Originally Posted by Glyndwr

It's called a sideWALK, not sidebicycle - except for small children, no one should be riding on a sidewalk. Be an adult, get on the street - if you don't feel comfortable riding where you live, then don't ride. Take your bicycle somewhere where you do feel safe to ride, or if a cycling lifestyle is that important to you, move somewhere with more bike paths or with less traffic, but don't endanger people on the sidewalk.

...and another thing, cycling on the sidewalk doesn't necessarily make you safe from drivers, especially at intersections. I was at my local bike shop and when leaving the parking lot, making a right-hand turn, I was watching towards the left, looking for a break in traffic. Just as I was ready to go, a kid jumped down from the sidewalk on my right to cut across in front of me. He was nearly on my hood! Now, you can say, "You have to look both ways," but how many of us look back to the right several times before making a right-hand turn? Drivers are certainly not looking for cyclists riding against the flow of traffic (man, THAT is whole other can of worms, right?) on a sidewalk!