I've never been there but I agree with everything else you said so it can't be too bad.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that the safest place for bicycle riding is on the street, except for children less than 10 years old.

Is that a joke? The federal government tells me it's 'safer', but takes into account none of the differing and very unique differences in the infrastructure, economy, and geographical limitations. . .

Give me a break. The entire share the road with motorists idea works until it doesn't. It doesn't work a lot, and to worse ends.

I'm sure they did a study.

They did, look it up, I know well enough to know I'm right. You're the one touting the study above. So an 11 year old should take my commute according to the NHA. I wouldn't expect anything more illogical from our government.

It all very much depends on the cyclist, the town, the street, the sidewalk, the timing, and the circumstances, so there's no sense in arguing the point, but it's always nice to listen to differing opinions.

I've posted all these points. Can you not form a better opinion with my location, commute map, threads, posts, etc, that I am at least 1 situation where the standard "get on the road if your 10 to 100 years old" is so flawed it goes against COMMON SENSE.

MUP? Give me a break, a nonsense term in this location.

If I am a situation where the law is so blatantly counter-intuitive to what is "safe" use of road infrastructure, there are many, many more similar situations out there.

There's a saying that goes, "Every OSHA regulation is written with blood.". This seems not to be the case with DOT regulation and proper infrastructure, rather DOT regulation seems a cop-out to developing proper infrastructure. DOT regulation forces cyclists across this country between a rock and a hard place, with little reason to develop highways vs bike paths as the highway, according to law, is more versatile in types of vehicle traffic.

Welcome to a transportation system that for 60+ years was primarily designed for the automobile.

Understand the risks, and also that there is no one method of bike travel that is always the safest. Evaluate every situation and do the smart thing. It's as simple as that.

Yes, indeed, there have been studies. Quite a few. Those studies all show the sidewalk is the most dangerous place to ride, by a pretty wide margin.

In my area, riding on the sidewalk is illegal. That being said, I've never heard of a ticket being issued. Use common sense. Duh. Only use the sidewalk in extreme or very brief circumstances and always go slow. If a cop comes by to discuss, you can always tickle him.

Whether or not riding on the sidewalk is illegal in your area is not the point. Whether or not drivers know that is not the point. The point is that motor vehicle drivers are not looking for cyclists at crosswalks and driveways. Yeah, plenty of people have been hit by cars in those places because they're not expected to be there. So that answers your question.

This is the road cycling forum. Perhaps this thread should be moved to commuting, or hell, A&S. The latter would have a field day with this one.

So, did you mean this 1994 study, which showed riding on the sidewalk to be 80% riskier than riding on the road? Or maybe this study which found cyclists were injured 4 times more often riding on the sidewalk than on the road? Or perhaps you meant this study, which found that sidewalk riders were about 3 times more likely to be in a collision than road riders, but were 8 times more likely to suffer a major injury?

Please, enlighten us on which study you're talking about.

you should see some of the "bike lanes" in houston. at least on the roads around where i live, if you were to ride in the bike lane, you'd quickly be wiped out by a truck's mirror (or more probably just hit from behind by someone not paying attention). which is why i rarely ride on the roads in my area, i just stick to the bike trails.

I almost got run over the other day, on the sidewalk, by two bicycle police who were just casually riding along.... ON THE SIDEWALK. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

The OP only wants to ride on the sidewalks so he can tickle people easier:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...s-a-worse-name

Here's you a study, by bicyclists.

https://www.bicyclinglife.com/Library/riskfactors.htm

But that's your life, go back to tickling construction workers, and stop advocating unsafe cycling.

I don't know where you get your info, but the sidewalks are never really more safe. Maybe in short stretches to avoid certain obstacles, but otherwise the street is a much safer alternative - you are much more visible to all traffic (traveling and merging). The only encounters I have ever had with a car, was during college - and I was on the sidewalk. The pulled up quickly, and I actually hit them - they said they didn't see me. The campus police saw it and checked me out to make sure I was ok. He told me it was a common occurrence, and told me the road was much more safe because of visibility issues. I took his word for it and have stayed away from sidewalks since.

Just because many motorist are ignorant of the law, and may not like you traveling in "their" road, it does not mean you are more safe staying away from them.

Where I live I've never seen or heard about anyone ticketed for riding on a sidwalk. But then again, I've never heard of anyone being ticketed for riding the wrong way against traffic, running stop sign / red light, or doing anything else illegal on a bike. For the most part cyclist are seen as a road hazzard around here, and much like any other road hazzard, no legal action takes place if you hit one with your car...

Heck, while we're at it, who here has been killed? At all? Anybody?

Guess death is just a myth too.

Any national study cited is OF NO CONCERN to me. The population differences in the variables of cyclists using sidewalks and incurring injury is such a small representation and GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRAINED to high population areas. Nobody uses these sidewalks, use google maps and count the pedestrians on MLK in Beaumont. Do Times Square in NYC. It's common sense, and the fact that you can't stop your eyes from glazing over when you see a study is a whole different problem.

I can observe that sidewalk riding is more safe on MLK blvd in Beaumont and Gulfway Dr in Port Arthur Texas, and my commute when available. Once again, this is so simple it's stupid. How many close calls have you had on a sidewalk? On the Road?

So simple.

I've never been hit by a car when riding on the sidewalk (which I rarely ever do anyway), but I did hit someone who was riding on the sidewalk.

About 12 years ago. I pulled up to the intersection where there was a stop sign. Waited for traffic to clear, and began to pull out and BAM! Coming off the sidewalk from my right side a bike must have been going 20+ mph. He was traveling fast enough that when I glanced down the sidewalk looking for pedestrians, he was far enough away to be out of my field of view due to some shrubbery on the corner. Plus, riding contrary to the flow of traffic gave me much less time to see him once he became visible. Thankfully, the rider was unhurt and the only damage was a few scratches to my car. He cursed me out, hopped on his bike and blasted back down the sidewalk before I could even collect my thoughts and get out of the car.

Also a friend of mine was killed about a month ago after being struck by a car while riding his bike. There were multiple factors that led to the accident, but one of the ingredients was that he was riding on the sidewalk. Perhaps if Tommy had been in the street where he would have been more visible it would have been enough to prevent the tragedy? One can only speculate. I am pretty sure he was riding down the sidewalk because it was a farily busy street and he figured it was safer.

Sure these are anecdotal examples, but they are enough to convince me it's safer to be in the street.

Are you attempting to troll or is it just coming across that way?

Personal experience, I have never been hit on the road. I never ride on the sidewalk. My brother has never been hit on the road, he has been hit on a sidewalk.

Yes.

Yeah, in downtown Ft Worth, the cops and security on bikes all ride on the sidewalk against pedestrian traffic. Downtown is probably the safest part of Ft Worth to be on the street since no one really ever gets over 20mph down there.

Like Doohickie said, understand what makes a sidewalk dangerous and evaluate each situation on its own merits. There are places where I use the sidewalk - places where there are NEVER pedestrians on them and the roadway has very fast moving traffic with no shoulder. I try to keep it to a minimum and am extra careful around driveways, parking lot entrances, etc. Assume you are invisible when you are on the sidewalk.