I've commuted to work on my Trek 800 occassionally and inconsistently in the past during good weather, but am making an effort to commute 50+% of the time now.

There are no bike lanes on the roads around here, and in many places there is very little distance between the gutter wall and cars (though all roads are two lanes each direction). I've always chosen to ride on the sidewalks as they are wide and there are few pedestrians (police said it is legal to bike on sidewalks here).

The downside is that I go slower on sidewalks, mostly because I have to slow down to check for cars coming out of hidden driveways. On downhill stretches where I can go close to the speed of traffic I get on the roadway.

The upside is that I feel safer.

I've read that riding on sidewalks is highly discouraged among bicyclists. I'd like to ask why? Today I went out on did all my riding on the roadway. I was quite nervous the whole time--just one inattentive driver and I'm toast.

What is the consensus on this subject?

I think it is just a matter of experience while in the road, but if there isn't a shoulder, it may make sense to simply take the lane, just like any other vehicle. When you hug the shoulder, you invite cars to keep to their lane, and try to squeeze past you.

Some roads I am comfortable taking the lane, others I am not. Depends on the general traffic speed (as well as the speed limit), and the amount of traffic.

There won't be a consensus. It ultimately comes down to you deciding which is safer for the conditions and you don't become a hazard yourself while using the sidewalk or by taking the lane. In some cities I commute through, the bike lanes are routed to the sidewalks for safety reasons at certain intersections, but some insist on exercising their road rights. It's a choice one makes. The key stat is to get to work/school/shopping and back home in one piece.

In NYC it is illegal for anyone 12 years or older to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
I understand that it may be legal in parts of California.

It is scary at first to deal with cars, but remember that older peple get nervous with anything moving fast near them. this can include children running or bikes.

Ride on a local bike path or around a track until you feel comfortable, then take to the roads

Good Luck

I sometimes ride on the sidewalks butavoid them if there are exits from commercial areas or driveways. Riding on the road is safer if you keep out a bit from the edge so you are in drivers field of view where they expect to see a vehicle. I also ride with a glasses mounted mirror so I am aware of the traffic behind me.

May I suggest some excellent reading.
https://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

In our city it is legal to ride your bike on the sidewalks, however I still would not recommend it. There's a guy at my work that has been hit twice while riding on the sidewalk. Lucky for him he wasn't hurt too badly. He still insists he feels safer on the sidewalk. Go figure.

In general, on the road, the faster you go, the safer you are. On the footpath, the slower you go, the safer you are. So the decision will usually come down to how fast you want to ride.

Riding on the road with cars can be nerve-wracking at first, but as experience grows, and people remarkably don't run you over, your confidence and comfort will increase.

Hi Bm7b5. I live and commute in Bellevue too, so I understand your concerns. I am relatively new to commuting (and Bellevue) and had the exact same feeling/opinion as you. For the first few months I spent most of my time on the sidewalk as you do and thought I was being safer.

But, like you, I started hearing rumblings of many people saying it was worse so I started searching up on it. Between some threads here and some in the Advocacy and Safety sub-forum, I've come to believe it IS MORE DANGEROUS on the sidewalks. After many close calls from those "hidden driveways" you mention (plenty on 156th Ave NE) I started venturing out more and more on the road instead and found I was having cars closer to me, but less "close calls".

I saw in a thread (don't recall if it was here or in A&S) a quote that suddenly put it all in perspective for me. "If you want the cars to see you, you need to be where the cars are looking". When you are on the sidewalk cars don't expect you to be coming and will pull right over the sidewalk line without looking. But if you are on the road, they will see you because they are looking at the road to see if its safe to pull out.

Be where the cars are looking - that's my motto now.

