Originally Posted by
snafu21
There's a lot of debate about cycling on the sidewalk in another thread. There appear to be several camps:
1) Cycling on sidewalks is morally incomprehensible and gets cyclists a Bad Name
2) Cycling on sidewalks is sometimes better than being killed by speeding traffic
3) People moralising about others behaviour should leave law enforcment to the police and get a life.
I got taken to task for admitting to cycling on the sidewalk in rural Oxfordshire. Yabbut. The road from Marcham to Abingdon is a 60 mph speed limit and heavily used by trucks. The sidewalk is used by pedestrians and bikes and both coexist peacefully. There is no cycle lane or signed cycleway, and even the local community police officers cycle on it. Yet, they are 'breaking the law'.
Flash to the Oxfordshire village of Carterton. Broad sidewalks, people of all ages and genders cycle on sidewalks. Nobody gives a hoot.
Yeah. I know NYC isn't some sleepy town in the UK. But would all you sofa-lawyers mind stopping telling other people what to do?
Thanks.
Folding bike content: I cycle on a folding bicycle, sometimes on the sidewalk.
I'm the one who chimed in on the sidewalk issue in the other thread, so I figure a response is due here. I'm not too interested in re-hashing the topic to death but... I will make a few points.
First, there is another option that you didn't post, so I'll add it here :
4) Cycling on the sidewalk is usually more dangerous for
both cyclists and pedestrians, and therefore best avoided.
A good way to avoid getting hit by a car is to be easily seen by the driver of said car.
A good way to be easily seen is to be in place where the driver expects to see stuff (i.e. the road).
Most statistics suggest that you are less likely to whacked if you are riding in the road in an appropriate manner than if you are on the sidewalk. Unless you get off the bike, look both ways, and walk across all intersections, driveways, etc. while pootling alongside the peds on the pavement.
You might feel more comfortable on the sidewalk, but you aren't safer there.
As for danger to peds, I agree that this can reduced. Just ride at or below the speed that you could run along the same pavement. You'll still likely hit someone suddenly stepping out in front of you, but you probably won't kill them. Of course, at that speed (I dunno, 8 MPH or slower) you might have more fun leaving the bike at home and just going for a walk...
Country roads might be another issue, but I've never seen a sidewalk at the side of one. In fact, I've cycled around a few people that have had no choice but to walk in the road out in the country.
Timely thing, this thread, as I just saw on the BBC news the story reporting the sentencing of cyclist who killed a ped while cycling on the pavement. This guy sounded like he had total disregard for others safety, and I'm not suggesting for a minute that anyone on this forum would behave similarly. Just mentioning it in reference to public opinion of cyclists on the pavement. I've certainly never heard of a ped who was happy with cyclists on the sidewalk with them. Just because they're not yelling at you, doesn't mean they're happy about it. At the end of the day, you have no right to cycle on a sidewalk. You do however, have every right to cycle on the road (or cycle path).
So, it seems that only benefit cited to pavement cycling is that it's safer than riding with cars on the road. Except it's not. Sure, you might not be a significant danger to peds if you cycle slow enough. Then again, bikes are hard and if you do hit someone, you will hurt them. At least a little bit. Why risk it when there is little benefit to you doing so?
If the road you want to ride on is too busy / fast / narrow for you to feel safe while riding on it, you probably shouldn't. That's not the same thing as saying that is justification for riding on the sidewalk. The two issues are separate.