Bekologist

This is what happens when you combine unfriendly streets for bikes with bad legislation. I wonder if the student didn't feel comfortable riding in the street.

I wonder if the student in the OP is going to:

a) ride in the street now;
b) ride on the sidewalk, risk a ticket, and ride with a chip on her shoulder for the repressive treatment at the hands of the law; or
c) give up biking as soon as she possibly can.

Getting ticketed as the result of a collision with a motor vehicle, if riding in the road presents issues, could likely be a deal breaker for the young woman shown in the video.

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I had to bring this up at a traffic charette a few weeks ago- you can start writing tickets for sidewalk cycling, but if riders don't feel safe riding in the streets, writing tickets isn't going to force people to ride in the street - it's going to force people off their bikes!


Denver, despite its high regard for bikeability, appears to have a very shortsighted traffic safety/enforcement policy for bicycle traffic.

Tickets should be given out according to the vulnerable user doctrine- bicyclists don't threaten motorists, pedestrians threaten neither. In a conflict between two classes of road user, the least vulnerable road user should be culpable barring gross negligence on the part of the more vulnerable road user.

and, IMO, riding on the sidewalk out of fear of traffic isn't gross negligence on the part of a cyclist. Despite what the law says.

and, no, that's not backed up by any US legal precedent, it's the way i think it should be.