not surprising. 16 km/h is too slow to be safe on a city road in the UK and too fast to be safe on a pavement when it is shared with other people (especially children and seniors).
As it is, I do not think it is a good idea for people to ride their bicycles on the pavements in the way folk do in this country (I try to avoid doing so) – but poor quality road layouts, cheapskate measures by Councils and a decline in civility in public places often encourage this.
TBH if there were not raised kerbs and ANPR / CCTV and traffic police I fear people would drive their cars on the pavements if they could get away with it (they certainly park them on the pavements). Unfortunately I regularly see people trying to intimidate each other on the roads as a matter of routine. People in Britain do not seem to have been taught to share public space; they “hold their ground” to the last and collisions happen.
I’ve noticed this loads and it is not confined to any one type of person or road user. There is already a rise in low level violent crime in city areas; much of which often to erupt from “road rage” incidents (outside of London and Manchester there is not a big problem with gangs as such). Adding more cheap badly regulated vehicles to the mix without first sorting out our street layouts (which means spending public money, like it or not) isn’t going to help matters.
