"...personal responsibiity".

This is supremely meaningless.    Congratulations.

Ron Davies, you have a way with words. And I don't particularly mean that as a compliment...

What's so "meaningless" about taking personal responsibility for your actions? Surely it's a cornerstone of any halfway civilised society, and the absence of this is one of the reasons we're in the mess we're in?

As a cyclist I never cycle on the pavement ("sidewalk"). EVER. The pavement is not there for me - the road is. And bastards in cars with no spatial awareness, no patience, no common sense and no driving skills make the road a dangerous place for me. So excuse me if I bang on about it... I cycle to work every day. I never see cyclists on the pavement though I see plenty on the road. In fact, generally, the only cyclists on the pavement are young children, which is legal in the UK... or those sorts of young men who happen to own bikes who, frankly, I wouldn't dignify with the title "cyclists".