rando

exactly my situation. bikes use the sidewalk, but no one's going very fast.

Grillparzer

In Maryland it's apparently left up to the county to decide, I know Montgomery County (one of the most populated) allows it but I'm not sure about adjacent Prince George where I presently live. In Alabama, where I used to live, it is assumed to be legal except when prohibited by municipal ordinance although there is a (probably unenforceable) fluke in the law that prohibits it state wide. Alabama state law distinguishes between the rights of "motor vehicles" and "vehicles" fairly clearly except in the traffic ordinance that prohibits driving on sidewalks.

c_m_shooter

Ride on the road where you belong. Drivers have been pretty courtious when I have ridden through Austin.

rando

ride where it works for you and is legal. you don't have to be in the road all the time.

goodboynyc

In NYC it is illegal to ride on the sidewalks if you're older than 13(give or take a few years). Though there are some sidewalks where you are allowed to bike on but thats only if accompanied by a sign saying that you can.

My route coming home from school has me on the sidewalk for a few blocks.

LesterOfPuppets

Just so all three cities can be in one post:

Austin : Illegal in certain areas:
A person may not ride a bicycle on a sidewalk on the following streets: (1) 100-1100 blocks of Congress Avenue;
(2) 1900-2500 blocks of Guadalupe Street;
(3) 100-1100 blocks of Brazos Street;
(4) 200-1100 blocks of Colorado Street;
(5) from the 200 block of West 2nd to the 300 block of East 2nd Street;
(6) from the 900 block of West 5th to the 800 block of East 5th Street;
(7) from the 700 block of East 6th Street to the 1000 block of West 6th Street;
(8) from the 100 block of West 8th Street to the 200 block of East 8th Street;
(9) from the 100 block of West 9th Street to the 200 block of East 9th Street;
(10) from the 200 block of West 11th Street to the 200 block of East 11th Street; and
(11) from the 200 block of West 15th Street to the 200 block of East 15th Street.

Houston: Illegal in certain areas:
No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk in the City of Houston within a business district or where prohibited by sign. A business district is defined as "the territory contiguous to and including a roadway when, within 600 feet along such roadway, there are buildings in use for business or industrial purpose which occupy 300 feet collectively on both sides of the roadway". Also, bicyclists are required to yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal to pedestrians when riding on approved sidewalks. (In general, bicyclists are permitted to ride on sidewalks unless prohibited by local ordinances, although experienced cyclists usually agree that it is much safer to ride on the street and follow the laws as they apply to any other vehicle.)

San Antonio : Illegal within the city limits.
In San Antonio, City Ordinance does not allow bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks (except for law enforcement and emergency personnel)

LesterOfPuppets

Oh, and to answer the thread subject, yes it's legal to ride sidewalks in my area. There's one leg of my commute on which I'll regularly ride sidewalk and another that I almost never ride sidewalk.

tatfiend 

In Nevada it is technically illegal to ride on the sidewalks per state law. Not enforced in Reno for kids and I see enough adults riding the sidewalks so apparently not enforced for them either. I also though see adult cyclists riding the wrong way on 1 way streets and pulling other bonehead maneuvers routinely too.

analog_kid86

"A person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device on a sidewalk constructed for the use of pedestrians shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing the pedestrian."

This is the Michigan state law.

Pscyclepath

Nearly all cities which prohibit riding on the sidewalk make a singular exception for their bike cops.

It's illegal for someone who's not a bike cop to ride the sidewalks; for the cops, that's part of their patrol area.

DieselDan

While I can't speak for those areas, riding a bike on a sidewalk is legal in my town of Beaufort, SC, has declared sidewalks as multi-user paths through local ordinance. However, leave the corporate limits of Beaufort out into the unincorporated county or the town of Port Royal, you have to be back on the street.

Since you seem to have internet access, try searching for the local laws regarding bikes.

Bdude

Well, in Santa Monica officially no, unofficially yes. Many people, including me, ride on the sidewalks at times and cops drive by without even caring. Heck, a lot of people ride on the sidewalk here in addition to not wearing a helmet, so yeah that means something. Anyway, yeah I try to stay on the street as much as possible, but who knows. I guess it also depends on the moods of the cops. I remember one time I was riding on the sidewalk with my friend late at night and this one cop on a motorcycle kinda looked at us and was gesturing towards us as if to tell us to stop and go on the street, but he didn't do anything after that. The cops in Santa Monica are pretty chill.

