Originally Posted by
OMEN!
Thank you all for the replies!
Trying to stay on topic - what Christophe said here is kind of what I was getting at. Surprisingly, I am allowed to ride without dismounting, on the sidewalk (I always believe this to be illegal). Does that mean I could have, after yielding to the pedestrians, crossed without dismounting in the 'zebra stripe' crosswalk rather than in the bike lane and been within my rights? Not trying to be a wise-a**, but I feel like I have more questions now. How does this impact when a red light isn't triggered - would I have to press the button and then walk across?
*Edit* I will be going to a bike swap on Sunday in Somerville and will ask around and see if I can get any city-specific answers.
MA law has a quirk in that it doesn't specify whether crosswalks are "sidewalks" for purposes of bike riding. The cop wasn't answering that question and it doesn't have a clear answer. There might be a local ordinance, but I'm not that interested. I can tell you that on the Minuteman, there's signage that indicates cyclists are not protected in a crosswalk unless they walk your bike. I know at least one MA MUP indicates that you are supposed to get off the bike to cross the road (I forget which one, but not near Boston) and literally every single cyclist ignores the signage.