I typically ride on roads unless there is no road directly going where I am. For example, I'll cut through sidewalks across campus. The key to that, though, is that when I'm on the sidewalk, I'm a stranger in a strange land - sidewalks are for pedestrians. They get all the right of ways and I yield to them. When I'm on the road, I'm on my turf - I take my right of ways and I ***** about pedestrians who don't return my courtesy. Hehe

From the Cascade Bike Club website:
Seattle: Seattle Municipal Code 11.44.120 states: “Every person operating a bicycle upon any sidewalk or public path shall operate the same in a careful and prudent manner and at a rate of speed no greater than is reasonable and proper under the conditions existing at the point of operation, taking into account the amount and character of pedestrian traffic, grade and width of sidewalk or public path, and condition of surface, and shall obey all traffic-control devices. Every person operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or public path shall yield the right of way to any pedestrian thereon, and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing any pedestrian.”

Bellevue: Bellevue Municipal Code 11.60.070 and 11.60.80 are essentially identical to the Seattle Municipal Code and generally allow riding on city sidewalks as long as it does not interfere with pedestrian traffic.


When you're on the sidewalk, you're generally less visible to drivers. They're looking to the sidewalk for pedestrian traffic (if they look that way at all before crossing a sidewalk.) Most of the main roadways in Bellevue are 2 lane, which means people have plenty of room to pass. I used to work late shift (5pm - 1am) in Bellevue and rode up 148th during evening rush hour from Redmond. Some people won't like that you make them deal with your presence on the roadway, but that happens everywhere. They can learn to make due.

The thing that concerns me is that some drivers don't even see cars in front of them. Both you and KingTermite are familiar with Bellevue and 148th and 156th Ave, which are the main choices for my commute. Well, I've been rear-ended on both 148th and 156th Ave while in my car. Both times by a driver on a cell phone (saw it coming in the rear-view mirror both times). If I had been on a bicycle, I'd have been severely injured. I have good long-term disability insurance, but I sure ain't looking to use it. When I'm on the sidewalk, I just pretend I'm invisible unless a driver makes eye contact with me. Slows me down, but feels safer. But I'd prefer to ride on the road--I can go faster and it is a more enjoyable ride (except the fear of being sideswiped or rear-ended by a car).

(Look forward to riding with you and KingTermite soon--I ordered slicks for my bike and they are supposed to be delivered early Dec.)

I felt this way for a while too....but its a false sense of safety. In fact, possibly worse because you "feel" safer and naturally let your guard down, even if just slightly.


Looking forward to it.

On the sidewalk you are pretty much invisible to traffic turning at driveways and intersections. If there aren't so many of these on your route, not a big deal if you want to stop and look at each of them, but on an urban commute that would just get plain tiring. (as well in an urban area you really need to remember the sidewalk is for pedestrians and they have the right of way, in areas where the sidewalks are virtually unused you can go a long time without seeing a ped)

Where there's little room to share the lane between a car and a bike, I don't try to. I ride in the middle of the lane. A rearview mirror can be a useful addition if you are worried about being rear ended. If a car is coming up too close behind you you can swerve towards the curb. Keep in mind you are much smaller and much more maneuverable then when you are in a car. I'd also like to think more car rear-endings occur because the driver knows there is a car there but is misjudging the speed when they are distracted etc. but that they would be more cautious around a cyclist that doesn't haven't a bumper zone (risk compensation)

In part it depends on what conflicts the sidewalk presents you with. At every intersection, even every driveway, you are at greater risk of colliding with cars if you are on the sidewalk. Obviously you are a silent but deadly hazard to pedestrians as well. They will wander into your path, step out from behind screening objects, freeze when they see you coming and then step to the side just as you try to go around them, let their dogs and leashes block your path etc. If the sidewalks have long uninterrupted stretches, good visibility and no pedestrians you may be fine, but if they have pedestrians, intersections and obstructed views you're twice as likely to have an accident as on the road.