Retro Grouch 

Legal or illegal doesn't matter to me very much. I'm more interested in what happens when I do.

I pretty much ride wherever I think it's functional. Mostly that's in the street but, when I ride to the convenience store on the corner, I ride on the sidewalk on the trip up and in the street on the way home. That way I don't have to cross the 4-lane street. I suppose if I were stopped by the police and asked to prove my citizenship or something I might change my practices but, so far, that hasn't happened. I do make a point of not running over pedestrians, maybe that has something to do with it.

xtrajack

You mean you're not supposed to run over the pedestrians???

Arcanum

Bicycles aren't very good for it; You only get one or two before you wreck. How are you going to get a high-scoring chain that way?

That's one area cars have a clear advantage.

Bdude

My friend was going downhill on a sidewalk near Venice, California and he crashed into some old man who came out of nowhere jogging. The guy was injured in addition to my friend. When my friend got up, the old man thought he was fleeing the scene and said, "Well, don't go anywhere!" Eventually the cops showed up but no one was in trouble.

Rex G

In downtown Houston, the police WILL enforce the law against riding on sidewalks.

apclassic9

regardless of specific city ordinances in Texas, the Texas DMV https://www.txdot.gov/safety/tips/bicycles.htm says cyclists obey all the traffic laws that drivers do. so, no sidewalks.

derekthelion

I totally agree!

LesterOfPuppets

I kinda agree, but it really depends on the sidewalk. I frequently ride sidewalk for one mile of my 3.8 mile commute, but there's only a handful of little-used driveways to contend with on that stretch. Sidewalk in most city environments totally sucks.

Jeff Wills

I live across town from Les, and it's not possible to ride on the sidewalk here. No sidewalks!

FWIW: I had to worry about this for a I ride I lead through downtown Portland. In some parts of the Portland core, riding on the sidewalk is illegal. Outside the core, no problem. I think there's signs:

nice_marmot

I've been up in Anchorage, AK for the past two months. Sidewalk riding is not only legal, but more or less mandatory on busier streets. Drivers don't know how to react to bikes. Luckily, there is an insane number of bike paths throughout the city.

LesterOfPuppets

My kinda sidewalk: (in conditions like this or a little wetter, I roll the sidewalk cuz it's drier than the bikelane. Hard to tell from the pic, but if you ride the bike lane in these conditions without a front fender, you get covered in grit, roll the sidewalk and your socks stay pretty clean.)

jimrich

How come you don't know the laws and rules? Bikers where I live, Tarzana, CA, are not only ignorant about the laws when they ride on the sidewalk - they don't even care! If I tell a biker that it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk, he will tell me to stick it and even threaten me with violence if I don't SHUT UP RIGHT NOW! It's absolutely inexcusable to be riding a dangerous vehicle and NOT KNOW the vehicle code in your own area!
I'd google the question and get realistically informed, ASAP.
Good luck before you injure someone.
jim

CliffordK

How about this?

The bike path clearly leads... ONTO THE SIDEWALK.

(about 50 feet before the bus stop).

Pioneer Parkway, Springfield, OR (Google Snaps)



Although it doesn't look like it here... this is, in fact, a rails to trails MUP. Still, it just seems a bit funky.

I've never hit it with a lot of pedestrians loitering around though.

I don't know exactly what the rules for sidewalks are. My rule is to slow down and be courteous to the pedestrians, and never ride on a sidewalk with large numbers of pedestrians. There are a couple of places where I find it convenient to cut down the left side of the road for a half a block or so until I can safely cross to the right. One in particular, at my grocery store, I always have troubles making a left hand turn out of the parking lot, but a half a block further down, I can generally SAFELY get across without much of a wait, and not inconveniencing other vehicles.

In Portland, over the old Sellwood Bridge (is there a new one yet?) I've ridden with traffic over the bridge, but that is just wicked. They technically try to route bicycles onto the sidewalk on the north side of the bridge... then have a sign saying to walk one's bike for the 1/4 mile across the river (does anybody do that?)