THE report of death threats to East Dunbartonshire Council employees over the proposed extension of the Bear’s Way cycle route linking Milngavie and Bearsden to Glasgow, while probably exaggerated, leaves me unhappy about the mindset of some vehicle drivers (“Death threat to council staff after dispute over cycle lane”, The Herald, November 24). It is a fact of life that there will only ever be a finite amount of road space and all users must share. It has always been thus. Unfortunately since the inception of the motor vehicle, non-motorised traffic has been marginalised and effectively pushed off the roads. This has been to the great convenience to those who seek only to travel fast and with no care for the landscape they pass through, but to the great detriment to the environment, both in the global sense via CO2 emissions, and in the local sense in terms of danger to vulnerable road users, noise and congestion.

It is now the 21st century and we know better. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and embrace only the benefits of motor traffic while ignoring its problems. Happily our local authorities are now taking this on board, small steps at first, and are beginning to acknowledge that non-motorised traffic has a right to not just being on the road, but being there safely without the risks inherent in sharing the route with careless vehicle drivers.

The initial section of the Bear’s Way may not be perfect but it is a good start to turning the tide towards making cycling once more an attractive option. I look forward to its extension. Similarly, I foresee that safe and continuous cycleways will be constructed along other major thoroughfares to give people the option of travelling easily, cheaply, cleanly and safely. Vehicle drivers, please remember what your Mum used to say to you when you were playing with your friends: “B nice now, you have to share”. She was right then and she is right now.

Beob Downie,

66 Mansewood Road, Glasgow.

AS Glasgow City Council is now intent on allowing cyclists to share a number of footpaths with pedestrians (Old Castle Road and Barrhead Road to identify only two) it is imperative in order to protect pedestrians that all cyclists now have liability insurance together with a high visibility jacket displaying a registration number similar to that of a motor vehicle, in order to identify them in the case of an accident.

The cycles should also be required to be ridden at a speed of no more than three miles an hour on the outside of the footpath, and have a light and bell or similar audible alarm together with mirrors, as in my experience cyclists always think that they have preference on the footpath and tend to cycle at excessive speed and be abusive if pedestrians do not move out of their way fast enough, or if in collision with a pedestrian quickly ride off to escape the consequences.

William Sharp,

1/5 Victoria Mansions, 5 Old Castle Gardens, Glasgow.