On my commute, there are intersections where I "take the lane", and there are roads where I ride on the shoulder. I also have a 1/2 mile stretch where I ride on a sidewalk. Coming home in the dark there's one spot where I get off the bike and walk it across the street at a crosswalk, then walk it down a sidewalk about 50 yards past a very busy intersection to a gas station, where I ride around the back of the storefront where they keep the garbage dumpsters before emerging back on the road. I also cut through the back yard of another building and ride on dirt for a short stretch to avoid another busy intersection.

In other words, I do what the conditions warrant to keep me safe. Sometimes I behave like a car, sometimes like a mountain biker, and sometimes like a kid on a sidewalk bicycle. Yes, sidewalks have additional hazards compared to roads. But there MAY BE sections of your particular commute where the sidewalk is safer than the road.

In all states a bicycle is considered a 'vehicle'; as such you have all rights, and responsibilities, as a vehicle.
Share the road, don't hog it. Sidewalks are for walkers.
Wear bright clothing, use a blinkie/lights if riding at dusk/night.
Be very aware of your surroundings, wear helmet, use a mirror, use hand signals.
Commuted by bike on the road (no sidewalks here anyway!) for 16 years.

The more time you spend in the street, the more comfortable you will be with it.

When I first started commuting I spent most of my time on the concrete gutter pan. After a month or so, I had moved over to just left of the seam about half the time. Now, I'm consistently 8-10" to the left of the seam. The exception is when lanes are very narrow (on many arterials here they have paved over the gutter pan and added lanes to the road, making, for example, a 5-lane road into a 7-lane road), where I occupy about 1/3 of the lane.

As mentioned though, your speed is a factor. My cruising speed is over 20mph (on 45mph roads). The faster I'm moving, the safer I feel. At this point, I would never choose to ride on the sidewalk.

I ride on sidewalks on rare occasions when it's more convenient. But I use the road almost all the time.

Don't forget to also check for cars turning into driveways and cross-streets from behind you. Slow down and look over your shoulder before crossing.

I prefer the street, but only you can make that decision based on your environment.

He probably thinks that he'd be twice as dead if he were on the street.

I take the street as often as possible. It's faster, it's smoother, and it has fewer obstacles (stationary or moving) than sidewalks. I'll take the sidewalk instead if the street becomes too narrow and/or too fast for me to keep up; and, usually, those are areas where there aren't many pedestrians anyway.

Sorry, but i have a little rant on the subj. Just where do we bikers get off thinking that braking is only for cars? I brake for suspicious intersections all the time, so what if it slows me down and requires extra effort to pedal from a stop, cagers waste horse power and fuel every time they stop and go too, why are we any better?

When you're in a car, do you slow down to a crawl at EVERY driveway and EVERY intersection (including the ones at which you get a green light)? When riding on the road in an urban environment you'll still do plenty of braking, I assure you, but riding on sidewalk safely in the same stretch often will mean that you'll have to brake every 100 feet... 30 feet.... 10 feet... five... At some point it just becomes ridiculous. See picture below for an illustration.

This is the approach I take, also. I do my best to follow the laws of the road, but I still insist on staying safe, and on making my bicycle a practical means of transportation in a world built for cars.

KTK

Thanks for the replies everyone. After posting this, I found the very, very long thread about sidewalk riding in the Safety and Advocacy forum. My takeaway is that one must choose the option that makes the most sense given the conditions, and ride appropriately. For me, I'm going to try to take another route. It will add an extra mile to my commute, but for the most part it will allow me to get away from sidewalks and bicycle-unfriendly streets both.

If you want to be seen you need to get a Dinotte tail light. The second day I was out with it a woman came up to me at a bicycle rack while I was locking my bicycle. She wanted to know where to get a light like it because she could see me from far away. She wanted to buy some lights just like mine as Christmas presents for people she knew. I asked if she was a cyclist and she said no.

On other forums people with Dinotte tail lights will tell you that they get comments about their lights too.

I mounted mine on my helmet because I use different bikes. Since I ride a recumbent and a comfort bike it is easy to mount the light so it can be seen by motorists. If you ride with your head tilted downwards often then you should mount one on your bike.