I don't get the debate about the specific laws. I'm pretty sure that even where riding in sidewalks is legal, hitting pedestrians isn't. Common sense dictates that cyclists riding among pedestrians, on the sidewalk or on the road, have to exercise due caution, and stop and identify themselves if a collision results in injury or damage.

OTOH a personal incident isn't cause for an all out blitz on cyclists, a wild rant, or a call for impractical regulation.

Then again, maybe we should install street view cameras everywhere, and have every human have a bar code tattooed on his/her forehead so if anything happens the authorities can easily identify and track down the people responsible. If tattoos are cosmetically unacceptable, RFID technology is now so good that we could plan a chip in everyone's ear in a way that it won't be noticeable, and place readers all over to help match identities to the photos taken by security cams.

What a wonderful world that would be.