Originally Posted by
Commando303
I think what tricky is determining what, exactly, counts as "riding on the sidewalk." Most of us likely "start up" on the sidewalk, and even more ride from the street onto the sidewalk for at least several feet, when ready to dismount our bikes. I, for one, would not consider this to be a problem, but, admittedly, I'm not typically upset, either, by a cautious, slow-moving bicyclist's presence on the concrete, generally.
In some ways, the bottom line is that we shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk. When I got my ticket, I had ridden about 1/2 mile along Flatbush between Eastern Parkway and Empire Blvd. The officer who wrote the ticket told me that there had been complaints to the precinct about bikes on the sidewalk endangering people. As I explained in my previous post, the tickets were thrown out with an admonition not to ride on the sidewalk. I've often ridden that section of Flatbush on the sidewalk after that.
I'm reminded of a Three Stooges routine (they were one of my great teachers about human nature). Moe either slaps Larry in the face or gives him two fingers in the eyes. Larry complains that he didn't do anything and didn't deserve to be abused. Moe justifies his actions by saying it was meant to cover anything that Larry did in the past or will do in the future that Moe wasn't aware of. (I'm sure there's a simpler way of saying that)
Along the same twisted lines. I was riding up in the Fort Washington area of Manhattan on the day of some bike event. I came to a stop at a red light facing me on Fort Washington Ave. A nice older woman complimented me for stopping at the red light, which she explained most bike riders don't do. I couldn't let her shower me with kind words and explained to her that I stopped because there was a patrol car sitting at the intersection.