I was riding up the street during my commute this morning and I came to a stop sign. I stopped at the sign, waited for my turn, and proceeded to turn right, into a large service driveway. Immediately after I turned, I heard the screech of bike tires, and I looked to my right and saw a sidewalk biker come to a screeching halt about 3 feet from me.

I muttered a "sorry," and headed on my way, but it's my opinion that I did nothing wrong. I was using the road and following traffic rules, and as a "pedestrian" on the sidewalk, she should have been conscious of traffic coming from the road.

Am I in the right here? Did I do anything wrong?

no you did not do anything wrong. she was on the side walk . she was in the wrong.

yep - it's pretty much the sidewalk biker who should have apologized.

was she cute?

You know, I didn't even look. But her brakes and drivetrain squeaked something fierce, and I wouldn't want to date anyone who didn't know how to maintain a bike.

Ya, if she doesn't know how to clean her own cogs how's she gonna clean yours?

Yes, she was, but unfortunately that doesn't offer any protection in the event of a crash. Personally, I find it pays to keep an eye out for things pulling out of driveways or side streets (be they bicycles or cars), they present far more problems than anything travelling in the same direction.

Replace yourself with a car. Would you say the car driver was right or wrong?

Same answer for you.

(My take would be you were fine, but perhaps should be even a little more alert, after all if you did get t-boned your injuries will be the same right or wrong).

Good point. Whether I was right or wrong, I still could have gotten some nasty scrapes from the encounter.

the only thing you did wrong was to say sorry

the sidewalk rider should have apologized twice, first for not looking before crossing and second for riding on the sidewalk

AMEN!!!

Was the street busy? Was she afraid of it?

Walking from work to the hockey game tonight, I had to move out of the way of someone riding way too fast on the sidewalk--facing traffic--with a hi-vis vest, a nice headlight, and no fewer than three taillights (one solid under the saddle and a blinkie on either seat stay).

All that safety gear. If only they knew how much more dangerous it was to be on the sidewalk.

I had an experience like yours a couple of months ago. I was getting ready to make a right turn into a parking lot on campus and another cyclist came out from behind a tarp (there's a lot of construction at my college), off the sidewalk, and right across me.

It's been 6 months since I've discovered how much better riding on the road is, and I could never go back to the sidewalk.

Last time I rode on the sidewalk I was 10 years old.

It was a decently busy street, but the speed limit is low (25 mph). Most people at my college ride on the sidewalk because they think it's safer and more convenient for them. In fact, I've seen some professors of mine ride on the sidewalk to class.

I was in Ann Arbor for a campus visit 2 years ago. I remember seeing a few sidewalk cyclists, even though vehicle traffic wasn't really moving at all (which might explain the "convenience" of the sidewalk). I'd still rather ride in traffic. There's no way that I could compete with 35,000 pedestrians on the sidewalks.

Amen. Unless your dad just took off the training wheels and is jogging behind you, you don't belong on the sidewalk.

Riding on the sidewalk is a bad, dangerous habit to break. Many generations of well-meaning parents, teachers, traffic engineers, and other adult authority figures try to "protect" the fledgeling cyclist from the "evil dangers" of the roadway by restricting them to the sidewalk thereby endangering everyone else. The little one grows up to be still endangering themselves as well as innocent others with their now engrained habit of sidewalk riding. Add to that mix the new drive up ramps at streetcorner intersections for the physically disabled wheelchair users that many cities have been installing and you have a real dangerous accident waiting to happen with these same cyclists who don't even glance behind or around them as they enter the street. Can't correct the problem? Just be defensive on the road!

You are in the right, and quite a gentleman.

Late bloomer

Suppose you were in a car and she was a five year old on a bike ... No question who gets cooked on that one!

Suppose you are in a car turning into a driveway and a bicylist is crossing the sidewalk to get to the street ... You're cooked again!!

Suppose you are on a bike turning from the street across a sidewalk into a driveway and you collide with a cyclist on the sidewalk who was accessing the street ... just baste and heat!

When you turn from the street into a driveway, YOU are responsible for not colliding with someone using the sidewalk.

It's a good idea to be mindful of idiots from every direction. You were in the right.

But sometimes that isnt enough in a crash, especially with a car. You'll be right. DEAD right.

But I had stopped at a stop sign, and turned into a driveway that acts as a cross street for the stop sign. Are you saying that in addition to left, right and ahead, I should look behind me when I stop at a stop sign?

Interesting analysis. Now I can't decide which way to go. In Minnesota, it is illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in a commercial area, which we assume this was since the person was going to work. Furthermore, if there had been a collision, the person on the sidewalk would have hit the person turning off the street, instead of being hit (if I followed the description correctly). Therefore, the person turning off the street into the driveway gets hit by someone breaking the law, and gets the blame for it. That doesn't seem quite right. I wonder if there is some shared responsibility.