I was almost hit by a teenage cyclist on the sidewalk.
I was approaching the end of a side-road, about to turn left into the main road.
As I reach the junction, a cyclist comes across the junction as a pedstrian, from the sidewalk at about 20mph (its a steep hill). He was going way too fast for my pedestrian check to locate him, and I had to slam on my brakes.
Had he been riding on the road, I would have seen him and had to yield for him.
On the rare occasions I do ride on the empty sidewalk (at walking pace) I am aware of who is and isnt expecting me, usually.
Last week I almost got run over on the sidewalk by a car which came out of a sideroad, then crossed over the main road, and into a driveway. I was about to cross the driveway when he accelerated across the road into me. Had to do an emergency brake.
Sidewalks are too dangerous. Ill stick to the road.