Reader's letter: Horsham’s pedestrianised areas should be free from scooters, bikes and skateboards

It was interesting to see the announcement in the County Times that Horsham District Council intended to increase the fines, which litter louts would face, to £150. The intention’s fine but what about the enforcement?

We have lots of areas intended only for use by pedestrians, such as West Street, pavements and pedestrian crossings, for example.

Unfortunately, we regularly see people cycling down West Street, despite the no cycling signs. We frequently see cyclists using the pavement, often at high speed, as if the pedestrians shouldn’t be there.

E-scooters, E-bikes and E-skateboards are sometimes seen on our pavements and cases of injury being caused to pedestrians is becoming more common throughout our country as well as in other countries.

On top of all that, we have the regular danger that we face when using a pedestrian crossing.

Will the vehicles stop, when the lights are red? Why do some drivers feel the need to accelerate when the lights turn to amber?

I believe that pedestrians need to feel safe when using pedestrianised areas, pavements and pedestrian crossings – but they don’t for the simple reason that there’s no enforcement.

Personally, I think that these are areas on which to concentrate in Horsham.

I’d far rather we had people, who were employed to do this, rather than making money from litter louts.

Don’t forget, we could easily fine people for offences, which affect pedestrians’ safety, and make our town safer at the same time, if money making is the primary objective.

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