Originally Posted by dfw
If you are off your bike walking it across a crosswalk, you're a pedestrian and have right of way. If you're riding your bike across a crosswalk you have no more right of way than any other vehicle. If you're riding your bike on the sidewalk, you're breaking the law in most states.
Not true everywhere. In Virginia bicycles can ride on sidewalks unless specifically prohibited by the local jurisdiction (and most don't prohibit). When a bicycle is on a road, it is considered a vehicle. When it is on a sidewalk or path, it is considered a pedestrian, with some special responsibilities in dealing with other pedestrians. Any pedestrian or bicycle in a crosswalk
always has the right of way over a vehicle
turning into the roadway.
Near here, in Loudon County, VA they are having a very public discussion about bicycles at trail crossings after two cyclists were killed in two incidents at the end of August. If the Santo Rosa accident had happened in Virginia, the truck driver would have been entirely at fault.
I wonder if anyone has figured out what the different bikes-on-sidewalk laws are from state to state?