death occurs it will all be brought to a very, very expensive head, and as a long sufferer I will be delighted to say 'I told you so'.  Then something will be done.