wheel

I would like to hear your thoughts if Share the road extends to roller blades.

First if Rollerblades are a form of transportation then where do they belong, where are they supposed to ride?
Example when I go pick my bicycle up/drop off from the LBS I rollerblade to and from the store.
Example There is rollerblading cops.

I found this hideous law in my city.

Sec. 36-117. Applicability of pedestrian laws.
No person upon roller skates or riding in or by means of any coaster, toy vehicle or similar device, shall go upon any roadway except while crossing a street in a crosswalk and, when so crossing, such person shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to pedestrians, and the use of such devices shall be prohibited in any business district.
(Code 1962, § 37-25.07)

I believe share the road means just that share the frikin road.

First a bicycle by law can ride on a sidewalk and the road. Then why can't a rollerblader do the same?

If there are no speed limitations (how slow you can go) on a bicycle then the same should apply to a rollerblader. Note I can sail at 10mphs an hour

What happens when they are no sidewalks or they are impassable? DOH I guess they did not think about that one. So under the law you need to take off your roller blades till you find a sidewalk?

What is a business district so I can't ride to my LBS because it is a zoning district HUH?


I think we need to accommodate all types of transportation.
Unlike a skateboard or scooter you are permanently affixed to your rollerblade even different to a bicycle. But much the same that it is a vehicle moved by human power.
I ride in the street on residential roads, and cling to a sidewalk on Arterial roads.
The main problem is sidewalks are dangerous places for rollerblades much like bicyle lanes are to bicycles.


So let me know what you think.

noisebeam

I was once cycling down Pecos in a 25mph paceline in the shoulder and an inline skater passed us using the outer lane. Came to a gentle downhill, we picked it up to 30mph and he was still ahead.

Al

noisebeam

https://www.fasst.com/defense.htm

wheel

Wow that is some serious skating. I have a hard time keeping up at 12 miles an hour.

Amazing how that read almost verbatim to Phoenix code. Expect the playground thing.
Ord. 311.03 – “No person on roller skates, or riding in or by means of any skateboard, coaster, toy vehicle, or similar device shall go upon any roadway except while crossing a street on a crosswalk, or unless the same has been set aside for playground.

Thanks for the article nice read.

John Wilke

We used to spend quite a bit of time in the fall inline skating with XC ski poles in the 'burbs and out in the country in prep for the ski season. Only once did we experience any problems with the sheriff, that was early on a sunday morning on a back road, going up a steep hill ... the sheriff wanted to pass us ~NOW~ and we were too wide for him to do so safely and working too hard to want to give up our momentum until the top ... so he pulled us over and gave us a lecture (it went in one ear and out the other I'm afraid).

Other than that, no trouble outside of the ordinary bone head drivers with hundreds of hours logged on skates.

jw

noisebeam

Yep. He was in our draft for a while before and probaby put in some extra effort to 'drop' us. Timed it so he'd have the hill to tuck in after the drop (inline can go faster downhill with same weight, lower air resistance). Whoever he was I think he must have been at a farily elite level, both for the speed and confidence/handling to use our draft and pass using lane on a 55mph road.
Al

Eli_Damon

I think this is an important legal issue. In general, how do we decide which vehicles are "pedestrian-like", which are "car-like", and which can be either. We have established that bicycles can be either, anything with an internal combustion engine are "car-like", and wheelchairs are "pedestrian-like". Skateboards and rollerskates are in limbo, as are Segways. Pedal-powered vehicles with more than two wheels can be "car-like" but can they also be "pedestrian-like"? They are allowed on MUP's, which should imply that they can be "pedestrian-like". However, I don't know if they are allowed on sidewalks. Riding-animals are "car-like" because they are allowed on roads but not on sidewalks or MUP's.

My point is, we need a law which defines different vehicle classes and specifies what rights and responsibilities an operator of a vehicle of each class has. The class definitions should be written to be as general as possible and so that a vehicle's class can easily be determined. The laws are a mess and they cause unnecessary controversy (e.g. the fixie debate).

galen_52657

Rollerbladers do not bother me, unless they are 'walking' a dog on one of those friggin retractable leashes.....

As far as I am concerned, everybody has just as much right to the blacktop as anybody else. If I am on my bike or in my car, I slow down and pass only when safe to do so. This goes for pedestrians walking/jogging/running, skateboarders, rollerbladers, other cyclists, folks on horseback and slow moving farm/heavy equipment. It's not that hard.

