Cyclists who ride on the pavement (footway) usually do so because they are afraid to ride on roads that are filled with motor vehicles often driven by aggressive or careless drivers. Once there is decent cycle infrastructure, separated from motor traffic, there is no need to ride on the footway. Good quality protected cycleways are great for pedestrians.
Think about it. Why would anybody who wants to get somewhere on a cycle choose to ride on a footway, with kerbs to go up and down, pedestrians and dogs (not to mention parked cars) blocking the way, having to stop at every side road and lose all their momentum, if there is a good quality protected cycleway?
Yes, some cyclists do cycle on the pavement. But who causes the lion’s share of deaths on the footway (pavement) or verge?
According to https://www.projectpedestrian.com/data: “Between 2005 and 2018, 8.6% of the 5,835 pedestrian deaths in England, Scotland and Wales occurred on pavements, the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy, a new academic think tank, has found. The majority (542) were killed when motorists mounted pavements, with six fatal pedestrian-cycle footway collisions.
Analysis of historic STATS19 data, a road traffic collision form used by police to log crashes, found most fatal collisions on pavements took place in fine weather, on well-lit streets, with no hazards on the road. Most were clustered in built-up areas on urban roads, some on rural roads, with people walking on verges.”
Deaths on the footway involving cycles on the footway are 1.1% versus those involving motor-vehicles on the footway which are 98.9%.
So the overwhelming danger on the footway comes from motorists, not cyclists.