She said the success of the move would depend on how mindful children would be of pedestrians, especially older people.
Whanganui disability advocate Julian Emmett said the changes could work as long as people continued to respect the shared pathways and each other as a community.
Emmett, who has cerebral palsy, has long advocated for the needs of the disability community in Whanganui.
“I always try and pull to one side when I’m on the sidewalk and there’s somebody coming towards me,” he said.
“I try to make sure that there’s room for both of us.”
Although some kids could be “boisterous” on bikes, other footpath users, including mobility scooter riders, could be equally reckless, Emmett said.
Even-surfaced and well-maintained footpaths should be a focus for keeping the disability community, and wider Whanganui community, safe, he said.
Tawhero School acting principal Marama Allen said she agreed with the proposed law to allow young children to ride on footpaths.
She said as long as footpaths were wide enough to allow young cyclists to give other pedestrians space, the proposal should work.
She could see how ages 10 to 12 may be able to use the road if a cycle lane was present – “but as far as younger ones than that, I think it is a good idea”.
She said it may require efforts to teach more children bike etiquette to not alarm other footpath users.
This will be especially important for children at the older end of the age bracket who may be more likely to startle older people, Allen said.
Whanganui District Council’s Let’s Go BikeReady programme has been educating youth on bike etiquette and safety for seven years.
The programme is delivered by Bigfoot Adventures, whose director Kris Bartley said he agreed with the proposed change and that it would have a net benefit.
“I think the reality is that you get a lot of kids of that age that are already riding on the footpath,” he said.
“The flip side of that though is that I still believe there needs to be education around it.”
Part of Bigfoot Adventures’ education programmes in Whanganui included how to share pathways with pedestrians and be mindful of dangers such as reversing cars, blind driveways and corners.
Bartley said his messaging to kids when riding on pathways with pedestrians had been “we’re a guest on the footpath”.
He encouraged youth cyclists to always give way to pedestrians on footpaths.
“Anything that removes a barrier to people cycling more often, to more places, has got to be a good thing,” Bartley said.
Other proposed changes include requiring motorists to give a 1-1.5m gap when passing cyclists and horse riders.
E-scooters would be allowed to use bike lanes.
Drivers travelling under 60km/h would be required to give way to buses pulling out from bus stops.
Signage rules would be clarified to allow councils to better manage berm parking.
Living Streets Aotearoa president Tim Jones said the pedestrian advocacy group was staunchly against Proposal 1 (allowing children as old as 12 to ride on footpaths).
“Overall, we think most of these proposals, if enacted, will make life better for pedestrians. But Proposal 1 does the opposite – it puts pedestrians at greater risk,” Jones said.
The proposed changes are open for consultation until March 25. Feedback can be given via the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi website.
Erin Smith is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