AndrewP

Too many regulations - do what is safe, according to prevailing conditions. I am not sure if roller bladers should go against the traffic like peds, or with the traffic like bikes. Only bikes with <20" wheel dia are allowed on sidewalks here, and bikes have to use a bikepath if available, but there is no enforcement of either these regulations

genec

Since we are talking about other "alternative transportation," what about Segways and what about those battery powered scooters... where do they belong... roadway, sidewalk, "bike lane?"

edit: and let's go one further... what about reflectors and blinkies and headlights... shouldn't anyone on the road also have adequate lighting... and what about proper brakes (now we get into the fixie arguments too).

sgtsmile

My main issue is with roller bladers using a bike lane in the wrong direction. For one, it is illegal (by several standards...) and another, it is unsafe. Due to their speed, it makes more sense to me if they are going to be in traffic lanes (of which a bike lane is merely one) then they should act more like a bike and go WITH traffic, not against it (like a pedestrian does when walking on the road).

galen_52657

I would agree. Walking pace is about 3 MPH. Rollerbladers as shown above are quite fast. I say if it has wheels and you are on it, it's a vehicle.

banerjek

It's best when laws say how we must act rather than what we must have. I used to rollerblade for miles on roads -- they are a perfectly fast and reasonable form of transportation for anything up to a few miles.

Having said that, I could never go as fast on rollerblades as I can on a bike (except when skitching -- an insanely dangerous/stupid practice which I used to do on rollerblades to cover long distances really fast).

Treespeed

What are the braking distances like for Rollerbladers going 20+mph? This reminds me of the fixed-gear advoacates saying that they are perfectly capable of braking safely. But what does a panic brake look like for a rollerblader? It can't be pretty. Someone set me straight.

noisebeam

I've read that even for skilled operators at higher speeds they are significantly longer than bicycles (i.e. impractical distances in urban traffic)

As to speed... more info, I just checked and one 20k in line skate road (vs. track) race I came across was won in just under 33min. Thats ~22.7mph average. These are of course elite top speeds.

Al

sbhikes

Sounds like rollerbladers are considered basically pedestrians with some added restricitions. So you can use the sidewalk (but not in a business district) or the bike path/MUP, but not the road.

Treespeed

I just think the onus is on the rollerbladers to show that they can control themselves at speed, which seems to be the crux of the argument here. If you rollerblad too fast to ride safely on the sidewalk can you stop safely from that speed? I don't know the answer which is why I'm asking. Though I'd much rather see a 20+mph rollerblader on the street anyday.

LCI_Brian

Generally speaking, bicyclists must obey vehicle laws when on the road and pedestrian laws when on the sidewalk. I wouldn't object to the same concept for skaters, but I haven't thought through the braking and lighting issues. In most cases it seems the skaters are bound by pedestrian laws.

banerjek

Straight stopping distances are long, but you have some options. When going at high speeds, ice hockey stops do not work. However, you can turn very fast (this dissipates an enormous amount of energy and speed if done properly) so shorter wider turns are the norm -- though this would not be practical in traffic. If you wear a heavy leather jacket and full fingered gloves like I did, rolling is viable in some situations.

Swerving and jumping onto dirt or crashing into an object that is least likely to cause injury is also effective. This may sound insane, but because you can twist, jump, and maneuver reasonably precisely, you can run into things at surprisingly high speeds without getting hurt. It is very rarely necessary to run into things -- there is usually a person sized escape route available somewhere.

Treespeed

I see how that might work, but I don't think any of those solutions would carry much weight with any logical municipality. Saying I could crash safely isn't really being in control. I'm not saying it should be illegal, but I could understand a city trying to protect itself from liability.

genec

LOL but none of those sound like options to mix with traffic... IE, light turns red... can mr rollerblader stop?

LCI_Brian

The other thing about liability is that a city may be concerned about having to keep their roads smoother to accommodate skaters.

tomcryar

Yeah, it would suck to have smoother roads.

Treespeed

I don't imagine you're volunteering to pay more for them
Or share them with trucks and busses that will put them right back to their current condition after one freeze/hot summer.

rajman

I personally have no problem with rollerbladers on roads - the real problem is the cars and trucks

FWIW - most bladers are speeding at a rate higher than the average jogger (say 10 mph) should probably be on the road. That being said, many speedsters are on the sidewalk, causing trouble. Did I mention that everyone (motorists included) would be safer if cars and trucks were not allowed on the roads?