Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
It's always possible to find a particular sidewalk that is safer or a particular road that is more dangerous - those are really meaningless exceptions because because cherry picking examples is not representative of the whole. Mile for mile ridden, I think it's been pretty clearly shown in a number of studies, that a given cyclist is safer on a roadway than on a sidewalk and safer by a wide margin.
Finally, one can talk all the precautions one wants to but it's impossible to foresee the unforeseen but it is accounted for in the aggregate of the data. Let's just say that you could have a cyclist who could prepare and anticipate every potential hazard and never have an issue. That cyclist would be no more representative than the uber safe stretch of sidewalk along a golf course that is never used by anyone except (say) you. Either way, those are outliers.
Now, if the OP is referring to a particular stretch of road or sidewalk, then the generalization wouldn't apply (obviously) and this is meaningless. However, that wasn't the way this was presented and it still remains that all the data and studies point to the fact that sidewalks are multiple times more dangerous to a cyclist than are roadways.
J.
I mentioned a particular sidewalk to illustrate a point that streets aren't always safer than sidewalks. Yes I was cherry picking.
The larger point I was trying to make is that whatever study national study you're looking at the aggregate data may lead to conclusions that don't apply to specific areas. There are places where the streets/highways are pretty hostile environments for cycling. Often there are no sidewalks in those areas anyway, but if there were, they very well may be safer than the street.
So I'd say consider the stats, understand the risks (to you and your fellow humans), and make your own judgement.