randya

and how many of these cyclists were adults?

I-Like-To-Bike

Without severity and exposure info, these "stats" are useless for evaluating or comparing relative risk. What other confounding variables, like age of the cyclists, are being ignored in this simplistic table?

What percentage of Toronto cyclists ride on sidewalks? What are the ages of those who got into a collision with a motor vehicle while on the sidewalk, in comparison with the average age of cyclists in Toronto? Again, any data on the severity of the injuries suffered by these "possibly sidewalk contributing" accident victims in comparison with injuries suffered by those other 70% of cyclists involved in motor vehicle collisions?

EnigManiac

Is death the only indicator of danger? Of course not. Toronto has approximately 1,000 reported collisions per year between motor vehicles and cyclists yet average only 3 deaths. Only about 100 of the collisions result in serious injury. But even suffering a minor injury means the situation where the minor injury was inflicted was dangerous---not fatal perhaps, but dangerous none-the-less, simply because there was a higher risk of injury. I have rarely seen a cyclist hit by a car, but I have seen many instances of cyclists falling off their bikes trying to avoid a pedestrian who suddenly exited a shop or restaurant while the cyclist was on the sidewalk. I've also witnessed them colliding with street furniture, parked bikes and people. Were the injuries fatal or even serious? Nope. But they still suffered scrapes, bruises and cuts. And injury of any kind means the circumstances were dangerous.

Of the 1,000 reported incidents in Toronto, a large percentage occured when the cyclist came OFF the sidewalk and through a crosswalk (where the infraction changes from a municipal bylaw to a provincial offence under the Highway Traffic Act) and the stats listed in the above-noted report support that.

Motor vehicles sometimes kill cyclists, but since motor vehicles are rarely on the sidewalk, the liklihood of death is remote, at best, but the risk of injury is significantly increased.

Granted, it depends on the environment, as I mentioned earlier. In the 'burbs, there are few pedestrians
and few dangers on the sidewalk and seemingly greater danger on the road. Unfortunately, there are far fewer cyclists as well and where there are many cyclists---downtown---there are many sidewalk cyclists and they are riding on busy pedestrian avenues. It doesn't take a genius to see that riding on busy pedestrian routes is more dangerous for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Randochap

"Young cyclists were much more likely to have been riding on
the sidewalk than were adults (Figure 3.10). In fact, over half (53%) of the collision-involved
cyclists under age 18 were riding on the sidewalk, whereas only 21% of those 18 and over were."

Which goes to prove that cyclists involved were either young and inexperienced or were older and wilfully stupid.

mattotoole

This is true, but even 6-10 MPH is too fast for typical narrow sidewalks. The City of Newport Beach CA has a lot of sidewalk cycling, with a network of widened sidewalks and bike paths, and a speed limit of 8 MPH on these. People ride on sidewalks or in the streets, as they see fit. Still, most bike accidents happen on the sidewalks, some of them pretty serious.

I saw a classic crash when I was there a couple of months ago. A guy riding on a sidewalk that was marked as a bike facility was right-hooked by a car pulling into a driveway. He T-boned the car pretty hard. Fortunately he was OK. If he wasn't as young and strong, the outcome would have been different.

In VA, sidewalk cycling is not illegal under state law, but is prohibited by local ordinances in most VA cities and towns.

I-Like-To-Bike

You have a unique method of evaluating danger/risk, i.e. all injury severities are equal when measuring risk. Well not so unique, you share the technique used by Forester, et al. who ignore severity and exposure in order to arrive at the "crash rates" and levels of "danger" that serve their agenda.

Ajenkins

It is not terribly surprising that the sidewalk-loving crowd has absolutely no studies or facts of any kind to back up their position. All they can do is thrash about pointing the rather obvious limitations of the studies I posted.

So, can anybody on this board direct me to a study of at least the same methodological rigor of the ones I posted, which demonstrate that sidewalk cycling is safer than road cycling?




Yup. That's what I thought.

-=(8)=-

huh ?

