njkayaker

^^^ said clutching his pearls.

I hear they are communists too.

CrankyOne

Effectively this program. They make a declarative statement not to ride on sidewalks. If the choice to ride to In-N-Out is a 50 mph high traffic road or the sidewalk along it, what are they to do? Not ride?

Many on here have argued that the danger of riding on sidewalks is crossing driveways. Bike paths have the exact same danger. Is a bike path safer than a sidewalk? Why?

wphamilton

No of course not. They don't know what the drivers are doing, their judgment is poor relative to adults, their attention lapses, they can be erratic. Furthermore, many children are accustomed to adults looking out for their welfare and I have no confidence of that in adult drivers.

Following me, sure. My kid rode in the lane behind me - if it's safer in the lane, then it's safer.

spare_wheel

Old news bub:


https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...l#post17597316

spare_wheel

I started riding to school in 1st grade because I hated the school bus. Nevertheless, this was in a small college town on residential streets with no traffic signals. I think it's lunacy to expect a 6 year old to "take the lane" and make a left at a signal on a two lane collector/arterial in a large city. This kind of maneuver requires excellent situational awareness -- something that distracted young children typically lack. At that age slow sidewalk biking makes sense, IMO. Arguments that driveways and intersections make sidewalk biking dangerous are overblown. It's about as safe to bike on sidewalks as it is to walk on them if one enters driveways and intersections at a cautious pace. Moreover, for young children it makes sense to teach complementary "walking" and "biking" skills until they are mature enough for more advanced skills.

A "take the lane" across traffic left is a maneuver that makes many adults uncomfortable and is, IMO, inappropriate as a default manuever for young children. And apart from sidewalk biking there is another safer alternative: the copenhagen left (via crosswalk).

spare_wheel

Everyone making this argument is forgetting that pedestrians also share the same risk. Is riding a bike at 10 mph on a sidewalk really more dangerous than jogging at 6 mph?

loky1179

I was wondering why the posted speed limit on the residential streets here in Burnsville is 30mph. It is insane, and way over what the streets were designed for - the hills and curves on my street make for poor site lines. 30mph is dangerous.

I need to talk to the city council, etc. But now at least I know where this came from.

CrankyOne

Great point! I wonder how fast many people jog? Seems faster than 6 mph.

njkayaker

Not really.

Riding on sidewalks is illegal (in MN) by persons older than 12 years (I believe). Should the instructors tell 13 year olds to break the law?

Anyway, there could be ways of getting to that particular In-N-Out that doesn't entail riding on the 50 mph road and without riding on the sidewalk.

The course, fairly obviously, is targeting riding in neighborhoods that are reasonable to ride. Not "50 mph roads".

I do think they should have mentioned that walking an intersection is an option.

Some bicycle paths have that "danger" but not all of them. MUPs do have their problems. Are you confusing bicycle lanes with bicycle paths?

You are being too vague here anyway. What exactly are "many" saying? There's a wide range of types of bicycle paths. Are you talking about all of them or particular ones (which no one can comment about because they don't know what they are like).

njkayaker

It shouldn't have been news at all.

There are all sorts of thngs that distinguish these two activities. Yes, it's probably much less risky for the runner.

Very few people run on your conceptual sidewalk (very few runners would even want to run on a sidewalk). That is, a very-tiny fraction of pedestrians are travelling at 6 mph. And they are likely able to stop quicker and dodge other pedestrians more easily than a bicyclist. And they are typically narrower. A bicyclist travelling at 10 mph is not unusual at all.

No law/rule is perfect anyway. The fact that there's some risk with pedestrians/runners using a sidewalk doesn't mean it make sense to allow likely more-riskly bicyclists to use them. Most jurisdictions allow young children to ride on sidewalks.

delcrossv

Depends on the kid. Actually the then 7 y.o. has better road awareness than her older sister. The 12 y.o.? Yes, no problem.

prathmann

1) 10 mph is considerably faster than 6 mph.
2) Almost everyone that I see jogging at even 6 mph has wisely chosen to do so in the street instead of on the sidewalk.

CrankyOne

The differences in kids, even within the same family, is quite amazing (and wonderful). My brother-in-law's three kids are fun on this. The oldest is an exceptionally anal CPA (just passed his CPA last week at age 23!), youngest daughter is brilliant, focused, quiet and heading to med school for neurology. Middle is emotional, scatterbrained, opinionated and wisely has chosen to follow her dad's advice and not get her drivers license even though 21. And all three of them are wonderful.

CliffordK

Since so many people are convinced of the dangers of toeclips and cleats...

Does the course have a section on the proper use of toeclips, cleats and pedal retention?