'E-bikes are a fatality waiting to happen'

Eunice Brown said a restriction on e-bikes was necessary for safety along Briggate

Attracting more than 250,000 people a week, Briggate is one of the busiest high streets in West Yorkshire.

As councillors in Leeds consider plans to ban cycling along parts of the popular thoroughfare, shoppers told the BBC what they thought of the proposal.

"They should be treated the same as cars," Eunice Brown says, during a pre-retirement shopping trip.

"If you drive a car you have a road code. You are at a red light, so you stop; but they do not have any road sense to me and I do not think they should have this free run."

To emphasise her point, shortly before she stopped to talk, the 66-year-old said she had experienced a "near-miss" with an e-bike.

"I was coming out of the shop and I had to step out of the way quickly", she said, re-enacting her movements.

"It can be very dangerous".

According to Leeds City Council, an estimated 1,100 bikes pedal up and down Briggate every day.

In a bid to reduce the risk of collisions and near misses within the pedestrianised area senior councillors are investigating a series of restrictions.

Among the measures proposed are a requirement for cyclists to dismount and walk with their bicycles and e-bikes within the pedestrianised shopping area, during pedestrianised hours.

It would also see pedestrian hours extended from between 10.30 and 19:00 to 10:00 and 20:00.

"People have got to live and they have to make money," Ms Brown continued.

"But there have got to be some sort of safety measures because this is a walkway.

"It can be treacherous for the elderly, they come whizzing past so quickly."

Julie, who was visiting Leeds with her husband, is also among those to have witnessed a "near miss" with an e-bike on Briggate.

"We were sitting having breakfast this morning and an e-bike went flying past and nearly hit one of the pedestrians," she said.

"We both actually turned around and said they should be banned.

"They will hit somebody - it is just a fatality waiting to happen."

Brian Mulligan said he had seen e-bikers knock waiters over in Leeds

According to the council, bikes capable of reaching speeds of 45mph (72km/h), including heavy bikes used by delivery drivers, are using Briggate and "potentially represent a serious risk to pedestrian safety".

Under the proposals, anyone breaching the restrictions on cycling could be fined.

Brian Mulligan believes restriction on e-bikes on Briggate are necessary for shoppers safety, saying he had some riders using their phones at the same time.

"When they are not looking where they are going and they are shooting past you, you feel as though you are going to get run over," he said.

"They catch waiters coming out [of restaurants] and knock them over.

"I am at the stage were I am expecting a hit - it is getting that close".

Colin Adey said the use of lanes and restricted speeds should be introduced instead

Colin Adey said "a more educated answer" should be considered before banning bikes during pedestrianised hours.

"If they can curtail that speed, perhaps just bring it down to a 5mph (8km/h) speed limit and perhaps have lanes, that is what I suggest rather than a ban," he said.

"They do go very fast and some of them seem like motorbikes you know at 30mph (50km/h) but I think they are the thing of the future.

"Especially as a university town, a lot of people are involved in getting delivery of food and equipment and there is the environmental aspect of the electric bike.

"It is just about trying regulate it".

The proposals were put forward following a survey in which 61% of respondents said delivery cyclists in pedestrianised areas negatively impacted their experience of the city centre.

Senior councillors have decided to begin a public consultation on the plans, which they aim to introduce from the middle of next year.

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