Its not an issue of being 'sidewalk loving'. Its about disregarding
zealotous dogma for the ability to use all facilities available to ones benefit in different situations.
Obviously, the anti- crowd are the ones who have some skill honing to do.
No one here advocates riding on the sidewalk all the time. The more adaptable
riders realize your head isnt going to explode in a ball of fiery flames if you
use the walk for a block or two.

uke

Quite true. And not all sidewalks are alike. Some are horribly constructed and constantly obscured and intersected by brambles and driveways. Others are more akin to segregated bike lanes, and provide clear lines of sight for long stretches at a time.

Haha, thank you. I'm not a sidewalk lover, but I don't think they're the debbil either. The point, as you've noted, is to use all facilities you have available when needed, rather than dogmatically declaring one mode Always Right and another Always Wrong.

genec

Yeah, there is one sidewalk in my neighborhood I need to photograph... it is nearly completely blocked by signs, light poles, an electric box, and a bus bench. To walk on it you have to turn sideways to ease past the electric box. Of course most people simply walk on the adjacent grass and forget the actual sidewalk. But such is the case for typical sidewalks in this area at the corners... a real mess actually. BTW there is a bike lane in the road right next to this... but most cyclists tend to ride on the sidewalk anyway.

On the flip side of this whole argument are the sidewalks in Oulu Finland near the downtown areas... they are meant to be used as part of the bike path network all throughout town... the sidewalks are more than wide enough to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, with plenty of passing room. The actual downtown core that these sidewalks lead to is a car free zone.

Basil Moss

The only solution is to ride a huge MTB with metal studded knobblies, a very loud freehub and an EXTREMELY loug foghorn mounted on the handlebars. That'll scare those pesky pedestrians out of your way as you charge along the pavement, excercising your god given right to go fast. Slow wastes of space, they shouldn't be in your way, walking so unpredictably, changing direction without signalling, no lights, no helmet- maybe you should write to the county council to have them banned, or just send angry letters about them to a newspaper.

remacutetigisti

Not going into stats, it is important to understand there are different sets of people who would like to use cycling to get to where they want. My personal belief is that cycles should b on th road unless the rider has sensible reasons. Pedestrians should own the sidewalk and cyclists should be of minimal nuisance when they are on the pavements. I wrote about this issue a while back and still think the arguments stand.

JeffB502

Here's a funny sidewalk transition near my house...Click here for link to move picture around



Huge power line support structure in middle of sidewalk...2 ramps for people in wheelchairs to get around it. People bicycling on the sidewalk have to decide what to do...you can see the huge lip between the gutter pan and the road surface, and the cracks/deformations in the concrete ramps. A couple weeks ago I saw a guy on an ice cream vending tricycle riding north on this sidewalk hop off, keep the left front tire on the sidewalk, and walk with the right front tire on the roadway and the center rear tire in the gutter. The road is 35mph speed limit but the lanes are plenty wide enough to share. I have no problem riding 2-3 feet from the edge of the gutter pan on the road with people passing me with plenty of space, but it seems like every other person on a bike I see on this road is on the sidewalk, about to run into this obstacle...

JRA

Many people ride on the sidewalk when that wouldn't be my choice. I may think their choice is poor but I don't think their choice should be illegal.

I live on a residential street with very little traffic and a 15mph speed limit, yet I regularly see adults riding on the sidewalk. It's no skin off my nose. It's not illegal but, even if it were, I doubt it would stop them. About a mile to the east sidewalk riding is illegal but I still see lots of sidewalk riders.

It amuses me how unsuited some sidewalks are, even for walking. One back of the curb sidewalk near me has big concrete planters that almost entirely block it. Pedestrian have to squeeze between the planters and a wall (or walk in a very busy street). I'd like to get the city manager out there and have him demonstrate how to use that sidewalk. Now try it while pushing a baby stroller. . About a block away there's a walk/don't walk signal that's almost entirely blocked by another sign. I keep intending to take a picture of that but I don't often go that way while carrying a camera.