Originally Posted by ElJamoquio
These types of laws are not the jurisdiction of the feds. It varies from state to state, town to town, and sometimes even by age.
+10
Originally Posted by FIVE ONE SIX
actually, since bikes are traffic, all traffic laws that apply to cars also apply to bikes...
so unless it's ok for a motorcycle or a car to ride on the sidewalk, than it's not ok for a bike to do the same...
-100
Cars and motorcycles have mechanical motors.
Bicycles do not.
You can't equate one with the other, and neither does the law.
Your claim that riding bicycles on sidewalks anywhere in the US is illegal is INCORRECT. Just in the Washington DC area, it is mostly legal (and in some cases legally required) to ride on sidewalks, except for some places (like central business districts or isolated jurisdictions) where it is specifically prohibitted.
Every place I've lived, and under most sets of regualtions I've read, when a bike is on a road it is treated like a vehicle (with some special provisions written into the law) and when a bike is on a sidwalk it is treated like a pedestrian.