by Sixstrings » Fri 27 Feb 2015, 02:20:43
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'Y')ou're really, really, really nuts. Bike lanes aren't great, I won't use them, even when they're available; but there is absolutely no more dangerous place for a bicycle than on the sidewalk.
Well, I'm talking about suburban areas, really. Yes, downtowns there's too much pedestrian traffic for bikes to use the sidewalk and you're right I guess the ordinance is you're not supposed to. It's common sense, sure if you're downtown then you don't ride on the sidewalk. But otherwise -- at least in my area --sprawl as far as the eye can see,
of empty sidewalks. So why put in bike lanes too.
Bike lanes are not safe. It's a nuisance for drivers with everyone having to slow down or swerve a bit.
So here, I'll make an Agenda 22 masterpiece of green and SAFE urban planning:
ROAD ||, at least a yard of easement grass then || bikelane, two feet of grass, then || sidewalk.
The point illustrated here is that these are LOCAL issues. There is no one master plan for all. Where I live, most folk ride on the sidewalks, except downtown. It just depends on the area. If it's a quiet residential street, then sure ride in the road. If it's moderate mixed use and busy roads but empty sidewalks -- then use the sidewalk. If it's downtown, with busy pedestrians and vehicular -- then you have to use the roads. It's a bicycle. It's not rocket science.
I for one would never, ever, ride a bicycle on a busy road. I do not trust drunks and 95 year olds driving their landyachts and whizzing by on my left at 45 mph with just a couple feet to spare. No thanks, I'll use the sidewalks. And if I go downtown, I'm not riding a darn bicycle.
Agent -- people on mopeds and motorcycles get hit ALL THE TIME. The only reasons cyclists don't get hit as much, as least around where I am, is that people don't ride bikes so much. Or if they do, they have some sense like I do, and take advantage of the sidewalk and get a lot of space from the motorists.
Other than downtown areas, I just feel like it's riduclous when you see KIDS that have enough sense to ride on the sidewalk but then you've got some yuppie in spandex riding a bicycle on a busy road, endangering everyone, just so he can get some exercise. It's so annoying. All the traffic has to slow down, and then swerve, and that's just dangerous. And then you get some idiots -- usually young adults riding to work, that ride their bicycles on the road at night and they've got no reflective vest on or nothin, I hate that.
Honestly -- sidewalks are safer -- the cars at the intersection are stopping, and can see you and you see them as you cross intersections; vehicles on the road are in motion.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')an You Ride a Bike on the Sidewalk?
Here's a look at biking on sidewalks — which is a perfect microcosm of the complicated relationship between traffic and bicycle laws in most states.
What Are Sidewalk Riding Laws?
Sidewalk riding laws define the rights and duties of a bicyclist when riding on a sidewalk. Whether a bicycle can be legally ridden on a sidewalk highlights the complicated and hybrid nature of the bicycle under current traffic laws in most states. A bicycle is at once a vehicle, given all the rights and duties of a vehicle; its own entity, subject to specifically tailored alternative rules; and in some cases treated as a pedestrian, with all accompanying rights and duties. In some instances, laws related to sidewalk riding can also highlight a division between adult and child bicycling.
When states do not explicitly allow bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks, court interpretations of statutes may still allow bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks. In most, if not all, states, either statutes or court decisions say that whatever laws govern bicycle behavior on sidewalks will also apply to crosswalks.
In addition to these issues caused by the hybrid nature of bicycles, many states leave their traffic laws open to change by localities, either in limited circumstances or through a general grant of power. Whether a bicycle may be ridden on a sidewalk is often explicitly allowed to be a local decision and may also be limited in central business districts, where pedestrian traffic is likely to be heavier.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/can-you-ride-a-bike-on-the-sidewalk-zb0z1306zsal.aspx