BW forgot mobility users

THE speeding cyclists on the Regents Canal towpath has reach such proportions that British Waterways were forced to do something about them.

So speed humps were installed on the towpath in Islington in an attempt to slow them down, but British Waterways forgot the towpath is also used by people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters who found them difficult to negotiate, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Virtually useless

Local campaigners stated that the speed humps themselves were 'virtually useless', with local councillors and others visiting the area to see the new humps in action, but they observed cyc­lists simply riding over the humps, often at speed, or riding around them.

With one lady describing how she had been unable to drive her mobility scooter over similar humps installed on the towpath close to her home in King's Cross,  Councillor Klute thought that  disabled people might have a case against British Waterways under disability legislation over lack of access to the towpath, and told:

"The edges of the hump are far too steep for wheelchairs. "At the same time they don't deter speeding cyclists. They do what speeding motorists do and swerve around them or even go over them at speed."

Barrier

He believes that a barrier which forces cyclists to slow down or dismount would be the answer.

A Mr Shacklock pointed out that there was no consultation about the humps. 'They just arrived. They obviously don't work—we've just seen that'.