DON Parlabean's letter (Chain Of Inaction, Wednesday, August 23) came at a very coincidental time for me.

The very night his letter appeared, I came so close to being ploughed into by a youth wearing a baseball cap, riding one of those silly bikes which require the rider's knees to touch his chin.

As he almost collided with me, he shouted some sort of warning, which was the first indication I was aware of that I had had a narrow escape in Front Street, Acomb, York. However, he did have the grace to shout, "sorry!" as he and his mate carried on along the pavement, which is something to be grateful for, I suppose.

Not as sorry as I would have been if I had been injured.

I have little doubt that sometime in the future I will not be so lucky as to be missed by inches.

Try as I might, I just cannot get used to looking out for traffic on the pavement, where it was never supposed to be and never was before.

This is not the first time I have had a narrow escape from pavement cyclists, and I can assure Leo Enticknap (Elderly Boy Racers, Readers' Letters, August 23) that the ones I have almost come into contact with were all youthful and of the male gender.

Mrs W P Carter, Marston Crescent, Acomb, York.